Mark Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

THE RESURRECTION

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Mark 16:1

In Israel the Sabbath (Shabbat) is a very important day. The Sabbath’s approach and celebration regulate what a person can and cannot do. For instance, Friday is a preparation for the Sabbath and today in Israel it is quite difficult to get things done on that day. Stores begin closing in the early afternoon and by three or four in the afternoon it is almost impossible to do shopping. If customs in Jesus’ day were anything like today it would have been difficult for the women to have purchased spices after the death of Jesus at 3 o’clock in the afternoon. In addition, the women were probably much too traumatized by Jesus’ crucifixion and death to even think of shopping.

Today in Israel when the Sabbath ends there are always certain businesses that open up within an hour or so after sundown. It is likely that the women found some merchant open after the Sabbath and procured their necessary spices. We should note that the Jews did not use spices for mummification since this was not a Jewish custom. Rather they used spices to offset the odors of the body’s decomposition.¹ The spices included Myrrh, a fragrant Arabian gum and Aloes, a fragrant type wood. ² With their purchase, the women were thus ready to journey to the tomb at a very early hour the next morning. From John 20:1, we see that they began their journey to the tomb while it was still dark.

The women were some of the same group that watched Jesus die at the crucifixion. Mary Magdalene, probably being the youngest, seems to be the leading character. With her, were Mary the mother of James and Salome. This “other Mary” may be the same as Mary mother of James and Joses listed in Mark 15:40 and Matthew 27:56. Salome was also mentioned in Mark 15:40. Most of these women had followed Jesus to Jerusalem from Galilee.

“Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’” (16:2-3). We sense a great deal of fear and foreboding in these women. While it was no doubt a bit eerie to be venturing to a tomb in the twilight, there were other things bothering them. They were rightly concerned about how they would move the large rolling stone in front of the tomb. One estimate by two engineering professors from Georgia Tech has placed the weight of the stone at 1 ½ to 2 tons.³ Not only was the stone very large and immovable, but it was sealed with an official seal. In those days it was a serious criminal offense to break such a seal. To add further to their concerns, the tomb was guarded by soldiers. We have to pause and say that although they were frightened, these were some very brave women to even attempt such a thing.

We can see in the case of these women as well as with the disciples that they did not expect Jesus to rise again in spite of all his previous teaching on the subject. Their service to him was to be final. Edwards quips here, “For the first time in history, last rites were all wrong.” ⁴

Mark, as he does in his whole gospel, is giving us a very fast-moving and abbreviated account. When we go to Matthew’s account we find much helpful information that will fill-in the blanks for us here. Matthew 28:2-4 says: “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” Unknown to the fearful women, God had already taken care of their problems. So it is with us as we serve our God, that he has often gloriously taken care of our concerns without our knowing.

SURPRISES AT THE TOMB

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. Mark 16:4

We can assume that the terrified guards had fled the scene when they regained their senses and miraculously the tomb stood open before the women. The women now became more shocked and dazed at every turn.

“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him’” (16:5-6). When people encountered angels in the Bible, their first response was great alarm bordering on sheer terror. It is interesting that today’s supposed angelic appearances hold no such alarm. We see the angel represented as a young man and in Mark’s account only one angel is reported on. There was obviously more to the story. Luke and John tell us that there were two angels at the tomb. Angels are generally depicted as males with the exception of Zechariah 5:9-10. ⁵

The angel then makes the wondrous announcement of the resurrection, “He has risen! He is not here.” It is surely this announcement that really dumbfounded and mystified the women. Coffman tries to sum it up saying: “The mystery and heart-stopping meaning of what they had come to know was as devastating a body of information as mortals ever received; and the implications of it are enough to challenge and awe any man who ever contemplated it.” ⁶

It is this very information, “He has risen!” that sets Christianity off from every other religion of humankind. The world’s greatest religious leaders, Buddha, Mohammed and even the great Moses died and their bodies are today still in the tomb but Jesus is risen and alive for evermore.

It is the resurrection that brought great joy and victory into the early floundering church. It is the resurrection that has sustained the hope of the church through the ages. Paul goes so far as to say that if there was no resurrection then our faith is in vain (1 Cor. 15:14). The resurrection put God’s stamp of approval on the ministry and sacrificial death of Jesus. In Romans 1:4 Paul says that Jesus “…who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead…” The resurrection was proof positive and final that Jesus was who he said, the very Son of God.⁷

The angel invited the women to “See the place where they laid him.” This may be a significant witness to the resurrection. We know it was to John when he looked into the tomb. In John 20:1-10, he speaks of seeing the grave clothes. These were strips of linen that covered the whole body. There was something about these linen strips that make a believer out of John. The strips were apparently still intact as if the body of Jesus was inside. Obviously “Christ had risen through the grave clothes in exactly the same manner that he had arisen through the tomb. The angels had rolled away the stone not to let Jesus out, but to let the witnesses in!” ⁸

“But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you’” (16:7). The message, “and Peter,” was no doubt almost as encouraging as the resurrection message itself to poor Peter who had denied the Lord and who no doubt felt terrible. Barclay relates a saying, “The most precious thing about Jesus is the way in which he trusts us on the field of our defeat.” ⁹

We know from scripture that much of the revelation of the risen Christ would take place in Galilee (Mk. 14:28). Even the Great Commission would be given on a mountain there. We can only surmise that Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem because of their great unbelief. The plan was still to be worked out in the Galilee and he would see them all there soon. It is likely that Jesus’ appearance to the much wider circle of 500 people (1 Cor. 15:6) happened also in the Galilee.¹⁰

“Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid” (16:8). How incredible it was that the greatest revelation in all earth’s history was made to women. In the Jewish culture the witness of a woman was not even valid in a court.¹¹ Once again, we see the great heights to which Jesus lifted womanhood. But these women had experienced more than their minds and bodies could take in. They were overcome with “trembling” (Gk. tromos) and “bewilderment (Gk. eksstasis).¹² The women were so overwhelmed that they panicked and fled from the tomb. They were too afraid to speak even a word about what they had witnessed. With this amazing picture the original gospel of Mark is drawn to a close.

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The NIV notes at this point: “The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9-20.”

THE RESURRECTION ACCOUNT CONTINUES

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. Mark 16:9

We immediately sense that this account is different from the rest of the gospel both in its style and content. Mary Magdalene is introduced as if it were her first appearance. She is identified as the one from whom Jesus cast out seven demons (cf. Lk. 8:2). Edwards remarks here “It is virtually certain that 16:9-20 is a later addition and not the original ending of the Gospel of Mark.”¹³

The writer then continues with the account of Mary Magdalene saying, “She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping” (16:10). This account assumes that Mary Magdalene and the other women had gotten over the shock of seeing the angel and the empty tomb and that they had rallied themselves to make the report to the disciples. We see in John’s gospel (20:10-18) the tender picture of Mary meeting the resurrected Master. Perhaps after her report to the disciples Mary went again to the tomb where Jesus appeared to her. The Venerable Bede remarks here saying: “A woman first tasted death, but in Magdalene, woman first saw the resurrection, that woman might not bear the perpetual guilt of transgression among men.” ¹⁴ Thus Mary Magdalene was not only the first witness to the resurrection but in telling the disciples she became its first herald to the church.¹⁵ In spite of Mary’s glowing account the disciples did not believe her.

