Marriage & Divorce in Mark
What Jesus says in Mark 10 about marriage is a hard teaching, and harder to live by. In this post, I am not going to offer a comprehensive theology of marriage and divorce, and there are lots of questions I'm not going to try to answer; what I will try to do is explain what I think Jesus is saying in this particular passage. Don't shoot the messenger!
10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”Mark 10:1-2
Jesus has now begun his journey to Jerusalem. He's left the Galilee in the north, and has come south. Unsurprisingly, he has drawn a crowd. And, equally unsurprisingly, the Pharisees--who hate Jesus--have come to try to trip him up. Some things haven't changed; even today, talking about marriage can get you crucified!
The question about divorce is not an earnest, truth-seeking question, because the Pharisees who ask it are trying to set a trap for Jesus. Why is this question so controversial? In the time of Jesus, there were two rabbinical perspectives on divorce: one perspective (from Rabbi Hillel) said that men could divorce their wives for any reason, and the other perspective (from Rabbi Shammai) said that divorce should be reserved for cases of adultery. In both cases, it was understood that only a husband could seek a divorce, and not a wife. Unsurprisingly, the Hillel perspective was the popular one in the time of Jesus.
As he always does, Jesus throws the question back to his interrogators:
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”Mark 10:3-4
The Old Testament does contain provisions for divorce, as the Pharisees rightly point out. In response, Jesus explains why there had to be divorce, and then goes on to talk about God's design and purpose for marriage:
5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, 8 and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh.9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Mark 10:5-9
As he always does, Jesus uses scripture to frame his answer. In fact, he goes back to the very beginning of the Bible itself: Genesis 1-2. (Specifically Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:24.)
Note that Jesus doesn't actually answer their question about divorce directly, but implies that divorce is necessary because people are sinful, and then goes on to talk about the purpose of marriage, as designed by God. I think there are 4 interesting implications to his answer:
- Our identities as male or female are not an accident, but part of God's purpose for our lives.
- Marriage makes new families. The husband comes from one family, the wife comes from another, but when they get married, a brand-new family is created through them.
- The marriage union is meant to be total: in the biblical language, "one flesh." Marriage is a complete union: emotional, of course, but also, in some mysterious way, bodily as well. The physical result of that bodily union, obviously, is a child. A child is the "one flesh" that results when a husband and a wife come together through sexual intercourse. A child is one, though it comes from two: a mother and a father. Even at the molecular level, this is true: the child has one DNA sequence, but that sequence has been made from the DNA of two parents. There are billions of us on this planet, and every single one of us--without exception, and whether we know them personally or not--has a biological mother and a biological father. The fact that each of us is the fruit of our parents' union is really astounding, but because it is commonplace, we overlook it.
- The marriage union is meant to be lifelong.
Later, when they are alone with him, the disciples ask for more clarity, and Jesus provides it:
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
Mark 10:10-12
It is important to point out that since it is only men who were able to divorce their wives in the time of Jesus (and not vice versa), then the practical effect of Jesus's comments is that they protect women, who, without clear divorce laws, could be cast aside for any and every reason. Jesus's words sound harsh, but they are actually helpful to women whose husbands wanted to divorce them for any and every reason.
The entire passage is extremely counter-cultural for twenty-first century Americans, as it flies in the face of our divorce culture. Since Governor Ronald Reagan signed the nation's first no-fault divorce law into effect in California in 1969, we have come to accept (not only in law, but in our understanding) that marriage is something that either party can end for any reason whatsoever, and once divorce papers are filed, then the marriage is over. Jesus says that, in effect, marriage is more durable than that, and that regardless of what the papers say, marriage can't be ended as easily as that. This is a radical teaching.
I am not trying to give a comprehensive Christian understanding of divorce in this post, but I also know that if you've read this far, you likely have many questions about grounds for divorce. Remember that this is just one scriptural passage in which Jesus is replying to a specific question put to him about a particular Jewish controversy. So, drawing from the rest of the Bible, here is one answer to the following question.
What behaviors break the marriage covenant and are grounds for divorce?
- Adultery (Matthew 19:9);
- Abuse (Exodus 21:10-11);
- Abandonment (1 Corinthians 7:15).
As for other conclusions, I will let you think on these issues yourself. This is just one passage in all of Mark's Gospel, which is but one book in the entire Bible--on marriage and divorce, we need to take the whole counsel of scripture. But, what do you think--is Jesus right? Is marriage meant to be lifelong, or can it be ended when either spouse wants to end it?
