THEO 1432: The Religious Quest
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Mark 11-13

04/09/2026 · Tue/Thu 12:00-1:15 PM · Brad Bannon · Boston College

📄 Synopsis

This session explores the transition in the Gospel of Mark as Jesus enters Jerusalem, focusing on chapters 11 and 12. The class analyzes the symbolic 'Markan sandwich' involving the cursing of the fig tree and the cleansing of the temple, interpreting these acts as a critique of hypocrisy and a declaration that the temple's restricted transactional function has ended. Students discuss the Parable of the Tenants as an allegory for Jesus' mission and the rejection of the prophets. The conversation touches upon the greatest commandments—loving God and neighbor—and the widow's offering as examples of prioritizing inner disposition over outward ritual. Students also observe how Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a colt subverts traditional military expectations of a messianic figure. Brad concludes the session by beginning a mini-lecture on the historical and scriptural context of the Messiah and Christ in the Hebrew tradition.

⚡ Key Takeaways

  • The 'Markan sandwich' is a literary device used to connect the cursing of the fig tree with the cleansing of the temple to highlight themes of hypocrisy and the failure to produce spiritual fruit.
  • Jesus' entry into Jerusalem on a colt subverts the image of a conquering general, emphasizing a messianic identity rooted in humility rather than worldly power.
  • The cleansing of the temple is interpreted as a symbolic end to the temple's function as a restricted transactional space.
  • In Mark 12, Jesus identifies the greatest commandments as loving God and loving one's neighbor, prioritizing inner devotion over ritual offerings.
  • The discussion draws a parallel between the widow's offering and the importance of intent, noting that her small contribution from poverty was valued more than the large donations of the wealthy.
  • Students noted that the religious leaders' fear of Jesus was often tied to his popularity with the crowds and his threat to the status quo.
  • The session highlights the theme of 'inner versus outer,' where Jesus critiques those who perform religious rituals for show rather than out of sincere faith.

🎤 Transcript Tap any timestamp to jump the audio player

0:01

Opening Meditation and Transition

Brad
Alrighty, let's, uh, get started with a little meditation to transition. If it goes on for very long, somebody may need to wake me up. Let's take a breath together. I'm going to breathe in and out. Word? ⚠
Student
Word.
1:16

Administrative Notes and Schedule Review

Brad
Alright, 2 more classes left on Mark and 2 more classes left on the Gītā, I think. Might be 3 on the Gītā. I think it's 2 on each, right? Alright, let's just dive, let's just dive right in. Oh, one thing I keep meaning to say. So normally, you know, I don't allow laptops in the class, but the one exception is for course registration. So I know some of you probably have course registration next week. So if you have course registration during this class, just let me know at the beginning of class, you know, I've got registration, so I'm going to be on my laptop. It's not a problem. I have been teaching at Boston College long enough to know that course registration is— you got to be there on time, right? You got to do it when you got to do it. So I try to accommodate that as much as I can. Um, let's dive into this text. We've got some really interesting chapters here, um, 11 through 13. Um, so hopefully we've got lots of leaders ready to share some things with us. Um, so let's pretty much go, you know, in order. ⚠
2:29

