Character in Context

Episode 96: Mark Part 36— The Leaven of the Leadership

Things are heating up and Yeshua/Jesus tries to teach the disciples an important lesson—but they miss it entirely because they have their mind on temporal concerns. What exactly is the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of the Herodians and what does it mean in our own lives?

Episode 95: Mark Part 35—The Feeding of the Four Thousand…Gentiles?

In a miraculous and frustrating turn of events, the Pharisees from the district of Dalmanutha demand a sign from Heaven shortly after Yeshua/Jesus feeds a mixed multitude, leaving four thousand satisfied. But can the Pharisees be satisfied?

Episode 94: Mark Part 34—Ephphrata! Psalm 135 and the Decapolis Pagans.

There is so much more to this short little blurb than meets the eye. We’ll be talking about Psalm 135, my book Image-bearing, Idolatry and the New Creation, and two of my all-time favorite books—G K Beale’s We Become What We Worship and Richard Lints’ Identity and Idolatry. This event is enormously symbolic for the future ministry of the disciples but it is easy to miss it.

Episode 93: Mark Part 33—He Called Her Daughter a What? The Syrophonecian Dilemma.

I don’t think anyone really enjoys reading this account. No matter who you want Yeshua/Jesus to be and what you want Him to conform to—you can’t read this without wincing and realizing that He is what He is and we can’t always predict Him. We’re going to explore history and the pseudepigraphic book of Jubilees in order to explore what I think was really going on here. If only our Savior would stay in a more comfortable box…

Episode 92: Mark Part 32—What Defiles a Man?

This is the second part of last week’s teaching, where Yeshua/Jesus lays down the difference between impurity that can and cannot be washed away. This parable is brutal and takes no prisoners.