Kindle Notes & Highlights
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October 28 - December 13, 2024
It is equally important to note what this glorious vision of the future does not affirm. There is no mention of a millennium, no new Jerusalem, no rebuilt temple, no restoration of Israel or the State of Israel, no battle of Armageddon, and no hints how and when Christ will return.
the preeminent truth of the power and glory of Jesus’ future coming
In this the only passage in the Gospel of Mark where Jesus explicitly calls himself “the Son,” he admits to what he does not know and cannot do.
Jesus does not claim the prerogatives of divine Sonship apart from complete obedience to the Father’s will but rather forsakes claims and calculations in favor of humble confidence in the Father’s will.
The disciples want an “It”—a sign; Jesus wants a “Thou”—the Father.
Watch!’” is the final and most important word of the Olivet discourse.
The general theme of chap. 14, the longest in the Gospel, is the abandonment of Jesus.
It is probable that Mark’s narrative relates in somewhat different form the same event of John 12:1-8.3 If so, Mark’s unnamed woman is Mary, sister of Martha and Lazarus, and Simon could be the father of the three.
The nard was very probably a family heirloom, in which case it possessed a sentimental value in addition to its monetary value.
We cannot know whether their indignation is owing to genuine concern for the poor, or whether, as is often the case, the poor are simply used as a pretext for other motives.
The world has never had a problem with religion in moderation. It has no problem with too much wealth or power or sex or influence, but it has a problem with too much religion. That is evident here. The unnamed woman deems Jesus worthy of her sacrifice, whereas the disciples do not.
In placing himself above the poor Jesus places himself above the great commandment to “love your neighbor as yourself” (12:31).
The combined evidence suggests that this is not a messianic anointing but an unction in preparation for Jesus’ death: “‘She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial’” (v. 8).
What exactly has she done to be worthy of such commemoration? She has of course expended a lavish gift on Jesus, but she also appears to be the first person to perceive that the gospel is realized only in suffering.
The woman’s deed—if not her name—cannot be forgotten, for she perceives that the mystery of the gospel is revealed in Jesus’ death.
our texts are silent about Judas’s motives.
Even though Exod 12:6 stipulated the sacrifice of the Passover lamb on the afternoon of 14 Nisan, there is some rabbinic evidence that Passover lambs were regularly sacrificed earlier.13 Such latitude in sacrifice is hardly surprising given the vast numbers of pilgrims serviced by the temple at Passover. The wording of v. 12 thus reflects a practice evidently accepted by many Jewish pilgrims.
A male water carrier would have caught their eye, for carrying water was normally the labor of women or slaves.
“Furnished”
The Greek word means the “spreading out” of rugs and carpets on which to recline; thus “a well laid out” banquet room.
The hall so described resembles the meeting place of the early church described in Acts 1:13 and 12:12. If it is the same dwelling, then it belonged to Mary the mother of John Mark, the probable author of the Second Gospel. The suggestion that John Mark was the carrier of the water jar is possible, but without evidence.
That Mark does not record the entire Passover ceremony or mention the presence of women (and perhaps children) does not imply that the meal was not a Passover meal or that there were no women present. Mark counts on his readers to know what a Passover meal was like, but he relates only those portions significant for Jesus’ self-revelation.
From earliest times the Last Supper has been regarded by the church as the truest representation of its fellowship with Christ.
When Jesus said, “‘This is my body,’” the Aramaic (Jesus’ native tongue) behind “body” likely meant “my person,” “my whole being,” “my self.” Likewise, the Greek word behind “body” is not sarx (flesh), but sōma, “body” or perhaps “being.”
This, my body,’”
The verb is ideally understood as a metaphor, “The bread means or conveys my body.”
It is unlikely that Jesus’ words connote a change in substance in Mark, for he declares “‘This is my blood’” after the disciples have drunk the cup (v. 23).
The original Last Supper is attended by traitors (v. 18) and cowards (v. 50); it is a table not of merit but of grace!
They all drank of the cup (14:23), they all confess their allegiance (v. 31), … and they all flee (14:50)!
The sin that necessitates the sending of God’s Son is not someone else’s sin—
but the sin of the tenants of his own vineyard, of his own disciples—
The prayers of Jesus in Mark are all set in times of decision and crises, this being the most traumatic.
All three have earlier crowed of their mettle (Peter, 14:29-31; James and John, 10:38-39; 14:31); they should be exactly the companions Jesus needs in the crisis before him.
Why does Jesus, who has foreseen his death and marched resolutely to Jerusalem to meet it, now quail before it? The answer must be that Jesus is aware of facing something more than simply his own death. In 10:45 he spoke of the purpose of the Son of Man “‘to give his life as a ransom for many.’”
the first payment of that ransom, to will to become the sin-bearer for humanity.
who can imagine what it would be like to stand before God to answer for every sin and crime and act of malice and injury and cowardice and evil in the world?
Taken from the vocabulary of apocalyptic literature, “hour” and “cup” speak of the ultimate purposes of God associated with the end of time
Only in Mark does Jesus calls God “Abba,”
Throughout his ministry he has disavowed every exit ramp from the pathway of suffering servanthood, including the temptation to remain with Moses and Elijah in glory (9:2-8).
Enough!’” (v. 41). This translation is simply a guess at the meaning of the original apechei, which seems to be an utterance of exasperation, perhaps “‘What’s the use?’”
an act of love is performed for a mission of hate.
The manner of betrayal becomes the first example of the mockery of Jesus,
It is far more likely that the arrest squad, and not the disciples, are armed with swords. Indeed, if the assailant were a disciple we should expect an arrest to follow. But no arrest follows, which at least suggests that the severed ear fell from the misguided valor of a henchman rather than of a disciple or Peter.
If Peter were the assailant, it would be surprising for him to conceal his name here and include it in the much more incriminating denial scene.
speculation about the identity of the lad is profitless.
The young man represents all who flew in desperation when mayhem broke out at the arrest of Jesus.
Peter has forsaken a discipleship of costly following (8:34) for one of safe observation.
The only charge against Jesus that Mark specifies—again echoed at the crucifixion (15:29)—is that he would destroy and rebuild the temple (14:58).
For Mark, Jesus has replaced the temple as the place where God meets his people (11:12-21).
he did not open his mouth. (Isa 53:7)
