The Good Word

One might wonder why there is a second story about the multiplication of loaves no fish this time The answer begins with the fact that we are being offered a third story about Jesus working outside Israel At the end of this story about loaves Mark notes that Jesus got into a boat with his dis

Paul brings Galatians to an end with notes of exhortation and encouragement and yes warnings and challenges As a good parent he also manages to tell them in no uncertain terms not to make any trouble for him any longer the parental Enough Let s begin with exhortation and encouragement In

A most interesting story in Mark s Gospel is the account in which Jesus cures a daughter who had an unclean spirit Unlike the bulk of the Gospel this cure takes place outside the recognized boundaries of Israel and is performed for a Greek at the request of a Greek Indeed the story tells us

Once again I testify to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the entire law You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ you have fallen away from grace 5 3-4 Again Paul makes a charged statement about the role of the law – You w

Paul begins this next section by comparing the Galatians interest in the law of Moses to the stoicheia the natural elements which were sometimes treated as gods see A A Long and D N Sedley The Hellenistic Philosophers Vol 1 Cambridge 1987 280-89 The comparison is clear enough but h

Following the marvelous miracles of multiplication of food and walking on water and a host of still other wonders Mark again interjects a conflict story Here Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem want to know why Jews followers of Jesus do not obey the Tradition of the Elders but instead eat

The episode following the feeding of the 5000 through the instrumentality of the Twelve is the story of Jesus walking on the water No doubt one can study individual episodes to learn their meanings but we do recognize that it is Mark and his intentions that linked certain stories with others

Paul s initial argument regarding Abraham and the law of Moses is that the promise to Abraham on the basis of faith cannot be annulled by the coming of the law of Moses 430 years later see Exodus 12 40 for the likely origin of Paul s chronology What does he mean Paul argues that the promise

Mark 6 34-56 no 19 Oct 13 The Twelve have returned from preaching repentance and performing miracles to support their trustworthiness Jesus has asked them to come away to rest a sign Mark indicates which shows the extreme attraction of all that Jesus is The crowds will not let Jesus an

Toyota has a new television commercial in which the line saved by zero is sung over and over Since I have no idea what the kids listen to anymore except my own – and yes what they listen to scares me just like my punk albums scared my parents – I was not certain if Toyota was digging into so