When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” At once Jesus perceived in his...

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way; 
the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” As we’ll see throughout this gospel, Mark is very influenced...

The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I don’t know if he knew it or not, but Mark was actually inventing a whole new literary category with this opening sentence. Actually, it’s not even a sentence – no verb – but more of a phrase, almost a title. But with it...

As fast-paced as it is brief, the Gospel According to Mark feels a little more like the evening news than it does a biography. Indeed, Mark’s story comes across as a crash course in the essentials about what it is to be a follower of Jesus. And what a course! Read through the gospel...