Discussion of Mark 11: The Fig Tree and Temple Authority

Brad
Uh, we'll start with chapter 11. Anybody want to get us started on— and let's Anytime you're referencing a verse, let's go ahead and read the verse out loud just so that we, you know, have it in our heads, or series of verses is fine too. Yeah, Boris, you want to get us started?
Student
Sure. I think the specific verse that stood out to me from chapter 11 was, what's it called, like, what's the verse 14? He's talking to the fig tree and he says, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." disciples heard it. ⚠
Brad
Yeah.
Student
So they come back and the fig tree withered. I was surprised. It feels like a little out of character. It's very, I don't know, heavy thing to do. Like he goes to a fig tree. It's not in season, so it doesn't have figs. ⚠
Brad
Yeah.
Student
And so he kills the fig tree using his, you know, godly powers. I was just surprised. I was like, that didn't seem like a, you know, very all-loving kind of thing to do. ⚠
Brad
Yeah. Stands out or something. Yeah. So yeah. So yeah. Done? Dylan?
Student
Thing, like one of the commentaries I kind of like read from R.C.
Student
Sproul, like he kind of mentioned like the tree's kind of symbolic of like the nation itself and how it's like kind of corrupted. And like Jesus is kind of saying like a major theme throughout like these 3 chapters is like the reckoning that will happen afterwards. Like Jesus mentions many times like in the future, this like everything will like go down, like it will be returned to like, you know, whatever. And, um, I feel like— so a lot of it is like the fact that they're worshiping in like, like a false worship in a way. Like they're doing it for the action, for the fruits of the action, not the action. And like that kind of relates well with the learning as well, where it's like intent is more important than action. Yeah, I feel like, like this whole parable is symbolic of like what's to come and kind of foreshadowing the rest of the few chapters. ⚠
Brad
So super symbolic, uh, metaphor or something that's going on there that foreshadows other things that happen? Yeah, lots of hands. Yeah, Lucas? ⚠
Student
I think, well, I think the specific thing to look at is that like he saw it from a distance and he saw the leaves and he didn't curse it because it didn't have fruit. He cursed it because it had leaves and it like promised to have fruit but it didn't. And I think like that connects to like the analogy that like you can't like profess to like believe but then you have no faith. ⚠
Brad
Okay, um, good. And so that, that leaves thing also— I mean, we're staying on 11, but, um, but looking ahead for a moment to the end of this reading from chapter 13, verse 28, we see the fig tree. Another fig tree, a different fig tree, same fig tree, some— a fig tree, right? From the fig tree, learn this lesson: as soon as the branch come— becomes tender and puts forth its leaves. So there again, something about the, the leaves, as Lucas is pointing out. Yeah, Gina? ⚠
Student
Kind of like the whole thing, like it looks good on, you know, the outside, but really like the deep inside, it's like, it's kind of like talking about like what's corrupt on the inside, and I just like pointed that out. ⚠
Brad
Okay, so yeah, so something about outward appearance versus inward disposition or something. Yeah, um, Blake?
Student
The fig tree, I was like initially confused as well. Um, on verse 22, um, after the, the disciples saw the fig tree, he says have faith in God. So I think, um, this is just like an exercise of his power and that like if he says something, like he's gonna do it and he has power to do that. ⚠
Brad
Okay. Um, and faith there. So we also have faith, um, having a role to play here. Yeah, Nicholas.
Student
I thought the fig tree represented the temple. I think someone said on the outside it's good, or yeah, appears good on the outside but on the inside it's bad. I think having no fruit represents— I know they charge, they're trying to make money out of professing your faith or cleansing your sins, which is not the right way you're supposed to do it, which is kind of like a representation of the fig tree. And I think isn't the withering a representation of the temple crumbling in years to come? ⚠
Brad
I mean, that's the most— that's pretty common interpretation. Yeah, and that definitely fit. I mean, we see that in chapter 13, right, as you're pointing out. I mean, this, uh, we've got the fig tree, um, and then, you know, the pattern that I've pointed out a few times, right, uh, Mark's, um, literary device of sort of sandwiching, right? It's called this Markan sandwich or whatever. So like introducing the fig tree And then telling us about the temple and the money changers and then finishing the fig tree. And then we see the fig tree come back later after the temple is destroyed. So maybe even one-upping the sandwich. Yeah, Forrest, and then Maggie. We'll just go around. ⚠
Student
Another thing I noticed, like the theme of the chapter a lot felt like, I can teach it to you, but I can't understand it for you. ⚠
Brad
Okay.
Student
At the end of 11 and kind of the beginning of 12, yes, we will ask them about like, you know, whose authority do you do this? ⚠
Student
And then he responds with his own question of like, where did the baptism of John come from?
Student
And then they couldn't answer him, so he says, I'm not gonna answer you. So very much like he has like limits to how far I guess he's able to teach, and so he doesn't put in effort to sort of get to the kingdom of God and stuff. ⚠
Brad
There's also an aspect of they're trying to trick him, right? I mean, it kind of says that, right? Like they're trying to trick him or trying to trap him or something. And some of the questions that are clearly traps, some of them he answers and some of them he doesn't. And so there you're saying, you're pointing out one of the ways that he avoids answering the trick question. Yeah, Mickey? I wanted to point out one of the verses towards the end of 11 as well. 24, when he says, so I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it will 'Be yours.' I pointed that one out just because, like, in the other classes we talked about how he speaks through parables and, like, tries to keep everything a mystery, but here he's, like, really cut and dry, and it's just, 'If you believe in me, it's gonna happen.' It's like I kind of saw a theme shift between him being frustrated with people not understanding to just telling them exactly what to do. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, so definitely on the, um, on the theme that, that, uh, I mean, a couple themes there, one having to do with faith, right? Faith and belief seems to be a source of power. And so the ability to effect change in the world has something to do with belief. But here it's also one-upping it, right? So I mean, if you have the— and we also have prayer coming in here, which prayer doesn't feature too prominently in Mark's, but it comes in a few places. And here, if you— so one-upping a lot, right? If, um, if If you receive, then you'll be able to move mountains and that kind of thing. Yeah, we'll just keep going around. ⚠
Student
I was going to talk about 24 as well, that on the topic of like faith and belief, because like, yes, Jesus has like this divine power, which I guess is faith. But I think he's also saying that like anyone can have this power through faith. ⚠