“When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either” (16:11-13). This is reputed to be the same as the account that recorded in Luke 24:13-32. When the breathless duo arrived back in Jerusalem and told their story the disciples did not believe them either. As Guzik says of the disciples, “They were equal opportunity unbelievers!” ¹⁶

“Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen” (16:14). Some of the disciples had been involved off and on in arguments about which of them would be the greatest. Now they are hearing stories of how the resurrected Christ had appeared to lowly Mary Magdalene and to the two who were not even a part of their sacred company. ¹⁷ Barnes says of the group, “They were not convinced, until it was impossible for them longer to deny it.” ¹⁸ We see in Matthew 28:16-17, that even after they had traveled to the Galilee and met Jesus again some still doubted. When we see how deep was the unbelief of Jesus’ select disciples we see how foolish are the stories that his disciples stole away the body and rigged the resurrection account.

“He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation’” (16:15). No doubt this statement of Jesus was made in the Galilee. In Matthew 28:18-20, we see that the Great Commission had its setting on a familiar Galilee mountain. This commission is seen by the church as something that applies to all Jesus’ disciples, past and present. The great preacher Harry Ironside put it this way: “Interest in missions is not an elective in God’s university of grace. It is something in which every disciple is expected to major.” ¹⁹

“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (16:16). This statement at first glance sounds a lot like Jesus was teaching baptismal regeneration. Those commentators who believe in such a doctrine are happy to declare that the sixteenth chapter of Mark is a unity. However, the great Greek scholar Robertson pointed out that the “condemnation rests on disbelief, not on baptism. So salvation rests on belief. Baptism is merely the picture of the new life not the means of securing it.” ²⁰

We might say that baptism is a very first step in discipleship. For one to spurn baptism creates a real problem with that person’s salvation. Barnes adds to this: “he did not say, indeed, that a man could not be saved without baptism, but he has strongly implied that where this is neglected, knowing it to be a command of the Saviour, it endangers the salvation of the soul. Faith and baptism are the beginnings of a Christian life: the one the beginning of piety in the soul, the other of its manifestation before men, or of a profession of religion.” ²¹

“And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (16:17-18). While verses 9-20 may not have come directly from the hand of Mark they certainly are very early and come directly from the orthodox teaching of the early church.

Jesus cast out demons and it was a very large part of his ministry. He gave his disciples the same ability. In fact, he tells his disciples who were to come in the future that they will continue his works. He says in John 14:12, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” Characteristically, the commentators who do not believe in charismatic gifts for today are happy to declare that verses 9-20 are not valid and should not be part of the gospel.

Because of modernistic tendencies in the church it has been popular in recent centuries to deny that supernatural gifts continue to modern times. Many preachers and teachers declare that such things ended with the first century.

However, despite what many people have said, miraculous healings continue today and they continued on in the church far past the first century. The famous apologist Justin Martyr spoke of people receiving gifts of healing around AD 160. ²² The church father Irenaeus (around 180) also spoke of miraculous healings and even the raising of the dead. ²³ The African father Tertullian (about 197) wrote of performing miraculous cures. ²⁴ The influential father Origen (around 248) mentioned performing many cures. ²⁵ We know from other sources that miraculous healings were witnessed in the church as late as the times of Ambrose (339-397) and Augustine (354-430). ²⁶

The church father Ambrose once said, “Each believer receives gifts from the Father and Son through the Spirit according to each one’s capacity to receive.” ²⁷ Obviously, if people today to not have the capacity of believing in supernatural gifts these gifts will likely not be given. Both Ambrose and Gregory the Great (540-604) stated that the gifts of tongues and casting out of demons were not given exclusively to the apostles but to the continuing apostolate in the church. ²⁸

The matter of picking up snakes may raise some questions for those in modern times, especially when we consider the outlandish practices of some eastern mountain churches in the US. They believe that they should be able to pick up dangerous snakes without ill effect, based on the Mark passage. However, a few of the leaders in these churches have actually died from the resulting poisonous snake bites. There is a passage of scripture that says, “Do not put the LORD your God to the test…” (Deut. 6:16). There is also another passage in Ecclesiastes 7:17 that asks, “…why die before your time?”

We see from scripture that it is possible for believers to exercise dominion over serpents. In Psalm 91:13 it is written “You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent” (cf. Lk. 10:19). In Acts 28:3 ff. we read that Paul was bitten by a poisonous snake on the isle of Malta. He shook the snake off in the campfire and went on with no ill effects. This no doubt reflects the true meaning of verse 18. Satan and his snakes should not impede our ministry.

The same principles must surely apply to the matter of drinking deadly poison. We would not tempt the Lord by doing such a thing. However, we may well experience deliverance should someone maliciously try to poison us. The church historian Eusebius tells of how Justus Barsabas, the disciple who was not chosen in Acts 1:23, drank some poison without experiencing any harm. ²⁹

Regarding the matter of laying hands on the sick and having them recover, this was an established biblical practice. James 5:14-15 commands the sick to go to the elders of the church, who will anoint them with oil and pray for them so that they can be well. 1 Corinthians 12:9 speaks of gifts of healing for helping the sick.

“After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God” (16:19). As we no doubt remember, the ascension of the Lord did not take place in the Galilee but on the Mt. of Olives at Jerusalem (Acts 1:9-11). It was a fulfillment of that most popular early Christian text, Psalm 110:1. The ascension of Jesus was certainly necessary. There would have been something seriously defective if the stories of his appearance had gone on for a few months and then gradually faded away. Jesus ascended to the glory he had before with the Father and to the new glory that was now his as the supremely successful Savior of all who would believe in him. He ascended so that he could go and prepare a place for us (Jn. 14:3). He is in heaven now as our intercessor and as one who showers gifts upon his followers (Rom. 8:34; Eph. 4:8).³⁰

“Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it” (16:20). We can see with this verse why Mark could not end with fearful women running from the tomb. There was much more to the story as the other gospels and Acts attest. The disciples did not always have a doubting complex. They gained faith and grew in it. In time, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, they bore a mighty witness to their risen Lord. In time, some of them bore even a mightier witness as they offered up their lives for the sake of the gospel.

POSTSCRIPT ON MARK’S ENDING

When compared to the other three gospels the ending of Mark is very strange. The ending must have troubled the early church and at some point a statement of the resurrection account was apparently appended to Mark’s gospel. Many Bibles, including the NIV insert a note after verse 8 saying that the earliest manuscripts of the Bible do not contain verses 9 through 20. Several Bible scholars treat these verses differently and some refuse to make any comment on them whatsoever.