Scripture Passage:
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Whatever It Takes
Whatever it takes, get rid of the temptations to sin you have around you.
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Ask Me a Question
I have nothing to say about today's reading: it seems pretty clear to me.
So, if you have any questions about Mark, please comment below!
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Only By Prayer
I find it interesting that Jesus tells his disciples that some demons can be cast out "only by prayer."
In other words, there are some things that can only be accomplished through prayer. For what do you need to be praying today?
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
The Unseen World
I went snorkeling on my honeymoon. From above, with your head out of water, the water just looks like water. When you put on your mask and dive, however, a whole new world can be seen: fish and plants in brilliant colors. That world was always there, of course, but I just couldn't see it.
This is what the Mount of Transfiguration is about: Peter, James, and John are briefly permitted to see the normally inaccessible reality of the Kingdom of God.
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Cross Before Crown
Jesus is clear with his followers: it's Cross before Crown; you have to lose your life to find it.
Where do you need to die to yourself today?
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
A Living Parable
The strange story of the two-stage healing of the blind man at Bethsaida makes much more sense when you see it for what it is: is a living parable. Immediately before it takes place, the disciples misunderstand what happens with the Feeding of the Four Thousand; immediately afterwards, Peter correctly identifies Jesus as the Messiah, but incorrectly rebukes him for talking about having to be killed. So, when Jesus heals the blind man in two stages, he's showing the disciples that though they see him perform miracles, they don't not yet perfectly understand his true identity as the crucified Messiah.
What is the Lord trying to teach you through your circumstances today?
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Persistence
Jesus's mission is to Israel. (It is not until after the Resurrection that the church is given its mission to the entire world.) And so, when the Syrophoenician woman (a pagan) asks Jesus to do something for her, he tells her that his mission is narrowly focused on Israel. But, she persists, and he heals her daughter.
I don't understand it either, but there's something about persistence that the Lord really values and uses.
Keep going. (Especially in prayer.)
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
What the Politicians Don't Say
What Jesus is saying in our passage is at once immediately and obviously true, and at the same time totally ignored by most people today: our problems come from the inside out; human nature is our problem--it's broken.
When's the last time you heard a politician calmly explain that our problem is ourselves?
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
What Does "Corban" Mean?
In today's passage, Jesus accuses the Pharisees of hypocritically declaring certain segments of their property to be "corban." What does that mean?
Property or financial resources declared corban were meant to be used as Temple offerings. Here's the catch, though: some people would declare the lion's share of their resources corban but not actually donate them until later, perhaps upon their death. So, one way of avoiding the financial responsibility of caring for aging parents was to declare your resources corban and then say to your parents, "Sorry, folks: I just can't afford it--I've given everything away to God."
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
What Did the Disciples Miss?
Mark says that the reason the disciples are amazed when Jesus comes to them walking on the water is because
"they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened."
Mark 6:52
The walking on water happens immediately after the Feeding of the 5,000. What do you think was the lesson the disciples missed in the preceding miracle?
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
A Quiet Place to Rest
The miracle is so striking that it's easy to overlook what happens right before:
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place.Mark 6:30-32 [emphasis added]
I love that: "Come with me...to a quiet place and get some rest."
What happens next is that the disciples are followed by the crowd, whom Jesus miraculously feeds. But first, he knew the disciples needed a quiet place to rest.
We still need it.
Find a quiet place today.
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Mark: the Master Storyteller
Way back in his opening chapter, Mark tells us that:
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.
Mark 1:14
And then he says nothing else about John for 6 chapters. Until today.
And today's story is a masterpiece, with each layer unrolling like an onion. Read it for yourself:
14 King Herod heard about this, for Jesus’ name had become well known. Some were saying, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him.”
15 Others said, “He is Elijah.”
And still others claimed, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago.”
16 But when Herod heard this, he said, “John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!”
17 For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, whom he had married. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.
21 Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests.
The king said to the girl, “Ask me for anything you want, and I’ll give it to you.” 23 And he promised her with an oath, “Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”
24 She went out and said to her mother, “What shall I ask for?”
“The head of John the Baptist,” she answered.