Student
Faith as well. So I kind of found that like the main theme, at least like this paragraph.
Brad
And not just the faith to heal sick people or something, but literally faith to move mountains. Yeah. Yeah, as well. ⚠
Student
I think also just going back to the commentary on the text as well, I also looked at the picture specifically, but what was really helpful with his commentary was he said it kind of like a lesson on hypocrisy. And I feel like that is like throughout the reading, especially later in verse 17 where it says, my house shall be called the house of prayer for all the nations, but you've made it a den of robbers. Like denouncing everyone that's trying to make a profit in the church, but then saying that that's like the real goal, like the real values and what you should be doing. So I guess like the tree, like what everyone was saying before, really It should have this, but it doesn't. So I guess just the reason that he had this big reaction that I guess was a bit shocking for me and as well as other people was just because he was just trying to denounce that as a sin of hypocrisy and not necessarily the tree didn't have fruit. ⚠
Brad
That was all. So the big reaction is the big reaction to the fig tree or the big reaction to the temple or both?
Student
Both.
Brad
Both?
Student
Honestly, yeah. I would say definitely both. For me, at least, like, the reaction to the picture was a bit shocking, just because of the blood or even being at the end. But I think that was just the theme of him denouncing the sin of being hypocritical for everyone. So the tree was more of an example. And then later, the temple, just like a further example of how we should be. ⚠
Brad
Yeah. And there's still that detail, right? I mean, why does it tell us that the fig— they weren't even in season, right? So like, yeah, certainly a big reaction to something. You are— yeah, yeah, Jake. ⚠
Student
Yeah, kind of going off the hypocritical side of it, like right after 24, he basically says like when you are praying that you should forgive because God forgives you. And then like that comes right after the fig tree just fell through.
Brad
Yeah. So in order to be forgiven, you first have to forgive. So So yeah, important. And it even seems like forgiving almost is like a source of faith, right? So you forgive and then you believe, or at least they're closely aligned, whatever the order is. Yeah, Hannah. Oh, sorry, Alice, did you have your hand up? ⚠
Student
You know you do. It was like said already. ⚠
Brad
Okay, are you sure?
Student
Okay.
Student
I was also going to talk about 23 and 24, but something else that I noticed in verse 18, "And when the chief priests and scribes heard it, they kept looking for a way to kill him, for they were afraid of him because the whole crowd was spellbound by his teachings." I feel like we see this a couple of times throughout the next few chapters where the priests and scribes, like, they're trying to find a way to kill him or to be rid of him, but at the same time they don't actually go through with it because they are still afraid of him. So it's not complete disbelief, but they're definitely like unsure. So I just think that it's interesting that they can't bring themselves to actually go through with it because I guess in some part they still— there is still some sort of belief in him, fear of him, that he could be the Lord. ⚠
Brad
I mean, definitely fear of him. Why are they afraid? That's less clear. But, um, but yeah, and as, uh, as you're pointing out, right, a theme that we've seen throughout Mark's Gospel He always seems to pair fear— I mean, dichotomize, right? Fear and faith, fear and belief. So we see that again here, but with the difference that the fear seems to be directed specifically at him, right? Not fear of the Romans or fear of something else, but fear specifically of him. Yeah, Alice? ⚠
Student
Like kind of the end of the chapter, I guess, where they're talking about John's baptism and whether it comes from heaven or from human origin. And so I think that— I thought that part was kind of interesting just because it's like you can tell that the priests and the chief priests, the scribes, the elders, when they come to Jesus, they're like kind of 50/50 on whether— like they didn't know how to basically. So I think that's also showing like their fear. And I thought it was interesting that Jesus didn't like try and convince them to believe in him. The father was just like, okay, well, leave it as it is. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, I mean, he's kind of recognizing it's a trick question, right? And then just flipping the tables on and turning that trick question back to them. So many hands. Yeah, yeah, it was— it's fine.
Student
The original point, Alice's point. And it's also, it's like fear of Jesus, but it's also fear of the crowds because they all highly regard Jesus and his teaching. So like, Jesus is like an agitator in their teachings, but also since he has such a big following, in harming Jesus, they also might potentially lose their following. So they just don't want to— ⚠
Brad
Yeah, that's a good, that's a good point because they date They say it does say that they're scared of him, but then it says they wanted to get him when he was alone. So it really does seem like the fear is more about the crowd. Yeah, yeah. ⚠
Student
Specifically where he mentions prayer.
Brad
Yeah.
Student
Talk about like doesn't really happen that often. ⚠
Brad
Yeah.
Student
And I just thought that like I at least felt like seeing a lot of the fear and seeing prayer come up, it usually sounds like really less emphasizing the message of this chapter. ⚠
Brad
Yeah.
Student
How important faith is and faith in him and who he is as like the prophet. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, good. So prayer taking on a new role here. Where it really hasn't had much of a role earlier. Yeah, Tana.
Student
This is kind of diverting, but I like the beginning of chapter 11 with like the gold story. Yeah. Verse 9 says, then those who went ahead and those who followed were gathered together, Augustine's the one who comes in with the gold. And I was looking at the Matthew Henry translation, and he kind of made the point that Jesus makes this really big public entry, even though this is just like a couple days before his death, and he and like the disciples are like aware of what's going to happen. But instead of trying to lay low and kind of like hide the fact that he's entering Jerusalem, he's like not afraid to like show his presence there. And that kind of shows that Jesus was very assured about his like defeat. ⚠
Brad
Mm-hmm.
Student
Great.
Brad
Good. Yeah. Yeah, we'll just keep going. Lucas and then Gina.
Student
Well, I think it connects to how the Romans or soldiers would march back in the cities after they would win a battle. So then it's kind of like that. It's the leader or the general or whatever marching back to the city. But then instead of being on a big war horse, he's just on a goat, which kind of says he's a king, but then he's also like humble and he's still one, but it's like in a different way than like people would have thought before, because it was prophesied before that, like, you know, he'd march into Jerusalem, but then it's kind of in this unexpected way. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, exactly. Good. So expected but not expected. Expected in a— yeah, exactly. And so what they're expecting is, um, like this messianic figure, right? Verses 9 and 10. Then those who went ahead and those who followed were shouting, 'Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!' So it seems like he's being regarded as a king, treated like a king, ushered in like a military victor who's coming to— I mean, the victory hasn't happened yet though, right? And but as you're saying, you know, on a colt, so not as expected. Yep, we'll keep going. ⚠
