Mark 6:30-44 “Notice what you notice.” Mark’s account of the feeding of the 5,000… Mark reports on the same prior activities as Matthew – the disciples being sent out and the beheading of John the Baptist. But Mark does not mention John’s disciples coming to tell Jesus the news. Instead, today’s reading in Mark begins …
Author Archives: Fred
May 15 / Matt. 14:13-21
Matthew 14:13-21 “Notice what you notice.” Matthew’s account of the feeding of the 5,000… We can guess that Jesus is still in Galilee. Most recently we have read the accounts of the beheading of John the Baptist; before that was Jesus sending out His disciples and He Himself going into cities in Galilee (Matthew 11:1). …
May 14 / Luke 3:19-20; 9:7-9
Luke 3:19-20, 9:7-9 “Notice what you notice.” Luke’s account of the death of John the Baptist… Luke has very little to say about John’s death, only that Herod acknowledged having beheaded him, but with no more details. There is one sentence that has always struck me – the whole of our reading from chapter 3: …
May 13 / Mark 6:14-29
Mark 6:14-29 “Notice what you notice.” Mark’s account of the death of John the Baptist… Today I find myself wondering about Herodias, about her vendetta against John the Baptist. Earlier verses have John telling Herod, It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife (v. 18) and of Herod’s fear that Jesus was …
May 12 / Matt. 14:1-12
Matthew 14:1-12 “Notice what you notice.” The death of John the Baptist… There is a lot of reflecting someone could do about all the elements of this story. John speaking out and challenging Herod… The whole issue of Herod’s and Herodias’ relationship… Herod having the authority to imprison John, presumably without trial… Herod’s ability to …
May 11 / Matt. 10:32-11:1
Matthew 10:32-11:1 “Notice what you notice.” Today we again continue Matthew’s account of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples. And again, Jesus has some harsh words for them – not harsh toward them, but harsh toward the world and their enemies. This is especially true of the paragraph beginning with Jesus saying, Do not think that …
May 10 / Matt. 10:16-31
Matthew 10:16-31 “Notice what you notice.” Two days ago we interrupted Matthew’s very long account of Jesus’ sending out the twelve apostles so that we could read the more parallel passages in Mark and Luke. Today we continue Matthew’s account of Jesus’ instructions to His disciples. Although we might have imagined our own version of …
May 9 / Luke 9:1-6
Luke 9:1-6 “Notice what you notice.” Today is Luke’s account of Jesus sending out the twelve apostles – also much shorter than Matthew’s. My Study Bible points to this reading as beginning a new phase in Jesus’ Galilean ministry. In the first phase He travels Galilee with Peter, Andrew, James, and John (see Mark 1:1-20, …
May 8 / Mark 6:7-13
Mark 6:7-13 “Notice what you notice.” Today is Mark’s account of Jesus sending out the twelve apostles – much shorter than Mathew’s!! Matthew has a long teaching session by Jesus as He sends out the twelve; Mark and Luke have only a few verses each. But Mark (and Luke) has closure that Matthew does not …
May 7 / Matt. 9:35-10:15
Matthew 9:35-10:15 “Notice what you notice.” A number of observations… First, it’s not clear where today’s account takes place. Matthew, Mark, and Luke (presumably) have Him in Galilee, while The Chronological Study Bible most recently had Him in Jerusalem. However, going about in the “cities and villages” (v. 9:35) is more consistent with Jesus’ operations …