This week we talk about Jesus’ answer to a scribes’ question about the “first” commandment. In response, Jesus says to love God and love your neighbor. This interpretive framework serves as the foundation for the biblical message: because we experience God’s love for us, we respond by loving God, which means we will seek to follow God’s ways. That is primarily defined by loving others through mercy and justice. We discuss how the Reformers echoed this message, particularly Calvin. We discuss the importance of keeping this framework intact as we seek to live our Christian lives.

This week we discuss an episode in Jesus’ ministry that is easily overlooked, but that represents the way in which “the first shall be last and the last shall be first” is woven into the narrative fabric of Mark’s Gospel. This blind man whom Jesus heals, like many other “outsiders” in Mark’s Gospel, is held up as an example of true faith and discipleship.

This week we discuss Jesus’ response to the request of James and John to sit at Jesus’ right and left in his kingdom. This is the final episode in which Jesus seeks to impress upon the twelve his call to follow him in service to others. We also discuss Calvin’s approach to this passage and the interesting theological implications he draws from it. Finally, we talk about how this theme impacts us in ministry today.

This week we look at Jesus’ encounter with a man who asked how he could inherit eternal life, and Jesus responded by telling him to obey God’s commands. Although the man insisted he had done so, Jesus challenged him to sell his property and give the proceeds to the poor, but he was unwilling to part with his wealth. We discuss wealth as a rival to faith in God, as well as the role of the Ten Commandments in the Christian life.

This week we discuss Jesus’ response to the Pharisees’ question about divorce. It seems clear that in Mark’s Gospel Jesus’ position is that marriage is to be a permanent relationship and remarriage after divorce is not proper as long as one’s former spouse is living. We survey the history of marriage and divorce in the church, and see that the Reformers took a pastoral approach. We try to explore what that pastoral approach would look like in our day.

This week our podcast takes us to a passage that seems disjointed, but when we look at it through the lens of the disciples’ argument about greatness and Jesus’ teaching about service it may make sense. This passage gives us the chance to look at biblical interpretation, both in the setting of the Reformation and today.

This week we discuss Jesus’ second passion prediction in the Synoptic Tradition, in light of the fact that immediately afterwards his disciples argued about who among them would be greatest in the kingdom they expected Jesus to usher in. He tells them to be last of all and servant of all, and to reinforce that he says that “whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me.” We discuss the place of children in the family during the Reformation, and then reflect on Jesus’ call to a path of “downward mobility.”

This week we look at a passage we discussed on Feb 21, 2021 in it it’s fuller context. Jesus asks the disciples who they think he is, and he responds by telling them that the Son of Man must be rejected and die and then be raised to life. We discuss Calvin’s understanding of this, and the reflect on what it all means for us in light of Bonhoeffer’s “Discipleship” and Moltmann’s “Crucified God.”

This week we discuss two episodes that show Jesus’ interactions with people outside Jewish territory. In the first, a woman seeks out Jesus to heal her daughter, and basically, won’t take “no” for an answer! In the second, Jesus heals a deaf man whom some friends had brought to him. This has implications for understanding Jesus’ ministry, and for understanding the scope of the Kingdom of God in Mark’s Gospel.

This week go back in to Mark, taking a look at the debate between Jesus and the religious leaders about following “The Tradition of the Elders” concerning matters of ritual purity. The Reformers apply this discussion to worship, and we take a cue from them in our own discussion.