We certainly want to know why the scholars and commentators feel this way. Evans notes that R. H. Gundry may have a valid point when he insists that verse 8 was actually the beginning of an unfinished new paragraph. Some of his points are that the other gospels continue on with the account of the women and Mark’s does not. He notes that Mark usually begins his accounts with a note of fear rather than ending them that way. He feels it is odd that the gospel would end on a note of disobedience. The women were instructed to bear witness and they did not do so. Also, since the other gospels relate an appearance of the risen Christ, Mark’s would have likely done the same thing. He summarizes saying that verse 8 was not Mark’s intended ending.³¹

What then happened to cause Mark to end his gospel in such a strange manner? We need to remember that the first documented case of imperial persecution happened under Emperor Nero in the years of AD 64-68. This was probably the result of the great fire that devastated Rome and Nero apparently shifted the blame of that devastation to the Christians. Christian tradition says that Paul was beheaded and Peter was crucified upside down as to his own request. He did not feel worthy to be crucified as Jesus was. We can thus see that the two brightest lights of Christianity were quickly extinguished by Nero. Rome was suddenly a very dangerous place to be for Christians. Since Mark was a close companion of Peter we can wonder if Mark was also suddenly incarcerated or perhaps martyred. Mark already had a background as Christian missionary and would surely have come under suspicion. He also had close associations with Paul. Such a scenario may explain why his gospel ended so suddenly and seemingly unfinished.

Clearly, the church in coming decades felt that the ending of Mark was incomplete. They apparently tried to remedy this by appending a statement of faith concerning the resurrection to the ending of the gospel. The church appended what they felt Mark would have said had it been possible for him to say it, or perhaps if he had lived to say it.

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ENDNOTES MARK

Several sources I have cited here are from the electronic media, either from websites or from electronic research libraries. Thus in some of these sources it is not possible to cite page numbers. Instead I have cited the verse or verses in each chapter of Mark (e.g. verse v. 1 or vs. 1-2) about which the commentators speak.

INTRODUCTION

1 William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1975, 2001), p. 1.

“It is the most important book in the world, because it is agreed by nearly everyone that it is the earliest of all the gospels and therefore the first life of Jesus that has come down to us.”

2 Ray Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, Ray Stedman Organization, http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/mark/the-place-to-begin, Introduction.

“The Gospel of Mark is the most translated book in all the world. No other book appears in as many languages. Almost all Wycliffe translators, after they have reduced a language to writing, begin their translation of the Scriptures with this gospel…Mark is particularly suitable for introducing the Scriptures to people of all backgrounds, classes, and tribes. It is the one gospel of the four which is aimed at the Gentile ear.”

3 Bob Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, Intro. http://www.ibiblio.org/freebiblecommentary/pdf/EN/VOL02.pdf

“Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis (about A.D. 130), wrote Interpretation of the Lord’s Sayings, which is quoted by Eusebius (A.D. 275-339) in his Ecclesiastical History 3:39:15. He asserts that Mark was Peter’s interpreter who recorded accurately, but not chronologically, Peter’s memories of Jesus. Apparently Mark took and adapted Peter’s sermons and organized them into a gospel presentation. Papias claims to have received this information from “the elder,” which could refer to the Apostle John.” (Utley, Introduction).

Utley mentions Justin Martyr (AD 150), who quotes from Mark and states that it comes from Peter’s memory….also he relates how the Anti-Marcionite Prologue to Mark written about AD 180 states that Peter was the “eyewitness” in Mark’s gospel and that Mark wrote the gospel after Peter’s death around AD 65. (Utley, Intro.).

Utley also mentions how Irenaeus, who wrote about AD 180, speaks of John Mark as Peter’s interpreter and compiler, (cf. Contra Haereses 3:1:2), and how Clement of Alexandria (AD 195) tells us that the people who heard Peter preach at Rome requested that Mark record his sermons. (Utley, Intro.).

James Edwards (The Gospel According to Mark) continues with this, saying: “the Second Gospel was in many respects ‘Peter’s memoirs:’ – found as far as we know, unanimous agreement in the early church.” p. 5.

4 David Guzik, Commentary on Mark, David Guzik’s Commentaries on the Bible, Introduction. https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/mark-1/

CHAPTER 1

1 Barclay (The Gospel of Mark) remarks: “Both Matthew and Luke very largely follow Mark’s order of events…Matthew and Luke never agree together against Mark. Always one of them retains Mark’s order of events. p. 3.

Guzik (Commentary on Mark) “Many believe Mark to be the first of the four gospels written, and that it was written in Rome.” Introduction.

Joel Marcus (Mark 1–8) states: “Markan priority is still the consensus position…” p. 41.

Thomas Oden (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture) notes in his Introduction, “No Gospel was earlier or more clearly or consensually received as designated for use in public worship than Mark.” p. xix.

2 James R. Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Co., 2002), p. 45.

3 Ibid., p. 26.

4 Ibid., p. 28.

5 Warren W. Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, NT (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 2007), p. 90.

6 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 1:3.

7 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, pp. 29-30.

8 Peter Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 1:5, http://www.angelfire.com/ok/bibleteaching/mark1a.html

9 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 17.

10 Thomas C. Oden, gen. ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament II, Mark (Downer’s Grove: Intervarsity Press, 1998), p. 5.

Oden also quotes Jerome who says: “The baptism of John did not so much consist in the forgiveness of sins as in being a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, that is, for a future remission, which was to follow through the sanctification of Christ.”

11 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 1:7.

12 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve. vs. 1:9-15.

13 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 1:9-11.

14 Joel Marcus, Mark 1-8, The Anchor Bible (New York, Doubleday, 2000), p. 165.

15 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 34.

“Above all, it was believed that in the eschatological age the Messiah would be endowed with God’s Spirit. (Edw. p.36)…To no prophet had words been spoken such as the words to Jesus at the baptism…The baptism is the keystone in the life and ministry of Jesus” (Edwards, p. 38).

16 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 91.

17 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 1:14-15.

18 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 91.

19 Cited in Baruch Sapir/Dov Neeman, Capernaum (Kfar-Nachum), History and Legacy, Art and Architecture (Haarlem, Holland: Jon. Enschede en Zonen, 1967), p. 6.

20 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 49.

21 Mendel Nun, The Sea of Galilee and Its Fishermen In The New Testament (Ein Gev: Kibbutz Ein Gev: Tourist Department and Kinnereth Sailing Co., 1989), p. 51.

22 Ibid., pp. 6-7; 16-29.

23 John J. Rousseau and Rami Arav, Jesus and His World, An Archaeological And Cultural Dictionary (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995), p. 39.

24 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 91.

25 John R. Donahue, Mark, Harper’s Bible Commentary (New York: Harper & Row, 1988), p. 987.

26 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 22.

27 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 1:25-28.