Student
I was kind of jumping back to verse 25. It says, whenever you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your trespasses. Kind of like going off of like fear versus faith, but bringing the faith into like forgiveness. And like he's saying, like prayer, like must include forgiveness. And like, it's kind of like like looking inward personally and forgiving others. So I just thought that was correlation about faith and the mountain and the temple. ⚠
Brad
And that might also connect back to one of the very earlier chapters, I think chapter 4-ish, where they bring the paralytic to him. And he says, your sins are forgiven, and then says, get up and take your mat. But the forgiveness comes first and then is followed by the healing. Yeah, Yara Salah. ⚠
Student
On the verses 11, 15, and 17 about the temple and the market in there that they organized, and it says he began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple. My house shall be called the house of prayer. Prayer for all nations, but you have made it den of robbers. So I'm thinking, I saw that Jesus, he was, uh, definitely sad and like angry that they started to like, they made a very clean, a very clean, uh, space in like mental, mental part. They just made, they just built a loud and greedy market in there. And like, instead of being like the very quiet location to focus, to connect with the God, to like to open themselves in a completely silence. They just started like, they just started the market over there. And so Jesus cleared, cleaning the space in order to like reconstruct that initial purpose of the temple and make it clean. ⚠
Student
And I also, I brought the commentary from Wright, and he suggested that by driving out, by driving out the money the money chargers, Jesus wasn't just fixing the temple but symbolically announcing that its function as a restricted transactional space was ended. ⚠
Brad
Okay.
Student
And this lines with the— with the vision, purpose of the temple. ⚠
Brad
The original purpose of the temple. Yeah, that's from N.T. Wright, is that what you said? Right. N.T. ⚠
Student
Wright.
Student
Yeah.
Brad
Um, cool. Yeah.
Student
Yeah, going back to the chief priests and the fear they felt, I think part of that fear came from the intimidation. Like someone riding into town on a colt, which wasn't grand at the time, and Jesus's ability to draw masses, they saw him as illegitimate and a threat to their power and the status that they originally held. ⚠
Brad
Definitely something. So we have a— they have a reason to be afraid of him, right? Because he's threatening in some way, threatening their power, threatening, right? They see him as threatening the status quo or threatening their position. Yeah, good. Yeah. ⚠
Student
[INAUDIBLE] Isn't Hosanna mean like save us? ⚠
Brad
King or something along the lines of that? Yeah, or just sing it. Yeah, songs of praise. Yeah, voices of praise. Yeah. ⚠
Student
The analogy of the cult from a more humility kind of standpoint, and like contrast to the payment system or like of the scribes at the time. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, good. As you're saying, the messianic secret is definitely— it's time for the secret to start coming out. Yeah, at least it's not going to be a secret for much longer. Yep.
Student
I think something that is interesting is we can see almost like a hierarchy of animals demonstrated throughout this. In the earlier chapters, they talked about the swine. Now they're talking about the colt, which I think has a lot of relevance. And also, I just wanted to bring up a commentary. It's not a specific name because it's a really big topic of controversy. Is Jesus going into the synagogue and flipping over the tables, is that a sin? Is that a demonstration of anger? Is it like malplaced? And I think Mark does a really good job of showing Jesus maybe as more human than the other gospels, like particularly like Matthew, because even though Jesus says he's 100% like God and 100% human, like the act of going in and like destroying like a table out of anger like could be construed as a sin. So I think it's just interesting to think about it from this standpoint. And I know a lot of people argue if it's like rightly placed, or he shouldn't have done that. So I think that's interesting. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, good, good point. And on that point of his humanity, you know, verse 12, when he's— when he, you know, before he curses the fig tree, says he was hungry, right? I mean, so like, bro's hungry, right? He's got a little— he needs a Snickers or something, and this is— they're not in season.
Student
Yeah, good. Okay. Yeah, kind of what Jaroslav was saying with the temple. People, I don't remember which commentary it was, but someone said the fig tree was kind of standing in for the temple because the temple kind of lost, like as the institution of the temple, it lost its purpose because it was supporting money changing and all these impure things so that Jesus had to stop it. But then when you kind of go further into Mark, when he's prophesying that the temple has to be destroyed, I think that's kind of what he's doing with the fig tree. Like, even though the fig tree couldn't be bearing fruit, like, that's not necessarily why he killed it. He killed it because just like in that iteration of the temple, it had to be destroyed to start anew because it had strayed so far from its original mission. So I think that's why, like, you know, it might have seemed harsh that he had to kill the fig tree, but, you know, matter can't be destroyed. ⚠
Student
It'll—
Student
a new fig tree will eventually come along that can that will be pure in its inception. Hopefully it'll learn, you know, trees have sentience, but it can learn its lesson and stay pure, and then it won't be destroyed.
Brad
Okay, and so taking that a step further, then the temple is failing to, you know, yield fruit in that sort of way, and so has to be replaced with something that will. Yeah, Sophia? ⚠
Student
Going back to verse 25 as well, I was kind of picking up picking up on the theme of like sacrifice in a way where you have to forgive in order to be forgiven. ⚠
Student
You kind of have to give up something within yourself, whether it's like your pride or, I don't know, a grudge you're holding. Like, forgive yourself but also someone else in order to be forgiven. So sacrifice, and then you can— ⚠
Brad
and maybe— and, and so sacrifice definitely plays in. We can shift into to chapter 12 too, as we're discussing. Um, but so that sacrifice that you're talking about is more of an internal sacrifice, not so much as like a ritual sacrifice that needs to be performed at the temple, which is kind of the whole point of the temple, is to perform those ritual sacrifices. Um, good. Others on 11 or 12? We can move into 12. Yeah, Dylan.
25:30

