As we meditate on Isaiah 53 let’s answer four crucial questions: Why was Jesus crucified?What happened to Jesus at the cross?What did Jesus accomplish at the cross?Who benefits from his accomplishments at the cross?

In today’s episode of Mark’s Gospel we hear Jesus explain why he told parables. Parables are stories that contain and conceal the truth. They are like time-release capsules. The more you think about them the more truth they release.

In this episode of Mark’s Gospel we hear Jesus tell a story about a sower, seed, and soils. (Actually, it’s a story about Jesus, his gospel, and our hearts.) The parable of the sower Jesus causes us to think about the gospel and its relation to different kinds of hearts. Is your heart hard, shallow, crowded, or fertile? Why? Can your heart be changed? How?

It’s hard for some of us to regard Jesus as a smart, intellectual, thoughtful man. But we must try to envision him as a more than a simple preacher. Jesus was a thinker—a deep thinker. According Dallas Willard, Jesus was the smartest man who ever lived. Listen to find out why.

Is your heart hard? Jesus can shatter it and soften it. Are you shriveled up? Jesus can stretch you out.

Why does the Sabbath matter so much? Sabbath is grace for resting your body and refreshing your soul, for remembering the creative and redemptive works of God, for renewing covenant, for rejoicing in worship, for relieving the poor, and for repenting of sins.

We're not really interested in what Jesus would eat. But we are interested in the kind of people he ate with. In the past God ate with people who trusted and obeyed him. In this story God eats with people who had (literally) made their living by walking in unbelief and disobedience.

Which is easier for Jesus—to forgive sins or to heal broken legs? From a God’s point of view it is more difficult to forgive than to heal. Why? The cost is higher and greater. Healing legs requires creative power; forgiving sins requires redemptive power. That means blood must be shed.