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The Second Most Important Thing in Life
Mark 12:31-34
In the final week of Jesus' life before the cross, Jesus has just shared with an inquiring scribe that the greatest commandment is to love God. But there’s also a second half of Jesus' answer. He teaches a second greatest commandment.
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God's Greatest Commandment: Love Him
Mark 12:28-30
Jesus said the greatest commandment begins with the God of Scripture -- and that we should "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (30). I'm willing to bet you've heard this saying of Jesus time and time again -- love God, love neighbor, this is the sum of the law.
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The Most Important Thing in Life
Mark 12:28-30
In the final week of Jesus' life before the cross, the religious leaders are attempting to build a case against him. Jesus has challenged them in the temple area, and now they are challenging him in return.
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How Are Modern Progressive Christians Like the Sadducees?
Mark 12:18
We recently considered the story of the Sadducees challenging Jesus in Mark 12 and saw how Jesus showed their error in neither knowing Scripture nor the power of God. I also wanted to give a word about the Sadducean presence today because I believe there is a growing influence of their mindset in the worldwide visible church in our modern time.
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Jesus Shows the Sadducees Why They Should Know the Word of God
Mark 12:18-27
In our previous look at this passage, Jesus addressed why the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection or any life after death, were wrong in proposing this hypothetical scenario - they didn’t know the power of God.
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Jesus Shows the Sadducees Why They Should Believe in the Power of God
Mark 12:18-27
The Sadducees were another religious group from that era, but they were opposed to the Pharisees in almost every way. Jesus had some views in common with the Pharisees, but none with the Sadducees. So who were they?
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Jesus Challenged about Government Oppression, Pt. 2
Mark 12:13-17
In part 1 of this article, we saw Herodians and Pharisees come together to challenge Jesus about Rome, about government oppression. They posed a question -- “Should we pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” -- hoping to catch Jesus in an answer that either maddened the masses or went against Roman law.
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Jesus Challenged about Government Oppression, Pt. 1
Mark 12:13-17
We find ourselves in a place in Mark's gospel where the hostility toward Jesus is reaching its peak. Soon, the religious leaders will conspire with the Roman authorities to put Christ to death. But these leaders and authorities feel a need to build their case against Jesus, and in the final week before his death, that's precisely what they set out to do. In this passage we find two enemy groups, the Pharisees and the Herodians, join together in an attempt to stop Jesus. They presented a challenge to Jesus about government oppression in Rome.
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The Parable of the Vineyard, Pt. 2
Mark 12:6-12
Jesus continued the conversation with the religious leaders who had come to question him by speaking to them in parables. Mark includes one of them, and it was centered around a man who planted a vineyard. This man must have expected great grapes and wine because he put a fence around the property, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a tower in the midst of it. This vineyard was meant to succeed.
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The Parable of the Vineyard, Pt. 1
Mark 12:1-5
Jesus continued the conversation with the religious leaders who had come to question him by speaking to them in parables. Mark includes one of them, and it was centered around a man who planted a vineyard. This man must have expected great grapes and wine because he put a fence around the property, dug out a pit for a winepress, and built a tower in the midst of it. This vineyard was meant to succeed.
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