Discussion of Mark 12: Parables, Commandments, and Sacrifice

Student
Um, yeah, I mean The first part of 12, I think, verses 1 to 10, it's just like the story or like the parable of like the vineyard. ⚠
Brad
Yeah.
Student
The people come to like collect— start collecting something. I know it's symbolic of his mission. He's the son that's getting sent, and the owner is God in that case. ⚠
Student
And I just think that's important because mostly the cornerstone part of it, There's a lot of commentary on the cornerstone, and it's like, God is the cornerstone that will remain at the end, and that's what everything will be based on in the end. ⚠
Student
And I think that the stone symbolism is also very present in the Bible as well. Going back all the way to the Old Testament, stones always have some meaning and some holding because it's the thing that stays forever. Kind of think like this parable, and like he's predicting more and more what's to come. Like recently, like he's no longer just like talking about, you know, principles. He's more saying this is what's going to happen, like through parables. And it's kind of like these chapters are just leading up to like eventually what we know is going to happen. And I know like later on it talks about like, um, like everyone knows like, like Jesus is about to die. And like, I feel like he just— he accepts— he's like, it's proof that he's accepted it. And then like, also it's kind of showing that like, it's happening soon. ⚠
Student
Yeah, it's like definitely the buildup is visible.
Brad
I mean, you can feel it, right? Yeah. I mean, just the way it's written and everything. And, and yeah, I would— I think we should read this section, but let's hear— yeah, Lucas, go for it. ⚠
Student
Uh, well, like, I mean, kind of going back to 11, but like when he was walking into Jerusalem In Mark, but in Luke, another gospel, it says that the Pharisees yelled out to him to tell the crowd to not say that he's his anointed. But then he said if they were quiet, then the stones would cry out. ⚠
Brad
OK, yeah. That's his name.
Student
So I thought it connects to the stones thing. And then also how it's known now that he's come to save them.
Brad
OK, you're good. Yeah, Gina? ⚠
Student
I could read it if you want, but I was going to talk about like 12, kind of 1 through like 8 or something.
Brad
Yeah, why don't you— we'll come back to you. Why don't you start with verse 1 and then we'll just go around. So just read one verse and we'll read from like 12:1 up to, I don't know, till like y'all out or something. So yeah, just read one verse each, please. ⚠
Student
Jesus spoke to them in parables. A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.
Student
When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard.
Student
But they seized him and beat him and sent him away empty.
Student
Again he sent another slave to them So they beat him bad and so on. Oh, then he sent another and that one they killed and so it was with many others. Some they beat and others they killed. He had still one other beloved son. Finally he sent him to them saying, they will respect my son. ⚠
Student
But those tenants said to one another, "This is the heir.
Student
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours." So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone"? ⚠
Student
This was the Lord's doing, and it was amazing in our eyes.
Student
When they realized that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd, so they left him and went away.
Student
Then they sent him some Pharisees and some Herodians to trap him in what he said.
Brad
And they came to him and said, Teacher, we know that you are sincere and show deference to no one, for you do not regard people with partiality but teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not? All right. I think that's a fine place to stop. Yeah. Good. Gina. Yeah.
Student
I kind of like took this as like an allegory of like, like the owner is God and like the vineyard is Israel. The tenants are like the leaders, the slaves are the prophets, and the beloved son they talk about is Jesus and how like the leaders are talking about how they're gonna kill Jesus and like they know, like just like the tenants like killed his son. So I just thought like there's a lot more in this than— ⚠
Brad
Right, yeah, I mean, allegory is definitely the right word here. Yeah, and yeah, I think those are good interpretations. There can be other ones too. Yeah, but yeah. Yeah, Maggie? I mean, I want to talk about the last part, like paying taxes. Sure. That part really stood out to me just because, like, I don't know, I feel like it was a genuine question, but it was also kind of trying to, like, game the system, I guess, and, like, get a little loophole through Jesus. But then he says, like, pay— or later on he says pay the emperor what is his and give to God the things that are God's. So I kind of lost my train of thought. Well, so it's another trick question, but it's a trick question that he does answer, and his answer is pretty tricky itself. Yeah, of course. ⚠
Student
A little bit later, like verses—
Student
yeah, you started with verse 29. ⚠
Student
We kind of seen the end of the questions and also like the hierarchy of the commandments. He talks like one of the scribes and asks scribe asks him what the greatest commandments are. And Jesus says that the two are, you know, love God with everything and love thy neighbor as thyself. ⚠
Student
And then when the scribe admits that, yeah, like, that makes—
Student
that's way more important than any of these offerings or sacrifices that we do. Jesus says, you know, you're the closest to kind of, I guess, understanding what I'm saying. And then all the questions stopped. And I was like, kind of just like everything, you know, all the tricky answers Jesus gave, all the questions he didn't answer, didn't stop questions. But as soon as he told someone, you're like the closest so far to understanding this, everyone just stopped asking questions. ⚠
Brad
Okay, good. Yeah, lots of hands. Yeah, Nicholas?
Student
I just thought, like, I'm pretty sure, like, that's talked about, like, in Deuteronomy and, like, Leviticus as well, like, love God, love thy neighbor. Yeah, I just thought that was relatable back to, like, the Gita because it's, like, recurring of practicing yoga. I thought that was something kind of similar that you kind of tie back to go hand in hand with our other readings. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, yeah, for sure. I mean, it's about bhakti, right? But devotion. And so the only, the only really important thing is devotion, that you're sort of, your vibe, your attitude, right? And so, and then, yeah, later there, this is not so, this is much more important than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. It's verse 33. So not karma marga, but bhakti marga, right? Yeah, great. ⚠
Student
For verse 17, like give the emperor the emperor's things and gods that are gods. Richard Horsley's commentary was kind of focusing on Imago Dei, in the sense that all humans are created in the image of God. Even though the coin that had the emperor's face on it, you know, might be the emperor's, ultimately everyone, their ultimate goal or their ultimate end is always God. So everything is always God. So yeah, you might have to pay taxes to the emperor, but in the end, you you really should have God's kind of intentions at the forefront of your mind with whatever actions you take. ⚠
Brad
It does raise the question though, right? So if give the emperor the things that are the emperor's and this belongs to the emperor because it has the head and the name of the emperor on it, that would be true not only of the portion of taxes that I owe, that'd be true of all my money, right? Yeah. Yeah, Wilkes? ⚠