28 Rousseau & Arav, Jesus and His World, p. 42.

29 Ibid., p. 40.

Edwards (p. 59) adds to Rousseau & Arav’s remarks saying: “Archaeological investigations have discovered sacred and devotional graffiti in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Aramaic scratched on the plaster walls, indicating that it was venerated as a gathering place for Christians, and perhaps as a church, from the end of the first century or the beginning of the second. There is a strong probability that the site preserves Peter’s house…it may be that Jesus lived with Peter in Capernaum.”

30 Ibid., pp. 40-42.

31 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 191.

32 James Burton Coffman, Commentary on Mark, Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament, http://www.studylight.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=mr&chapter=001. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999, vs. 29-31.

33 Barry D. Smith, The Gospel of Mark: Introduction and Outline, Atlantic Baptist University, http://www.textweek.com/mkjnacts/mark.htm, v. 1:30.

34 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 41.

“According to Jewish custom the main Sabbath meal came immediately after the synagogue service, at the sixth hour, that is at 12 noon.”

35 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 65.

36 Quoted in Guzik, v. 1:35.

37 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, pp. 66-67.

38 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 49-51.

39 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 72.

40 Ibid., pp. 62, 64.

CHAPTER 2

1 Rousseau & Arav, Jesus and His World, p. 42.

2 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 53.

3 Jamieson, Robert, Commentary on Mark, Commentary Critical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible. http://www.studylight.org/com/jfb/view.cgi?book=mr&chapter=001. 1871. v. 2:4.

See also Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter p. 34.

4 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 2:3.

5 Hugh Hewitt, The Embarrassed Believer (Nashville: Word Publishing, 1998), p. 54.

6 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, v. 2:5.

7 Robert A. Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, Word Biblical Commentary, (Dallas: Word Books, 1989), p. 86.

8 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 221.

9 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 2:7.

10 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 77.

11 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 36.

12 John Lightfoot, Commentary on Mark, John Lightfoot Commentary on the Gospels. http://www.studylight.org/com/jlc/view.cgi?book=mr&chapter=002, 1675.

13 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 29.

14 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 59-60.

Editor: To this day there continues to be a great deal of discussion among scholars as to exactly where this important road ran. We can be certain from scripture that it ran close to Capernaum.

15 Ibid., p. 60.

Barclay remarks how the Greek writer Lucian places tax gatherers in the class with adulterers, panderers, flatterers and sycophants.

Guzik, commenting on verses 13-14 also describes their profession saying: “A tax collector bid among others for the tax collecting ‘contract.’ For example, many tax collectors might want to have the ‘tax contract’ for a city like Capernaum. The Romans awarded the contract to the highest bidder. The man collected taxes, paid the Romans what he promised, and kept the remainder. Therefore, there was a lot of incentive for tax collectors to over-charge and cheat any way they could. It was pure profit for them.” It was obviously a way to get rich quick.

Edwards (p. 83) adds concerning this subject: “The Mishnah and Talmud (although written later) register scathing judgments of tax collectors, lumping them together with thieves and murderers. A Jew who collected taxes was disqualified as judge or witness in court, expelled from the synagogue, and a cause of disgrace to his family (b. Sanh. 25b).”

16 Guzik, Commentary on Mark vs. 13-14.

“There is archaeological evidence that fish taken from the Sea of Galilee were taxed. So Jesus took as His disciple the taxman that may have been taking money from Peter, James, and John and the other fishermen among the disciples. This might have made for some awkward introductions!”

See also Pett’s comments on v. 4:21.

34 Barnes, Commentary on Mark, v. 4:21.

35 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 118.

36 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 58.

37 Prophecy Today , Jan/Feb 1998, p. 11.

38 Quoted in Coffman, v. 4:22.

39 Quoted in Coffman, vs. 4:23-24.

40 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 121.

41 Quoted in Edwards, p. 141.

42 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 4:24.

43 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 142, citing Thiessen.

44 Ibid., pp. 129-130.

Davies adds: “Jesus here seeks to point out, first, that there is a mysterious divine element working in spiritual growth as well as in natural growth; and second, that in the spiritual realm one must wait on God’s time.” (Davies, p. 1006).

Guzik says: “Man has done what he could do – plant the seed; and God has done what only He can do: grow the seed.” (Guzik, p. 26-29).

45 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 112.

46 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 4:30-32.

47 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 324.

48 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 101.

49 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 126.

50 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 4:35.

51 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, pp. 147-148.

“Ironically, the only place in the Gospels that we hear of Jesus sleeping is during a storm…” (Edwards, p. 149).

52 Rousseau & Arav, Jesus and His World, pp. 27-28.

53 Ibid., p. 29.

54 Nun, The Sea of Galilee and Its Fishermen In The New Testament, p. 54.

55 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 4:38.

Also Pett, in his remarks on vs. 37-38 comments on this.

56 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 63.

57 Ibid., p. 65.

58 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 150.

59 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 4:39.

60 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 4:40-41.

CHAPTER 5

1 Lightfoot, Commentary on Mark, v. 5:1.

2 Pixner, With Jesus Through Galilee According to the Fifth Gospel, p. 44.

3 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 154.

“We cannot say for certain, but a town named Gergesa apparently existed on the northeast shore of the lake. Both Origen…and Eusebius…identified the swine miracle with a town named Gergesa on the eastern side of the lake…”

Guelich adds here, “The superior witnesses support the reading of Gerasenes.” (Guelich, p. 275).

4 See Kursi National Park http://www.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?Cat=~25~~352845344~Card12~&ru=&SiteName=parks&Clt=&Bur=569948287

5 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 154.

6 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 5:1-5.

7 Francis MacNutt, Deliverance From Evil Spirits, A Practical Manual (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1995), p. 67.

8 Derek Prince, They Shall Expel Demons (Grand Rapids: Chosen Books, 1998), p. 16.

9 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 5:1-8.

10 Donahue, Mark, Harper’s Bible Commentary, p. 990.

11 Adam Clarke, Commentary on Mark, The Adam Clarke Commentary, http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=mr&chapter=005. 1832, v. 5.

12 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 157.

13 Davies, Mark, Abingdon Bible Commentary, p. 1006.

14 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 5:9-13.

15 Norman L. Geisler & Frank Turek, I Don’t Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist, (Wheaton IL: Crossway Books, 2004), p. 190.

16 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 158.

“About two miles south of Kursi/Gergesa a ridge extends from the eastern slopes of the Decapolis practically to the lake.”

17 Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, p. 284.

18 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 159.

19 Ibid.

20 Perhaps we need a note on Decapolis, regarding the territory involved in this designation. The name “Decapolis” meant “the Ten Cities.” The Decapolis was essentially a Greek area containing ten towns mostly on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. The names of the cities were Scythopolis, Pella, Dion, Gerasa, Philadelphia, Gadara, Raphana, Kanatha, Hippos and Damascus. Hippos was near the eastern coastline of the Sea of Galilee. The capital of Decapolis was Scythopolis, the only city on the western side of the Jordan River. This city today has been largely excavated and is open to the public. These cities came about due to the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century BC.

