Character in Context

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.

Episode 91: Mark Part 31—All Foods Clean? Missing the Point of this Vital Teaching.

It is so unfortunate that so many people on both sides have boiled this brilliant teaching down to a debate about foods being clean, and what counts as food, or even as being about food at all. It isn’t about food! This teaching begins a new phase in the ministry of the Messiah, as He is about to venture out into Gentile lands and must confront the over the top purity standards that would make it impossible for the Gospel to go forth out of Zion to the ends of the world.

Episode 90: Dismantling Jubilees/Removing the Roadblocks to the Gospel

Although popular in some circles, the Book of Jubilees is both a mathematical nightmare and what would amount to a comedy of errors if it was funny. That being said, it opens a vitally important window into the ways that Jews in the early years of Hasmonean rule were looking at the Gentiles and allows us a glimpse of what mindsets led to the later development of the differing sects within Judaism. Without this understanding, it is easy to make Mark 7:1-13 to be entirely about food instead of what it was really about--the ability of the Jewish believers in Yeshua/Jesus to take the Gospel into the Gentile world in fulfillment of the words of the Psalmists and the Prophets.

Episode 89: Hannukah 2020—The Zadokite and Miracle of the Light Controversies

Last year for Hannukah, we talked about the oppressive “traditions of men” vs ordinary traditions that Yeshua/Jesus spoke of in light of the Feast of Dedication mentioned in John 10. This year I am delving deep into the scholarly materials to explore the Zadokite controversy—which purports that the Hasmoneans were illegitimate priests and which has been used to discredit Hannukah. I will also go into the works of Josephus and Megillat Ta'anit to try and figure out where the legend of the “miracle of the oil” came from.

Episode 88: Mark Part 30—Echoes of Exodus II: Walking on Water

People often claim that Yeshua/Jesus never claimed to be Messiah, or Divine. People are wrong. What can’t be had from a casual reading of some of Scripture is evident from an in-depth knowledge of the whole of Scripture and the claims that Yahweh makes about Himself through His prophets. Last week and this week especially, we cover blatant claims and proof that Yeshua is the one unique Son of God with authority that is not explicable in any other way.

Episode 87: Mark Part 29--Echoes of Exodus: The Ultimate 5K

How appropriate is it that this is airing during the week of Thanksgiving in America?

This week's Scripture passage on the feeding of the five thousand is just HUGE for Exodus references and is very heavy on the eschatological wording that we see throughout the Prophets. This is the only miracle account shared in all four Gospel accounts and so we know it must be central to the identity of Yeshua/Jesus being revealed by each of the four authors. So much is happening this week--we will be discussing the importance of the wilderness, of green grass, of shepherds and sheep, of hundreds and fifties. We will go back and talk about Exodus and Numbers and the prophets Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Elijah, and Elisha. This account is set in stark contrast with last week's Scripture passage and thus compares the banquet of Herod with the banquet of the Messiah.

Episode 86: Mark Part 28--Herod and John the Baptist's Ghost?

This is a super strange episode--even considering the fact that there are a ton of really strange things in the Bible. For starters, Yeshua/Jesus never even makes an appearance in this account, nor do His disciples. What we have is an incredibly detailed account of John the Baptist's Passion in light of Herod Antipas's horror over the thought that Yeshua is actually John the Baptist raised from the dead and therefore vindicated by God after his murder. We'll be talking about Josephus, the book of Esther, the Esther Rabbah midrash, and the sordid history of the Herods. It's enough to make even Jerry Springer or Geraldo Rivera blush. Someone needs to call Judge Judy to deal with this family drama. 

Episode 85: Gospel of Mark part 27--The Ministry of the Twelve and Shaking off that Dust.

This teaching marks the climax of the first part of the Gospel of Mark (there are three sections to this Gospel) as the twelve disciples have been trained, equipped, and are now being sent out in twos throughout the Galilee. We're going to look into why they went out by two's (nothing to do with Noah's Ark!), why they had such specific instructions as what to and what not to bring. And we really need to talk about why people shouldn't be "knocking the dust from their feet" lightly. And we need to talk about the disciples anointing the sick with oil and what that was and was not about.

The blog I mentioned about the two witnesses can be accessed here: http://theancientbridge.com/2020/08/who-are-the-two-witnesses-of-revelation-apocalypse-in-context/