Student
Yeah, actually something interesting on that. I like heard something and it was, um, someone saying like an argument about whether or not God exists, and then the other person was like, well, regardless of whether or not you believe it, like you do have a god. And like that might be money, that might be like your family, that might be something, but like you have a god. And I guess like kind of in that is like the idea that no matter what, you have a god. So like if you're so worried about money, then like, your God is like the emperor, like the money. Yeah. And then also, for 12, back to the story about the cornerstone, I thought, like the end of that, verses 10 through 11. I thought that that was kind of about like the, how the stone that the builders rejected will become the cornerstone. It's kind of about, I A, I think it's kind of about Jesus, but I also think it's about like the poor in spirit and like the lowly and the poor, how like, you know, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ⚠
Student
And how we kind of talked about how God doesn't like care more about them, you know, the poor, but rather that God like redirects his or its focus onto the poor. And that becomes like the bigger priority.
Brad
Because they're most, most urgently in need, right? Yeah. So the attention isn't drawn to them because they're more worthy, but because they're more needy. Yeah. Yeah. ⚠
Student
Connecting to that, I looked at verse 44, for all of them have contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. And I read a commentary from I was thinking Barnes about what we were saying that the amount doesn't matter that you give or sacrifice in a way, but it's the amount compared to your means or how much you have. And since she gave everything. ⚠
Student
Yeah.
Brad
Good. And so we might look for— not look for a parallel. We might notice— It might bring to mind, you know, the Naciketas and his dad, right? When he gave away the cows and that they were kind of worthless, right? So like even there he wasn't like wealthy and he was kind of giving away his stuff, but not with the right attitude, right? So the attitude matters, sort of that inner disposition. Yeah, Alex? ⚠
Student
37. So it's basically like— or well, I guess 38— where he says, like, beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and be free to pick their stuff in the marketplaces, et cetera. And they say, like, for the sake of appearance, say long prayers. And I thought that kind of goes back to the idea of the fig tree that we saw in chapter 11. Because— or when I first heard of the fig tree story, my, like— pastor, he kind of explained it as like, oh, it shows like how you can go to church, you can on the outside be this like super faithful person of God. However, like inside, like you have no spiritual fruit is kind of how I was like taught it. So I feel like this section kind of goes to show like, oh, like they can do all of this for show and still be Yeah, and so we could even take like the whole— ⚠
Brad
I mean, like I just put it in terms of bhakti versus karma, but, you know, it's love your neighbor and the Lord your God with all your heart. That's all inner stuff, inside stuff, right? Whereas the rituals are more outside stuff. And so it could be that he's not really criticizing the rituals per se, but instead the fact that people are doing them just for outside show. They're doing them for the wrong reasons, right? ⚠
Student
Right.
Brad
Um, yeah, good. Yeah, Hannah.
Student
Um, going back to like the commandments, I think there's a really big contrast on how God answers the questions of like the people who are testing him rather than, um, this scribe who was just straight up asking him, um, which commandment is first. Um, going back to like the Matthew Henry commentary, he was saying that like Jesus often speaks in these parables and speaks indirectly, but in this case it's a more like sincere desire to like be instructed of like their own duties. So Jesus is like directly telling them instead of kind of saying it in a parable. ⚠
Brad
Okay, yeah, good. Yeah, Olivia?
Student
Um, I read a commentary, I forgot who it was, it might have been like Thomas something, but he said that like the Bible uses the gospels as a way of like reiterating themes in different ways from the stories that came previously. And I think one thing that stood out to me and I could apply that to was the quote, "This is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." He said that that really related to the story of Cain and Abel about how one of the brothers made kind of a half-baked sacrifice, like something that didn't really matter. And then the other brother offered something I think it was like livestock that was like his best. And I think that idea of sacrifice we can also see in the Gita where it's like it doesn't matter what you're sacrificing, but if your heart is in it and if you're doing it for like the right intentions, that's when it really starts to matter. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, good, great, great connection. And, um, um, yeah, so that, that episode between Cain and Abel, um, it's a little unclear why God prefers one over the other. No doubt that he that God does prefer, but the difference between them, it could be that Cain is holding back a little bit, right, and giving up some grains that aren't the best, whereas Abel is giving up the best livestock, or it could be that God prefers the blood sacrifice over the grain sacrifice, which is at least how Cain interpreted it. Yeah. ⚠
Student
Also, you can tie that to the widow's story. She sacrificed with intent versus amount. And I think Jesus valued that more than the other people who considered— ⚠
Brad
So the inner versus the outer again. Yeah, yeah, good. Yeah, Brian, and then Isabelle. ⚠
Student
I think you kind of see that, especially in the modern day, whenever there's some sort of disaster and all the rich people are donating and then people are complaining about it. On a social media post in the comments are like, oh, you have a billion dollars and you only donated $1,000. And then people will reply and be like, well, how much did you donate? But comparatively, if you donate $10, that might be worth so much more to you than the $1,000 is to the billionaire. So like, even though you're only donating, you know, like one hundredth of what they're donating, the purpose and the intent means so much more because that money means more to you than it would to them. A billionaire. ⚠
Brad
For sure. Yeah, good. Yeah, as well.
Student
Something that also stuck out to me a lot in 12 was the conversation about marriage and what marriage would look like in the resurrection and afterlife. Yeah, specifically in 25 when it says that for when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage but are like angels of heaven. So this is something that I guess was a bit confusing to me because I hadn't really considered if you had like multiple marriages, like what that would look like. I guess what really helped was my commentator that I use, R.C. Sproul, was saying that it's the life after, like in the resurrection, doesn't really— like things that you're valuing right now, kind of not that they don't matter, but there is like no sin and everyone's happy. It's like that idea that like even if you aren't married or like people that you assume you'd be with after, it doesn't really like pertain as much as it would currently because heaven is just pure joy. So I guess that distinction was helpful in separating what we value currently and what is valued after and how that is different. ⚠
Student
Yeah.
41:57