21 Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, p. 295, “Jairus translates Ya-ir.”

22 Ibid.

Also see Edwards pp. 161-162 and Barclay p. 146 on this subject.

23 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 36.

24 Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, p. 296.

25 Lightfoot, Commentary on Mark, vs. 5:25-29.

26 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 164.

27 Quoted in Guzik, vs. 5:30-31.

28 Ibid., pp. 25-34.

29 To hear this beautiful old hymn go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q_-jVbpLFM

30 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 165.

31 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 35.

Edwards gives us some information on this position. He says: “A ruler of the synagogue was the president or ‘head’ of the local Jewish worshiping community. The ruler of the synagogue, accordingly, was not a worship leader or a professionally trained scribe or rabbi, but a lay member of a synagogue who was entrusted by the elders of the community with general oversight of the synagogue and orthodoxy of teaching. His responsibilities included building maintenance and security, procuring the scrolls for Scripture reading, and arranging of Sabbath worship by designating Scripture readers, prayer, and preachers.” (Edwards, p. 61).

32 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 166.

33 Ibid., p. 167.

34 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 155-156.

35 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 5:39-40.

36 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 5:40.

37 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 157.

38 See the Talitha Kumi Memorial, https://www.google.com/search?q=Talitha+Kumi+Memorial&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjevr_6q5DeAhWs7IMKHf1wB9YQsAR6BAgGEAE&biw=1134&bih=604

CHAPTER 6

1 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 169.

2 Ibid., p. 171.

3 Ibid., p. 170.

4 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 6:1-3, citing Lane.

Edwards remarks here: “Calling a person the son of a woman, as the Nazarenes do here, was not normal in Judaism, and was almost certainly insulting.” (Edwards, p. 172).

5 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 172.

6 Quoted in Guzik, vs. 6:1-3.

7 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 6:4.

8 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 162.

9 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 169.

10 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 6:5-6.

Davies adds here a saying that was found in the Oyrhynchus Logia… “No prophet is popular in his native town and no physician effects cures among his friends.” (Davies, p. 1007).

11 Ibid., v. 6:7.

12 Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, p. 322.

13 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 180.

14 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 6:8.

“That a staff was allowed (though not the purchase of one) is clear from Mark’s account.”

15 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 6:7-13.

This author cites Liefield to say that the forbidden bag may have had reference to the kind of bag often used for begging by itinerant philosophers and religious mendicants.

16 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 162-165.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid., p. 165.

19 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 6:10.

20 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 181.

21 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 166.

22 John D. Hannah, Our Legacy, The History of Christian Doctrine (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 2001), p. 341.

23 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, vs. 6:12-13.

24 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 184.

25 Ibid.

26 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 6:14-29.

27 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, pp. 176, 183.

28 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 177.

29 Ibid., p. 172.

30 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 81.

31 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 176.

See also Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 6:17-29.

32 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 84.

33 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 187.

34 Quoted in Guzik, vs. 6:17-29.

35 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 6:29.

36 Clarke, Commentary on Mark, vs. 6:30-34.

37 Pixner, With Jesus Through Galilee According to the Fifth Gospel, p. 36.

38 Ibid., pp. 69-70.

39 Donahue, Mark, Harper’s Bible Commentary, p. 992.

40 Susanna Heschel, ed., Abraham Joshua Heschel in Moral Grandeur & Spiritual Audacity, essays edited by Susanna Heschel, (NY: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1996).

41 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 191.

42 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 183.

43 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 6:35-44.

44 Jamieson, Commentary on Mark, Commentary Critical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible, v. 6:34.

45 Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, p. 341.

See also Barclay, p. 182 on this explanation.

46 Jamieson, Commentary on Mark, Commentary Critical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible, v. 6:40.

47 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 6:41.

See also Edwards, p. 192 for explanation of this blessing.

48 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 82.

49 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 6:35-44.

50 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 6:43.

51 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 182.

“No orthodox Jew travelled without his basket (kophinos). The Romans made a jest of the Jew and his basket…very orthodox Jew carried his own food…The reason that there were twelve baskets is simply that there were twelve disciples. It was into their own baskets that they frugally gathered up the fragments.”

52 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 6:46.

53 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 194.

54 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, vs. 44-45.

55 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 197.

56 Ibid., p. 198.

57 Ibid.

Coffman adds regarding verse 50, “Mark intended his readers to identify Jesus with the Lord, the divine I AM of Exodus 3:14. The phrase occurs often in John, and with theological overtones (John 6:85; 8:12; 10:7; 11:25; 14:6). Mark uses the phrase two other times, in Mark 13:6 and Mark 14:62.”

58 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 6:51-52.

CHAPTER 7

1 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 108-109.

Stedman injects here the procedure for washing hands. The hands had to be held out, palms up, hands cupped slightly, and water poured over them. Then the fist of one hand was used to scrub the other, and then the other fist would scrub the first hand. This is why the fist is mentioned here. Finally the hands again were held out, with palms down, and water was poured over them a second time to cleanse away the dirty water the defiled hands had been scrubbed with.” (Stedman, vs. 7:1-5).

2 Rabbi Israel Meir Lau, Practical Judaism, (Tel Aviv: Modan Publishing House Ltd., 1997), p. 84.

3 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 7:1-5.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid., citing Wiersbe.

6 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, pp. 206, 207.

Edwards quoting Nuesner says, “…If you touch a reptile, you may not be dirty, but you are unclean. If you undergo a ritual immersion you may not be free of dirt, but you are clean.”

7 Ibid., p. 208.

8 Quoted in Guzik (vs. 7:6-9).

Pett adds here that this was the beginning of something serious. He notes that in Mark’s own day the church was under harassment by Judaisers who claimed that their legalistic way was the right way (vs. 7:1-16).

9 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 209.

10 Quoted in Stedman (vs. 7:1-4).

11 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 211.

12 Lau, Practical Judaism, pp. 297-98.

13 Ibid., pp. 146-147.

14 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 211.

Note: Modern Greek New Testaments omit verse 16.

15 Quoted in Guzik vs. 7:14-16.

16 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 7:18-19.

17 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 213.

18 Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, p. 378.

Edwards adds: “Finally, the editorial addendum to v. 19 that ‘Jesus declared all foods clean’ makes clear for Mark’s Roman readers that the matters of ceremonial cleansing and kosher foods, so important to observant Jews, are not binding for followers of Jesus.” ( Edwards, p. 204).

We need to be clear that when Jesus gave his teaching on clean and unclean things he was not implying that all the food laws should be done away with. That would come much later in the days of Mark and the early church. We can be certain that Jesus kept the food laws.

Pett remarks about this saying: “At first sight this seems to suggest that Jesus is discounting the Old Testament teaching on foods which were ‘unclean’. But nothing was further from his mind. His statement was not intended to deal with that question. It was intended to be general rather than specific. There is no doubt in fact that he did abstain from, and would at this stage have accepted that other Jews should abstain from, ‘unclean’ food as described in Leviticus 11.” (Pett, vs. 7:14-15).