25 At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: “I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter.”
26 The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her. 27 So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John’s head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, 28 and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother. 29 On hearing of this, John’s disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.Mark 6:14-29
I think that final verse is just heartbreaking.
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Jesus the Attending Physician
After medical school, new doctors are supervised by experienced physicians. These residents are given more and responsibility and freedom, always overseen by attending physicians to ensure that they develop all the skills they need to be competent and capable physicians.
In today's passage, Jesus is like an attending physician, giving his residents just enough responsibility to learn, but not so much that their possible failures could do irreparable harm:
7 Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
8 These were his instructions: “Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. 9 Wear sandals but not an extra shirt.10 Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. 11 And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”
12 They went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.Mark 6:7-13
Here's the point: Jesus wants us to learn to live like him.
How can you "practice" your faith today?
P.S. I didn't post anything the last two days (Mark 5:21-43 and Mark 6:1-6). But, I preached on Mark 5:21-43 on Sunday, and you can watch or listen to my sermon here.
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Of Pigs and Human Nature
Do you actually want to change, or would you rather wallow in the filthy status quo?
5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.Mark 5:1-20
Jesus performs an astounding miracle in their village, freeing this forsaken man from filth and misery, and the villagers would prefer he leave than cause any more changes to the way things are.
You don't think that those villagers had parts of their lives that needed healing? But rather than begging Jesus to stay and work among them, their immediate response is to beg him to leave and never come back.
How true of human nature--so often we prefer the pain we know to the possibility of change.
[This was previously published for the Gospel of Matthew readings, and has been updated.]
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
What Type of Pillow Did Jesus Prefer?
Matthew, Mark, and Luke each tells the story of Jesus calming the storm, but only Mark includes this wonderful detail:
As Jesus and the disciples are sailing across the Sea of Galilee one night,
37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
Mark 4:37-38, my emphasis
That little homely detail has absolutely nothing to do with the plot, so why does Mark include an irrelevant detail that both Matthew and Luke omit?
Because that's how Peter remembered it and re-told it ever afterwards.
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
Does Jesus *Want* to Confuse People?
Today's scripture passage is listed below, but I want to address something else from yesterday's reading: does Jesus tell parables for the purpose of confusing people? He certainly seems to imply it:
10 When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11 He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12 so that,
“‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"Mark 4:10-12
Jesus quotes from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah, chapter 6:9-10. It's Isaiah's prophetic instructions from the Lord. Here's Isaiah's divine job description: "go to my people and preach to them, but be forewarned: they aren't going to listen. However, if they ever did listen, then things would change for them immediately." Basically, God sends Isaiah to the Israelites out of an abundance of forbearance and grace.
So, when Jesus quotes Isaiah, he is not saying that he wants to confuse people; rather, he is identifying himself with the prophetic mission: to preach to people who won't listen. The Parable of the Sower is about the many people who won't listen; but if only they would, then great things would happen: "Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown" (Mark 4:20).
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
How to 100x Your Life
The good soil in the parable Jesus tells is astoundingly fruitful, producing a crop 30x, 60x, or even 100x of what was sown. Want to pray a powerful prayer today? Ask God to make your life similarly productive for his purposes.
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
The Unforgivable Sin
The teachers of the law accuse Jesus of being in league with the devil. Jesus calls this attitude the unforgivable sin. Why? The one sin God can't forgive is the sin of refusing to acknowledge the grace of God, the refusing to acknowledge the good, and instead calling it bad. And this makes sense: God won't force anyone to accept his grace. If you insist that God is bad and refuse his grace, God can't help you.
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.
The Man with the Withered Hand
The Pharisees are so filled with hatred and jealously that they are more concerned with trying to find a way to kill Jesus than they are amazed at the miracle of the healing of the man with the withered hand. Right in front of them a man is made well, and all they can think is how much they hate Jesus.
A good test to apply to yourself: are you able to rejoice when good things happen to your enemies?
Today’s Scripture
***Sign Up to Receive My Weekday Updates***
Subscribe here to receive a weekday update on that day’s Mark reading.
In addition to my weekday blogging on Mark’s Gospel, I also write occasionally about other topics. Subscribe here to be notified when I publish a new post.
P.S. All Subscribers Will Get My Free Whitepaper!
If you sign up for my Andrew Forrest newsletter, I’ll send you a white paper I’ve written called “The Simple Technique Anyone Can Immediately Use to Become a Better Communicator”.