Mini-Lecture: The Theological Concept of the Messiah

Brad
OK, good. Before we move forward, I want to— teeny tiny little mini lecture on the Messiah, so the notion of Messiah or Christ. So as we see in these chapters, as many of you pointed out, there's a lot of references, a lot of quotations of the Hebrew scriptures. And so things that are being prophesied, things are about to happen, but those things that are about to happen, they're almost always connected to some Old Testament prophecy or something like that. And we've got, I mean, right from the beginning, 11 with the, um, with, you know, him, uh, entering the town of Jerusalem, um, you know, like a Messiah. Um, and so let's, um, let's take a moment as we've talked about the Messianic secret, right? So we know he's the Messiah. We were told that he's the Messiah from verse 1, right? This is the good news of Jesus the Christ, right? Christ, the Messiah. Christ is just the Greek version of the which means the anointed one, right? And, uh, in Hebrew, Mashiach, the anointed one. ⚠
Brad
In the Hebrew scriptures, there's 7 individuals that are identified as the Messiah, and each one of them perform one of two functions. And so, you know, this is usually regarded as like the two qualifications to become a Messiah, and you can become a Messiah by doing either one of them. You don't I don't have to do both. David's argument, I mean, one of the most important ones. So David was given the title of, I mean, he was given all these titles, right, to the Messiah and Son of God. And he was given that title because he established the Jewish kingdom, established the kingdom of God on earth, right? So this is one of the requirements of a Messiah is to establish the kingdom of God on earth, which David did, right? He was also challenged with the other requirement, which was to build the temple of God, build a house of God. So the kingdom of God should be, you know, centered around the temple of God, and David didn't quite get that done, but his son Solomon did, right? ⚠
Brad
So he also— and it's the title— he's also called Son of God and also called the Messiah, but he's called Messiah because he built the Solomon's Temple, right? In fact, it's called the Temple of Solomon. And it was destroyed a few hundred years later. But as some of you probably know, there's one wall of Solomon's Temple that still is there, right, which is usually referred to as the Wailing Wall or the— yeah, the Wailing Wall or the Western Wall. And you've got another Messiah, one of the exception to the rule, the only non-Jewish Messiah. Anybody know who that is? Yeah, it is Cyrus. Cyrus, my son's name. And so hoping he'll be the next Messiah. Yeah, but so Cyrus was the non-Jewish Messiah. He didn't even know he was the Messiah, right? That's in Isaiah 45. Where God says, consider my anointed one, Cyrus, though he does not know me. So he does not even know that he's the Messiah, but he still is because he actually performed both of those functions. ⚠
Brad
He goes in as a military leader, kills those who were enslaving the kingdom of Israel, liberated the Israelites, and then not only did that, but took the money that he took from their captors and gave it to them so that they could both establish the Jewish kingdom, the kingdom of God on earth, and also use that money to build the temple. And so the Temple of Solomon was destroyed, but then Cyrus gave the money to rebuild that temple, and that's the temple that we're talking about right here, right? That's the temple that Jesus went into and overturned the moneychangers. So that's literally the temple that we're talking about right now, the temple that is destroyed, or at least prophesied to be destroyed in chapter 13, the mini-apocalypse, or the little apocalypse as it's usually called. And so the disciples, I think we can be sympathetic to the disciples because on the one hand They're, you know, like, he's saying, you know, who do you say I am? And they're like, you're the Messiah. And he's like, yeah, but don't tell anybody. But then they think he's a messiah like all of the other messiahs, right? ⚠
Brad
They think he's going to do those two things. But there's a major reason that they can't do those two things. One is he can't build the temple because as we've just established, he's in the temple, right? So the temple's already there. He can't build the temple if the temple's there. And he also can't establish the Jewish kingdom because the Jewish kingdom is there. Now you could definitely argue that it was there only in name only, right, because really it was occupied by the Romans. And so even though King Herod, right, we see Herodians come up here in this section as the, yeah. Chapter 12, verse 13, "They sent to Him some Pharisees and some Herodians," meaning, you know, the people who were like King Herod's court, right? So you've got a Jewish kingdom there. You've got a Jewish king, although that particular king, Herod, was definitely not running things, right? So not really. I mean, the Romans were running things, right? ⚠
Brad
So point being, maybe have multiple points there, but part of the point being that Jesus, to be the Messiah, he's— we're going to have to redefine what does it mean to be a Messiah, right? So it's— he's not going to be the Messiah in the way that people are expecting. He's not going to be the Messiah that comes in as a political military leader like David or Cyrus. But a different kind of— yeah, he's gonna— so then that raises the question, in what sense is he the Messiah, right? But from Mark's perspective and his community, what does he mean by that? Because they definitely can't mean those other two things, right? Makes sense? Questions, thoughts, insights? We could Keep going with the text. ⚠
Student
Yeah, if he had to be like a different type of Messiah, then how come Mark knew him as Messiah from the beginning?
Brad
Yeah, I mean, he definitely identifies him as the Messiah, and part of the reason that's the— I mean, I'm not sure I'm getting your question, but so he is defining him as the Messiah, right? There's no doubt these— that this is the Gospel of Jesus who is the Christ. So then the disciples are confused because when they think, when they hear the word Christ or Messiah, they think all those things I just told you, right? So, and he's not those things. So then it raises the question, in what sense is he the Messiah, right? And so what do you, based on your reading of the text, you know, what do you think he means by that? See what I'm saying? What I'm getting at? It would be no fun if I just told you answers, so we'll get to the text then. Let's— do we have more to say here on chapter 12? Anybody else on chapter 12? Slide into 13 then. We have the temple here. Shall we read a little bit of this? Where did we leave off? I think we left off with me. ⚠
50:19