19 Michael Reagan with Jim Denney, Twice Adopted (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2004), p. 210.

“The most recent studies available suggest that one out of every two people-that’s fifty percent of the people sitting in our pews-are looking at and/or could be addicted to Internet pornography.”

20 Natasha Vargas-Cooper, ““Hard Core-The New World of Porn is Revealing Eternal Truths About Men and Women,” The Atlantic, Jan/Feb 2011, p. 99.

21 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 201.

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid., p. 202.

24 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 213.

25 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 202.

26 Ibid., p. 203.

27 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 216.

28 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 110.

29 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 204.

30 Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, p. 384.

31 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 207.

32 Ibid., p. 205.

33 Ibid., p. 203.

34 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 222.

35 Marcus, Mark 1-8, The Anchor Bible p. 470.

36 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 219.

37 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 92.

38 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 207.

39 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 110.

40 Jameison citing Bengel, vs. 7:28-29.

41 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 224.

42 Ibid.

43 Davies, Mark, Abingdon Bible Commentary, p. 1009.

See also Marcus, p. 473 who agrees on this subject.

44 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 226.

CHAPTER 8

1 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 213.

2 Davies, Mark, Abingdon Bible Commentary, p. 1009.

“In the one case the basket is a Jewish basket (Gk. Cophinos) and in the other a Gentile basket (Gk. Spuris or sphuris).”

3 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 230.

“The Greek word for ‘compassion,’ splangnizomai, comes from splangnon meaning entrails or vital organs….being moved deeply within, in the seat of emotions (Mat 9:36)… expresses Jesus’ gut-wrenching emotion on behalf of the crowd.”

4 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 8:3.

5 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 8:1-10.

Utley adds: “What the Greek really says is, ‘… he kept on breaking them’— and the disciples kept on feeding the multitude” (see also Utley, p. 98).

6 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 8:1-10.

Donahue enhances: “We cannot miss the point that the gospel is now going out to the Gentiles.” (Donahue, p. 993).

Stedman also says: “The Gentiles can now feast on the true bread sent down from heaven (Jn. 6:41). The ‘seven’ loaves speak of Jesus’ completeness and full manifestation to Gentiles.” (Stedman, vs. 8:1-10).

7 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 228.

8 Ibid., p. 228.

“The kophinos (or cophinos) of the first feeding in 6:43 may have been smaller, perhaps of stiff wicker, whereas the spyris in 8:8 is larger and of more flexible mat.”

9 Ibid., p. 231.

10 Ibid., p. 234.

11 Ibid., p. 229.

12 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 8:11-13.

13 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 236.

14 Quoted in Barclay p. 215.

15 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 112.

16 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 506.

17 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 8:14-21.

Wiersbe adds here (p. 112) “The Bible uses leaven as a picture of false doctrine (Gal. 5:1-9), unjudged sin in the church (1 Cor. 5), and hypocrisy (Lk. 12:1)…The Pharisees ‘said but they did not’ in other words, they practiced and encouraged hypocrisy…The Herodians were a worldly group who catered to Herod, accepted the Roman way of life, and saw in Herod and his rule the promised kingdom for the Jewish nation.”

18 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, vs. 8:14-15.

19 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 240.

20 Ibid. p. 237.

21 Charisma Magazine, Feb. 2006.

22 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 111.

23 Davies, Mark, Abingdon Bible Commentary, p. 1010.

24 Rousseau & Arav, Jesus and His World, p. 19.

25 Quoted in Rousseau & Arav. p. 20.

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

28 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 219-220.

29 Clarke, Commentary on Mark, v. 8:23.

Barclay remarks here: “Jesus used methods that the man could understand. The ancient world believed in the healing power of spittle…we remember that it is a first instinct to put a cut or burned finger into our mouth to ease the pain.” (Barclay, p. 220).

30 Guelich, Mark 1-8:26, p. 436.

31 Donahue, Mark, Harper’s Bible Commentary, p. 994.

32 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 245.

33 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 27-28.

“Nearby was a Temple of Augustus, built by Herod the Great, and an ancient shrine dedicated earlier to Baal and then to Pan, the god of nature, whom many claimed was born in a cavern there. Thus it was a center of Emperor and Roman worship and of primitive nature religion…it was in this vicinity that Jesus should test what the disciples thought about him.”

34 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 223.

35 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 114.

36 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 253.

37 Ibid., p. 254.

38 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 113.

39 Eusebius Pamphilus, Ecclesiastical History, Book III, Chapter 1.

40 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 103.

41 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 113.

42 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 8:33.

43 http://www.theopedia.com/Dietrich_Bonhoeffer

Guzik quoting Clarke on verse 35 says: “If Jesus Christ had come into the world as a mighty and opulent man, clothed with earthly glories and honours, he would have had a multitude of partisans, and most of them hypocrites.”

44 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 257.

45 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 238.

46 Cited in Barclay pp. 236-237.

47 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, v. 8:34.

CHAPTER 9

1 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 630.

2 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 260.

A number of commentators feel that Jesus is not talking about his Parousia or second coming in this passage. Coffman (comments on v. 1) says the passage “has reference to an event which occurred in that generation, now nineteen centuries in the past… There is no need whatever to construe Mark 9:1 as a reference to the second coming of Christ or the beginning of the glorious phase of the kingdom. The great preachers of the Restoration have long held Mark 9:1 to be a prophecy of the establishment of the church on the first Pentecost after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

Barclay adds (p. 241), “But this is not a reference to the second coming at all.” Edwards agrees (p. 259) saying: “It is doubtful that the statement in 9:1 is necessarily a reference to the Parousia.”

3 Many scholars feel that the weight of evidence points to Mt. Hermon (Edwards, Utley, Coffman, Lightfoot). Josephus informs us that in the first century Mt. Tabor was inhabited and surrounded by a wall (Edwards. p. 263). Tabor is not really a mountain but a hill close to Nazareth. It would have provided little privacy for Jesus and his disciples. In addition, the scripture makes plain that Jesus was in the area of Mt. Hermon just before the transfiguration.

4 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 602.

5 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 243.

6 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 108.

7 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, v. 9:2. ff.

8 Ibid., v. 9:5.

9 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 9:5-10.

10 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 9:5.

11 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 268.

12 Ibid., p. 273.

13 Craig A. Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20 (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2001), p. 50.

“Up to this point in the Markan narrative, the scribes are critical but not dangerous.. As the review of the material just undertaken shows, the scribes become increasingly threatening as Jesus enters Judea and especially Jerusalem.”

14 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 276.

15 Some commentators feel that Jesus still reflected a glow from his transfiguration but this seems unlikely since it would seem to nullify the Lord’s injunction to secrecy that was just imposed upon the three disciples (Coffman, v.9:15).

16 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 277.

17 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, pp. 14, 49.

18 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p 111. See also Steadman’s comments on verse 14.

