Each lesson covers a good number of stories. Today covers Mark 1-2, among others. Mark is generally thought to be the earliest gospel, though not the earliest NT book. Paul’s letters were all written before the Gospels, with Galatians probably being the earliest book written. (NB: That’s the date of composition, not the date of the events described nor the date of our earliest manuscripts.) Mark’s gospel also uses rougher Greek, and a gospel of action. Note how many times “straightway”... Read more

This week’s assigned readings are something of a potpourri of miracle stories: healings, exorcisms, nature miracles, and two resuscitations, that of the son of the widow of Nain and the daughter of Jarius. Since this is one of the first lessons to take significant material from the Second Gospel, I begin there. The first reading is from Mark 1:14-15 (more…) Read more

My focus today is on a passage from Luke 4. In his hometown of Nazareth, Jesus gets up to read in the synagogue, and cites Isaiah 61 as being fulfilled. This goes over like a lead balloon as his once friends and neighbors “filled with rage…drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill… so that they might hurl him off the cliff.” (Luk 4:29 NRSV) Jesus remarks that “no prophet is accepted in... Read more

This week I read from the assigned passages in Luke, beginning with Jesus’ visit to the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth. These segments of Luke represents a shift from his source in Mark in a variety of ways, two of which are significant for my purposes. First, I read the passage as a whole, then I will return and focus specifically on the content of the passage from which Jesus reads.   (more…) Read more

Today I focus on Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, in John 3. Nicodemus was a “leader of the Jews” which strongly suggests he was a member of “the” Sanhedrin (Gr. synhedrion or “council”). The sanhedrin in Jerusalem, as it appears in the gospels, Josephus, and rabbinic literature, has been understood alternately as the high priests’ political council, the highest legislative body in Jewish Palestine, the supreme judicial court, the grand jury for important cases, the council of the Pharisaic school, and... Read more

Introduction One of the pericope assigned this week is the story of the first disciples in the Gospel of John, the third and fourth days of the first week of Jesus’ mortal ministry, in imitation of the preparation for the giving of the Law in Exodus 19 and Pentecost (1:35-51). Immediately before this section, on days one and two, two important things happen. First, John is accosted by representatives of Jewish leadership who wonder why he is baptizing. After denying... Read more

Come Follow Me has reordered and regrouped the reading from previous New Testament years. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to write completely all-new posts from scratch, so I’m going to try my best to adapt what I have. In today’s episode of Gospel non-harmony, let’s examine how Andrew and Peter were called. Matthew’s Version John’s Version 4:18 As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the... Read more

Third Lesson – again, only the Synoptic tradition is represented, this time by Matthew 2 and Luke 2. Thus, the six interrogations return differences in mostly nuance rather than major substance. This post is a reading of Matthew 2.  But why so early with this one? Well, I must repent for last week’s late posting. In my defense, I had a house guest who was introducing me to all sorts of debauchery such as staying up til 9 PM, eating... Read more

Second lesson. As with the first lesson, we read for what insight into these six questions may be found in the selected passage: What is wrong with human life? What does God intend to do about it? Who is Jesus that he can bring God’s plans to fruition? What sort of a community is gathered around Jesus? What sort of behaviors are expected of this community? What does this community expect in the future? Now I have been reliably informed... Read more

First lesson of 2015—where does the time go? As Ben said, I’m an exegete, and I teach scripture for both general education and religion majors. Since the latter will go on to study broader topics in religion, including systematics and spirituality, I push into a bit of theology to help prepare them for other classes in the Christian tradition. I think I will blog along with the GD lessons, at least as I have the time or energy to do... Read more