Jesus tells them that many will come in His name trying to lead others astray. Nation will rise against nation, and earthquakes and famine will abound. But that’s just the beginning. He tells them that they will be delivered up to councils and beaten in synagogues. Families will rise up against each other and “cause them to be put to death.” But watch out when the “abomination of desolation” occurs, spoken of by the prophet Daniel. Then people should flee to the mountains (without going back to get their cloaks or anything from their houses).

That’s when the real oppression will hit. And after that, the sun and moon will go dark, and the stars will fall from the sky. That’s when they “will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”

As for when exactly, Jesus says He doesn’t know:

“But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Watch, keep alert, and pray; for you don’t know when the time is.”

Chapter 14

It’s now two days before Passover and the chief priests and scribes are trying to figure out how to seize and kill Jesus before the feast (“because there might be a riot of the people.”) Jesus, meanwhile, is in Bethany at Simon the leper’s house. A woman comes in with a jar of extremely expensive, pure nard. She breaks the jar and pours the oil over Jesus’ head. Some watchers grumbled that the oil could have been sold and the proceeds used to help the poor. Jesus replies:

“Leave her alone. Why do you trouble her? She has done a good work for me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want to, you can do them good; but you will not always have me. She has done what she could. She has anointed my body beforehand for the burying.”

Judas Iscariot slips out and tells the chiefs he will deliver Jesus to them. They’re delighted and promise Judas money as payment.

The disciples, at Jesus’ command, go into the city, meet a man carrying a pitcher of water, follow him into a house and ask the master of the house where the Teacher and his disciples may eat the Passover. The master shows them a large room upstairs with everything furnished and ready. That evening, Jesus arrives for the meal. As they’re calmly eating, Jesus drops the bombshell:

“Most certainly I tell you, one of you will betray me–he who eats with me.”

They all say “Surely not I?” but Jesus just says it would have been better for the betrayer never to have been born. He then blesses some bread, breaks it and hands it to the 12:

“Take, eat. This is my body.”

He then gives them the cup from which to drink:

“This is my blood of the new covenant, with is poured out for many.”

After they sing a hymn, they head out to the Mount of Olives and Jesus tells them:

“All of you will be made to stumble because of me tonight, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ However, after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee.”

Peter says he will remain loyal, but Jesus says that before the rooster crows twice, Peter will deny Him three times. He takes Peter, James and John with Him and asks the to keep a lookout while He prays:

“Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Please remove this cup from me. However, not what I desire, but what you desire.”

Jesus finds the disciples who were supposed to be watching, asleep. He wakes them and returns to his prayer. Again, he finds them asleep. The third time he says,

“Sleep on now, and take your rest. It is enough. The hour has come. Behold, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Arise, let us be going. Behold, he who betrays me is at hand.”

Sure enough, Judas appears with a bunch of chief priests, scribes, and elders all carrying swords and clubs. Judas gives the “Judas Kiss” and Jesus is seized and taken to the court of the high priest. Peter follows from a distance and then mixes in with the officers “in the light of the fire.”

The council calls for witnesses against Jesus to put him to death, but all they get is a bunch of false testimonies that contradict each other. The high priest asks Him what he has to say about all this testimony, but Jesus stays quiet. Then the high priest asks him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Jesus answers:

“I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of the sky.”

This makes the high priest go berserk. He tears his clothes and says, “What further need have we of witnesses?” It’s blasphemy they all say and condemn Jesus to death. Some people start spitting on Him and beating Him with their fists.

Peter is down in the courtyard where he is spotted by a maid of the high priest. She recognizes him as one of Jesus’ followers. Peter denies it, the rooster crows. She then points him out to others nearby, “This is one of them.” Again, he denies it. Finally, some others say Peter’s speech shows he is a Galilean and that he is one of them. This time, Peter curses and swears “I don’t know this man of whom you speak.” The rooster crows a second time.

Chapter 15

The next morning, the chief priests bind Jesus and take him to Pontius Pilate. They accuse Him of many things, but when Pilate asks Jesus about the claims, He remains silent. At the feast, Pilate always releases a prisoner to the multitudes. Knowing that jealousy is behind the chief priests’ actions, Pilate asks the crowd, “Do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” No, the crowd wants Barabbas (as they were persuaded to do by the priests). When Pilate asks what he should do with Jesus, the throng bellows “Crucify him!” Pilate answers:

“Why, what evil has he done?”