Marcus (p. 652) also comments on epilepsy: “In ancient paganism, epilepsy was often referred to as ‘the sacred disease,’ though there was no unanimity about the reason for this nomenclature; some thought it was because the malady was sent by a god.”

Coffman on vs. 9:16-18 says: “The symptoms certainly suggest epilepsy; but the Greek word which describes it is literally “moonstruck” and much more reasonably bears the translation “lunatic.” (Both the Emphatic Diaglott and the Nestle Greek text concur in this).

19 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 278.

20 Quoted in Guzik, vs. 9:19-27.

21 Quoted in Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 123.

22 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 654.

23 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 9:28-29.

24 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 254.

25 Jamieson, Commentary on Mark, Commentary Critical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible, v. 9:29.

26 Quoted in Guzik vs. 9:14-18.

27 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 283.

28 Marcus, Mark 1-8, p. 659.

29 Quoted in Edwards p. 287.

30 Quoted in Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 126.

31 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 61.

32 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 261.

33 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 9:38-42.

34 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 263.

35 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 9:38.

36 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 291.

37 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 9:42.

38 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 115.

39 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 70.

40 David Kupelian, The Marketing of Evil, (Nashville: WND Books, 2005), p. 78.

41 Ibid., p. 131.

42 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 294.

Also Oden (p. 130) warns us that the early fathers of the church cautioned against taking this verse in a purely literal way. In such interpretation we would fail to hear the meaning of scripture.

43 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 72.

44 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 269.

45 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 9:43.

46 Quoted in Guzik vs. 9:43-48.

47 Clarke, Commentary on Mark, v. 9:49.

48 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 271.

49 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 3-4.

“Papias, the bishop of Hierapolis (about A.D. 130), wrote Interpretation of the Lord’s Sayings, which is quoted by Eusebius (A.D. 275-339) in his Ecclesiastical History 3:39:15. He asserts that Mark was Peter’s interpreter who recorded accurately, but not chronologically, Peter’s memories of Jesus. Apparently Mark took and adapted Peter’s sermons and organized them into a gospel presentation. Papias claims to have received this information from ‘the elder,’ which could refer to the Apostle John. Justin Martyr (A.D. 150), in quoting Mark 3:17, adds that it comes from Peter’s memory…The Anti-Marcionite Prologue to Mark, written about A.D. 180, identifies Peter as the eyewitness of Mark’s gospel. It also states that Mark wrote the gospel from Italy after Peter’s death (traditionally in Rome around A.D.65).”

50 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 296.

51 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 274.

Pett asks the question concerning v. 9:49-50: “How can its saltiness then be restored? The answer expected is, it cannot. It is therefore essential that those who are salt retain their saltiness by a life of trust and obedience, and by dealing violently with sin.”

CHAPTER 10

1 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 121.

2 Lightfoot, Commentary on Mark, John Lightfoot Commentary on the Gospels, v. 10:1.

3 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 10:1-2.

4 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 276.

5 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 117.

Here Barclay fills us in on Jewish law in Jesus time. He says: “In Jewish law a woman was regarded as a thing. She had no legal rights whatever but was at the complete disposal of the male head of the family. The result was that a man could divorce his wife on almost any grounds, while there were very few on which a woman could seek divorce. At best she could only ask her husband to divorce her.” (Barclay, p. 276).

6 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 301 .

7 Ibid.

8 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 10:3-9.

9 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 117.

10 Christian Broadcasting Network, as reported on Nov. 18, 2010.

11 Reagan with Jim Denney, Twice Adopted , p. 82.

12 Barna Report, http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/15-familykids/42-new-marriage-and-divorce-statistics-released.

“In fact, when evangelicals and non-evangelical born again Christians are combined into an aggregate class of born again adults, their divorce figure is statistically identical to that of non-born again adults: 32% versus 33%, respectively.”

It is clear from the writings of the early church that Christians then took a stern view toward divorce. Oden (p. 136) quotes from the early writer Clement of Alexandria who said of divorce: “Guilt in this does not attach merely to the man who divorces her. It attaches also to the man who takes her on, since he provides the starting point for the woman’s sin.”

13 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 84.

Wiersbe says on this subject: “If a newly married husband discovered that his wife was not a virgin, then he could put her away…The law of Moses did not give adultery as grounds for divorce, for, in Israel, the adulterer and adulteress were stoned to death (Deut. 22:22).” (Wiersbe, p. 117).

Guzik adds: “To this permission for divorce, Paul adds the case of abandonment by an unbelieving spouse (1 Corinthians 7:15). (Guzik, vs. 10:1-12).

14 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 297.

15 Donahue, Mark, Harper’s Bible Commentary, p. 996.

16 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 298.

17 Genesis Rabba (B’reshith Rabba), 68:4.

18 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 307.

19 Ibid., p. 306.

20 Ibid.

Evans adds here: “The child is not being idealized (as often thought in the western world), for the child was not held in high regard in late antiquity. Indeed, parents had the power of life and death over the very young.” (Evans, p. 94). 21 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, pp. 13-31.

22 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 307.

23 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 282.

24 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 94.

25 David W. Bercot, Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up, A New Look at Today’s Evangelical Church in the Light of Early Christianity (Tyler, TX: Scroll Publishing, 1989), p. 80.

26 Ibid., p. 81.

27 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 118.

“If the disciples had been accustomed to baptizing infants, they certainly would not have turned the people away.”

Coffman (vs. 10:13-14) adds a comment saying: “Here is no allusion to baptism; and here was his golden opportunity if he had ever wished baptism to be associated with infants.”

28 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 124.

29 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 309.

30 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 125.

31 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs.10:17-18.

Pett enhances saying, “In Jewish circles it was almost unique. Goodness was seen as belonging only to God.” (Pett, v. 10:17).

32 Ibid., vs. 10:19-22.

33 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 312.

34 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p.142.

35 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 312.

36 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 118.

37 Stephen Mansfield, ReChurch: Healing Your Way Back to the People of God (Carol Stream IL: Tyndale House, 2010), p. 82.

38 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 101.

“Wealth, after all, was often understood as an indicator of covenant blessing, not as an obstacle to covenant fulfillment.”

On this subject Barclay adds: “Popular Jewish morality was simple. It believed that prosperity was the sign of a good man.” (Barclay, p. 286).

39 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 146.

40 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 10:23-27.

41 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 314.

42 Ibid., p. 316.

43 Ibid.

44 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 10:41.

45 Jamieson, Commentary on Mark, Commentary Critical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible, v. 10:33.

46 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 10:32-34.

47 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 116.

48 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, v. 10:35.

49 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 150.

50 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 295-296.

51 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 149.

52 Ibid., p. 151.

53 Stedman, Mark: He Came To Serve, vs. 10:32-52.

54 G. Abbot-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (Edinburg, T&T

Clark., 1960, p.273.

55 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 135.

56 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 300-301.

