Here comes the third and final question asked by those seeking to have Jesus stumble over his words. As the water begins to increase, the bubbles form on the bottom of the pot; the conflict continues to grow, with no sign of it stopping. Eventually, this conflict would bubble over. The Pharisees came to Jesus and asked about taxes, the Sadducees came to Jesus and asked about marriage in heaven, and now it is the Scribes who come and ask

When boiling water for cooking, you can see the temperature increase as small air pockets form on the bottom of the pot, and as they begin to increase, you know the temperature of the water is rising. Eventually, the water starts to bubble and move rapidly; steam begins to rise from the pot. Jesus had dealt with conflict throughout his ministry; on these occasions, they would seem as if the bubbles were forming on the bottom of the pot, then

A 1997 Peanuts comic strip of the beloved Snoopy begins in the first frame with Snoopy sitting at his typewriter on top of his kennel. "Dear IRS," Snoopy starts to write, "I am writing to you to cancel my subscription. Please remove my name from your mailing list." Taxes are never a fun topic; I have never met an excited person about paying taxes. Without getting into a whole different topic, I will do what I always do, work our

The conflict continues to grow, and the tension in the air could be cut with a knife. The religious leaders have sought to destroy Jesus; however, the opportune time has not come up for them, and through God's providence, neither has Christ's time come. The religious leaders have tested Jesus before (Mark 8:11). Jesus had come to Jerusalem and rebuked the leaders, pointing them to the 'den of robbers' which they had set up in the court of the Gentiles.

Last week we saw the living parable of the fig tree as a representation of the temple. The temple was that of the rotten figs that could not be eaten and not the good ripe figs. Mark sandwiched the cleansing of the temple with this living parable of the fig tree. This week we will be looking at the lesson from the fig tree. After returning to Bethany for the night, they walk past the fig tree that Jesus had

Following the anti-climactic entry of Jesus, who arrived at the Temple, no one was there. The Temple is one of the important themes in the following chapters. Jesus has finally arrived in Jerusalem, and the conflict continues to rise between the Pharisees and chief priests. The disciples have been told three times what will happen to Jesus (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34). The conflict has continued throughout the Gospel of Mark. We, as readers, have known the plan of the Pharisees

Right at the very beginning of the study of the Gospel of Mark, I explained that the outline of the Gospel of Mark is based upon geographical sections. The first half deals with Jesus' ministry and conflict in Galilee, while the second half (following Peter's confession) deals with Jesus' ministry and conflict in Jerusalem. Following Peter's confession, Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. Chapter 11 begins Jesus' ministry and conflict in Jerusalem. Possibly a more correct statement would be

The contrast within these passages is quite striking. Jesus finished his teaching after meeting with the rich young ruler and said, "But many who are first will be last, and the last first" (Mark 10:31). Then Jesus tells his disciples why the Son of Man came to earth (Mark 10:32-34). Yet we are reminded, again, that the disciples just still do not get it. This passage shows the contrast to who the disciples thought they were following. Jesus talks about

The third time the charm. This is the third and final time that Jesus tells his disciples plainly what the Son of Man came to do (Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34). We have made a few comments about this as we have gone through this study, but it is worth pausing in this passage to reflect more on this amazing passage. Out of the three times in Mark, Jesus tells the disciples what the Son of Man came to do. This