But the crowd will not be turned, so Pilate hands over Jesus. Soldiers flog Him, dress Him in purple, and put a crown of thorns on His head. “Hail, King of the Jews!” This sarcasm is followed by spitting and beating. They then remove the purple clothes, and put His old clothes back on Him.

They take Him to Golgotha (“the place of a skull”) to be crucified. They offer him wine mixed with myrrh, but Jesus declines to drink. In the third hour, they crucified Him along with two others, a robber on His left and another on His right. While on the cross, Jesus is subjected to more mockery from passersby:

“Ha! You who would destroy the temple, and build it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!”

By the sixth hour, darkness had come and stayed until the ninth hour. At that ninth hour, Jesus cries out in a loud voice:

“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? [My god, my God, why have you forsaken me?]”

Somebody fills a sponge with vinegar and puts it on a reed for Jesus to drink. Jesus cries out once more and dies. Immediately the veil of the temple is torn in two from top to bottom. The centurion standing opposite Jesus’ cross said:

“Truly this man was the Son of God!”

A number of women watched from a distance, including Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joses. Evening comes and Joseph of Arimathaea boldly goes to Pilate and asks for Jesus’ body. Pilate agrees and has the centurion grant the body to Joseph. Joseph wraps the body in a linen cloth and places it in a stone tomb. He rolls a large rock against the door of the tomb while two Marys watch.

Chapter 16

Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, buy some spices with which to anoint Jesus’ body. They wonder how they will move the rock in front of the tomb, but find it has already been rolled away. Heading inside, they see a young man dressed in a white robe. He says that Jesus has risen and to tell his disciples that Jesus will be in Galilee. They flee and are too afraid to tell anyone anything.

Jesus then appears to Mary Magdalene and she finally tells those who had been with Him, but they don’t believer her. Jesus then reveals Himself “in another form” to two others who again tell the group. They still don’t believe. Finally, he reveals Himself to the remaining 11 disciples and rebukes them for their “unbelief and hardness of heart.” He tells them:

“Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.”

He says some other stuff too, like those who believe will be able to cast out demons, speak with new languages, be able to drink “any deadly thing” and be fine. After He finishes speaking, Jesus is received up into heaven and sits down at the right hand of God. The disciples disperse and preach everywhere.

Note: We’ll take a little time off before we tackle Luke. I’ll let you know when to start.

The post Reading the Gospels: Mark, Chapters 13-16 first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

“After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and loosen. I baptized you in water, but he will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.”

Jesus comes from Nazareth and gets baptized by John. As soon as Jesus comes up from the water, the heavens part and the Spirit descends on Him like a dove. A voice says:

“You are my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

The spirit then drives Jesus into the wilderness for forty days. Satan tempts Him, He lives with wild animals, and angels are there serving Him. After John is seized, Jesus begins preaching and collecting followers. He casts demons out of people, and heals others. The word gets out, crowds start to form, and Jesus heals many, many others.

Early one morning, seeking peace, Jesus goes out by himself in the desert to pray. Simon tracks him down and says, “Everyone is looking for you.” Jesus replies:

“Let’s go elsewhere into the next towns, that I may preach there also, because I came out for this reason.”

So they move on and preach and heal more people, including a leper. Jesus tells the former leper to keep quiet, but the man does just the opposite and soon Jesus can no longer go into cities. He stays out in the desert and the crowds come to Him.

Chapter 2

Jesus goes into Capenaum for more preaching and forgiving of sins. Some scribes whisper among themselves that it is blasphemy, but Jesus tells them that the “Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” The scribes and Pharisees then see Jesus hanging out with tax collectors and sinners. They want to know why. Jesus answers:

“Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Then the Pharisees want to know why His disciples don’t fast, while others, like the disciples of John, do fast.

“Can the groomsmen fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they can’t fast. But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then will they fast in that day.”

The Pharisees then complain about the disciples plucking ears of grain on the Sabbath. He sets them straight with:

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”

Chapter 3

Jesus enters the synagogue and meets a man with a withered hand. The Pharisees watch carefully to see if Jesus will heal on the Sabbath. He asks them:

“Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?

The Pharisees are silent, but Jesus gets angry at the “hardening of their hearts,” so He heals the man. The Pharisees immediately huddle up with the Herodians to figure out how they might destroy Jesus.

Jesus then heads to the sea, followed by a huge throng. You can get the sense he’s a little freaked out by the people pressing down upon Him as he tells his disciples to keep a little boat nearby just in case. He then heads up into the mountains and appoints 12 as disciples so that he may send them out to preach and to cast out demons and heal sickness. The scribes think He’s insane and say, “He has Beelzebul” to which Jesus replies:

“How can Satan cast out Satan?”