57 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 120

For additional information on Jericho see Utley, p. 137 and Rousseau & Arav, pp. 132-135.

58 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 152.

59 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 330.

60 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 302-303.

61 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 330.

62 Ibid., pp. 328-329.

63 Ibid., p. 331.

64 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 10:46-52.

CHAPTER 11

1 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 11:7.

2 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 155.

3 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 141.

4 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 306-307.

5 Ibid., p. 306.

6 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 332.

7 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 308.

Clarke (v. 11:2) gives us some extra information on the sacred use of animals. He says, “No animal was allowed to be employed in sacred uses, even among the heathen, that had previously been used for any domestic or agricultural purpose; and those which had never been yoked were considered as sacred.”

8 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 142.

9 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 11:7-11.

10 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 142.

11 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 144.

“The tall grass cut from fields may have been reeds or stalks of grain…Mark’s stibadas are not the same as Matthew’s kladous apo twn Dendron, “branches from the trees (21:8).”

12 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 156.

13 Jamieson, Commentary on Mark, Commentary Critical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible, v. 11:11.

“It was not now safe for the Lord to sleep in the city, nor, from the day of His Triumphal Entry, did He pass one night in it, save the last fatal one.”

14 Clarke, Commentary on Mark, v. 11:12.

15 See, http://mutated-unmuated.blogspot.com/2007/05/figs.html12-13

16 Fig Fruit Facts, breba crop http://www.crfg.org/pubs/ff/fig.html

17 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 339.

“After the fig harvest from mid-August to mid-October, the branches of fig trees sprout buds that remain undeveloped throughout the winter. These buds swell into small green knops known in Hebrew as paggim in March-April, followed shortly by the sprouting of leaf buds on the same branches usually in April. The fig tree thus produces fig knops before it produces leaves. Once a fig tree is in leaf one therefore expects to find branches loaded with paggim in various stages of maturation.”

18 Ibid., p. 338.

19 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 154.

20 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 144.

See also Associates For Biblical Research on the tyrian shekel. http://www.biblearchaeology.org/post/2006/11/the-tyrian-shekel-and-the-temple-of-jerusalem.aspx#Article

21 Ibid.

Evans (pp. 174-175) relates this account: “The Mishnah tells of one occasion when pigeons were being sold, apparently within the temple precincts, at many times the normal cost. In angry protest to this exorbitant overcharge, Simeon ben Gamaliel began to teach that women could offer a pair of pigeons for as many as five live births or miscarriages and then be eligible to take part fully in the feasts. We are told that in response to Simeon’s teaching the price of pigeons went down suddenly and dramatically. (M. IKer. 1:7).”

22 Quoted in Barclay p. 319.

23 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 180.

24 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 144.

25 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 346.

26 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 121.

27 Larry D. Hart, Truth Aflame, A Balanced Theology for Evangelicals and Charismatics (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999), p. 112.

28 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, v. 11:19 ff.

“Forgiveness was always intended to be central to God’s deliverance and salvation (compare Matthew 6.14-15; 18.15-35; Isaiah 43.25; 44.22).”

Utley adds this note on the normal prayer position for Jews: “‘Whenever you stand praying…’ The normal posture for prayer was standing with the eyes open and the head and arms lifted upward. They prayed as if in dialogue with God.” (Utley, p. 147).

29 http://www.online-literature.com/tennyson/promise-of-may/3/

30 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 199.

31 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, pp. 324-325.

32 Ibid., p. 325.

33 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 123.

34 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 164.

CHAPTER 12

1 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 354.

2 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 327.

3 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 355.

4 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 328.

5 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 12:1-8, citing Morris.

Wiersbe adds here: “In order to retain his legal rights to the property, the owner had to receive produce from the tenants…This explains why the tenants refused to give him anything…It also explains why the owner continued to send agents to them; it was purely a question of authority and ownership.” (Wiersbe, p. 123).

6 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 232.

7 Ibid., p. 233.

8 Utley, The Gospel According to Peter: Mark and I & II Peter, p. 151.

9 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 358.

10 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 123.

11 Quoted in Guzik vs. 1-8.

12 Coffman, Commentary on Mark, vs. 12:1-7.

Edwards (p. 359) sums up the situation well saying: “No longer content with the owner’s produce (v. 2), the farmers go for his property as well…If humanity can dispense with God, or even kill God, then humanity can become God…What is the sum total of human history if not the attempt to rid the universe of God.”

13 Ibid., v. 12:9.

Barclay injects this thought: “The parable has in it the whole germ of what was to come- the rejection of the Jews and the passing of their privileges and responsibilities to the Gentiles.” (Barclay, p. 329).

14 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 359.

15 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 238.

16 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 12:10-11.

17 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 330.

18 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 239.

19 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 331.

20 Ibid., p. 332.

21 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 12:13-17.

Utley writes concerning the poll tax (p. 155): “This was a transliteration of the Latin term ‘census.’ It was a head tax which Rome placed on all conquered peoples…[an] empire-wide tax (i.e., A.D. 6-20) on males fourteen years through sixty-five years and on women twelve to sixty-five…”

22 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 147.

23 Oden, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, p. 167.

24 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 12:15-17.

25 Quoted in Guzik vs. 12:15-17.

26 Evans, Word Biblical Commentary, Mark 8:27—16:20, p. 252.

27 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 336.

28 Guzik, Commentary on Mark, vs. 12:18-23.

29 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 366.

“In the Apocrypha, the book of Tobit tells the story of a woman who married seven men and remained childless (3:7-15) – a story that may have inspired the fantastic plot proposed by the Sadducees to Jesus.”

30 Ibid., p. 367.

31 Jamieson, Commentary on Mark, Commentary Critical and Explanatory
on the Whole Bible, v. 12:25.

32 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 124.

33 Barnes, Commentary on Mark, v. 12:25.

34 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 368.

35 Quoted in Barclay p. 341.

36 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 12:29-31.

37 Edwards, The Gospel According to Mark, p. 371.

“God lays rightful claim to every facet of human personality: heart (=emotions), soul; (=spirit), mind (= intelligence), and strength (= will)…Both the Hebrew and Greek versions of Deut. 6:4-5 describe a threefold response to God – heart, soul, and strength. Mark quotes Jesus adding a fourth response, the love of God with one’s whole mind or understanding.”

38 Barnes, Commentary on Mark, v. 12:32.

39 Wiersbe, The Wiersbe Bible Commentary, p. 124.

40 Quoted in Edwards, p. 375.

41 Ibid., p. 376.

Barclay adds here, “The Jews at this time assumed that all the Psalms came from the hand of David. They also held that this Psalm referred to the coming Messiah…All through the NT, the conviction that Jesus was in fact the Son of David in his physical descent occurs (Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8; Matt. 1:1-17; Lk. 3:23-38).” (Barclay, p. 347).

42 Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, p. 347.

43 Pett, Commentary on the Gospel of Mark, vs. 12:35-37.

CHAPTER 16

Notes

Scripture