As in Matthew, Jesus’ mother and brother come, wishing to see Him.

“Who are my mother and brothers? [He looks at those sitting around him] Behold! my mother and brothers! For whoever does the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and my mother.”

Chapter 4

In this chapter, Jesus preaches through the parable of sowing seed. Some seed falls by the road and the birds snatch it up. Others fall in thin, rocky soil and sprout quickly, but wither with the sun because they have no root. Other seed falls in among thorns and get choked. Finally, others fall into good ground and yield amazing amounts of fruit.

The disciples need help deciphering the parable so Jesus explains. The birds are Satan. The ones in rocky soil are those people who have no root in themselves and give up at the first sign of oppression or persecution. The ones in the thorns are those people consumed by material wants and the “deceitfulness of riches.” The seed that falls in good ground represents those who “hear the word, and accept it.”

Jesus preached only in parables to the crowd, but in private explained them to His disciples. He then decides to head to the other side and everyone jumps into boats. In the middle of the night, a huge storm kicks up and fills the boat with water. They wake up Jesus who is asleep on a cushion, “Teacher, don’t you care that we are dying?” Jesus rebukes the sea, the wind stops, and He turns to his disciples:

“Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”

Next Week: Mark, Chapters 5-8

The post Reading the Gospels: Mark, Chapters 1-4 first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

Chapter 5

The sermon begins with the Beatitudes, a series of eight blessings to the poor in spirit, to those who mourn, to the gentle, to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, to the merciful, to the pure in heart, to the peacemakers, and to those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake. They are beautiful, powerful words which is why we based our cover design on them. The rest of chapter 5 contains some of the best known quotes from Jesus:

• 5:13 – “You are the salt of the earth…”
• 5:14 – “You are the light of the world…”
• 5:28 – contains the gotcha that got Jimmy Carter.
• 5:39 – turn the other cheek.
• 5:42 – “Give to him who asks you, and don’t turn away him who desires to borrow from you.”
• 5:44 – “…love your enemies…do good to those who hate you…”

Chapter 6

The sermon continues uninterrupted right into chapter 6. Some of my highlights include:

• 6:2 – “…when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself…”
• 6:9-13 – The Lord’s Prayer
• 6:19 – “Don’t lay up treasures for yourselves on the earth, where moth and rust consume…” (and that fill up the attic and clutter the whole house, as I tell my wife).
• 6:27 – “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?” (I think we could all benefit from a colossal calming down).

Chapter 7

• 7:1 – “Don’t judge, so that you won’t be judged.”
• 7:3 – “Why do you see the speck in your brother’s eye, but don’t consider the beam that is in your own eye?”
• 7:7 – “Seek, and you will find.”
• 7:15 – “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.”

The crowd was dumbfounded “for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes.”

Chapter 8

After the sermon, Jesus hits the road again and heals a great many people in succession (a leper, a centurion’s servant, Peter’s wife’s mother, many possessed with demons). After so much healing, He’s tired and declares “the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” A disciple wants to help Him, but asks if he can first go bury his father. To which Jesus (somewhat harshly considering 5:4?) says, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Jesus and the disciples get into a boat which soon finds itself in the middle of a huge storm. The disciples are all freaking out and wake up Jesus, pleading with Him to save them. You can almost hear the annoyance in Jesus’ voice as He gives his “O you of little faith” line and then calmly gets up and ends the storm.

Chapter 8 concludes with Jesus confronting two people possessed by demons in Gergesenes. The demons beg to be cast out into a herd of pigs which Jesus makes happen. Whereupon the whole herd of pigs rushes off a cliff and dies in the water. The owners of the pigs took off and told everyone in the city what had happened.

Soon, the whole city comes out to meet Jesus.

Next week: Matthew, Chapters 9-12

The post Reading the Gospels: Matthew, Chapters 5-8 first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

Want to read it together? It’s been a while since I went through the Gospels with a fine-toothed comb, and I’m ready. To keep things manageable, I propose that we read four chapters per week, and then discuss them on Fridays. I’ll put up a post and then everyone can chime in using the “comments.”

So get your copy of What He Said (off the shelf or from Amazon if you don’t already have it), and start reading.

Assignment for February 25: Matthew, chapters 1-4

The post Read The Gospels With Us first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.