Reading and Analysis of Mark 13: The Little Apocalypse

Brad
Yeah, I'll read verse 13, chapter 13, verse 1. "As He came out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings.'" Then Jesus asked him, do you see these great buildings? ⚠
Student
Not one stone will be left here upon another. All will be thrown down.
Student
When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite of the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?
Student
Then Jesus began to say to them, beware that no one leads you astray.
Student
Many will come in come in my name and say, I am he, and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. ⚠
Student
This must take place, but the end is still to come.
Student
For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places.
Student
There will be famines.
Student
This is but the beginning of the birth pains. As for yourselves, beware, for they will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them.
Student
And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations.
Student
When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Student
Brother Rupert, share, brother.
Student
Death, and father his child and children who rise against his parents and have them put to death.
Student
You will be hated by all because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Student
But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be, then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.
Student
The one on the housetop must not go down or enter the house or to take anything away.
Student
The one in the field must not turn back to get a coat.
Student
Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days.
Student
Pray that it may not be so.
Student
Suffering such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, no, and never will be.
Student
If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved, but for the sake of the elect whom he chose, He's cut short those days. And if anyone says to you at that time, look, here is the Messiah, or look, there he is, do not believe it. False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens to lead astray, if possible via light. ⚠
Student
But be alert, I have already told you everything.
Student
But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
Student
Then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
Student
From the fig tree learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
Student
So also when you see these things taking place, you know that he He is near at the very gates.
Brad
Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. We'll stop, we'll stop there. So there's a lot to take notice here, right? So as I already said, this is usually referred to as the covering, disclosing, right? So something that's hidden becomes made unhidden, right, or disclosed, uncovered, and usually with a sense of like something that's in the future, right? So a disclosing of something that's about to happen. So apocalypse doesn't have to be future, but usually, usually kind of is something that's right about to happen. Yeah, Gina? ⚠
Student
I was just gonna say like, kind of like when the crisis does come about and fake messiahs do appear, Jesus is kind of saying, don't panic. There's going to be earthquakes, there's going to be terrible things, but trust in the Holy Spirit. And I think it's 9 to 11 when he says, but say whatever is given to you at the time. Time, for it is not who you speak, but the Holy Spirit. Like, kind of like, you'll be able to testify, like, your part, but, you know, don't prepare anything because the Holy Spirit is what's, you know, within you, and whatever comes to you at the time will. ⚠
Brad
It's weird though, isn't it? Like, hey, this horrible thing is about to take place, but don't prepare for it. You know, which is a little bit odd, right? But maybe if you think back to the Passover, some connections there. Yeah, Hannah? ⚠
Student
I was also going to— like that, what you just said, like don't prepare for the end, that kind of reminds me of what we were reading in the Gita on Tuesday, like how you shouldn't worry about the fruits of your outcomes, but you should just focus on the actions yourself. So like don't necessarily prepare for the end. End, but like live each day with like the intent of like loving God and like loving your neighbor. ⚠
Brad
Okay, so intention. So again, sort of the inner orientation matters then, you know. So there could be something there in terms of like, what do we— what does he mean by Messiah? Yeah, I guess so. ⚠
Student
In not telling them to not prepare, they should just know at this point because time and time again he's told them you have to have faith and they don't understand. And this is kind of like the paramount point. And if they do have faith, they will be saved and they'll be fine. But if they don't, that's when they might run into issues. So this is kind of like his last warning, I think. ⚠
Brad
Okay. Yeah. Good. Others? Yeah. Olivia?
Student
Yeah. Kind of going off of Brian's point, I think the fruit analogy and like the idea of the fig tree is really like essential to this because, um, especially like his last— the last words of the chapter, keep awake. I think he's trying to use like the fruit and fig tree metaphor as like an analogy that like faith isn't seasonal and like it's a continuous process. And because the fruit wasn't there, like the tree wasn't awake in a sense. Like we need to stay awake, and like the death of the tree kind of symbolizes the outcome of not staying awake. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, okay, good. Yeah, yeah, Sam. ⚠
Student
Something that I found that was really interesting was with verse 30, apparently C.S. Lewis claimed this verse to be the most embarrassing verse of the Bible because he, in his interpretation, Jesus is appearing to be mistaken about the timing of his return, and that highlights the limitations of Jesus is human, he's thinking. ⚠
Student
So yeah, I just thought that was interesting because he's like questioning the validity of what Jesus is saying.
Brad
Yeah, so I mean, because what does it mean, right, that this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place? And we saw something very similar, right, in the beginning of chapter 9. Um, truly I tell you, some of— um, there are some that are standing here They will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God has come with power. So yeah. So what do we make of those things? Yeah, as well, it's okay if it's on a different topic. ⚠
Student
I guess just going back to verse 12, something that really stuck out to me is that he says that like father will also betray child. I think to me, like I was assuming, I guess that there's going to be innocence. Involved, like children, that they wouldn't be subject to everything going on. But I guess the idea that like no one is like going to be exempt from this, like everyone's affected. Yeah, interesting, given the idea like you would have to be by all like even children, like, but then they'll be safe. So I guess it's like a big fan of faith because how do you protect your children in this? But also as someone that doesn't really have the capacity to understand what's going on, like how are you able to not be legislated or something? ⚠
Brad
So I thought Yeah, I mean, it seems like no one's going to be exempt from this, and it's going to be bad for everybody. And your best hope is to just try to endure it, right? And maybe have hope that spring is coming and that the, you know, the branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves so you know that summer's near. But so there's sort of a future hope, but it's going to be bad and it's going to be bad for everybody. ⚠
Student
Yeah, going back to the C.S. Lewis quote, I also saw that. And then with verse 32, and it says, 'But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father.' I think he said it was like an explanation of error. So, you know, Jesus kind of admits that, yeah, he might have said this thing, but, you know, push comes to shove, only God will know. And, you know, you can kind of take what he's with a grain of salt because he is not the Holy Father. He's just the Son of God. ⚠
Brad
Okay. Yep.
Student
Samuel, I feel like this entire passage connects a lot to the idea of like hypocrisy that we've been talking about. And God telling them like not to prepare for what's going to happen is basically kind of showing that you can't really fake being fully of God because when the time— like when the end times do end happening, then people that are really of God and do have faith will, I guess, make it into heaven. And people that were faking it or were making it seem like they were godly on the outside won't reach heaven. ⚠
Brad
Yeah, okay. Yep. So it's cleaning, cleaning the house, kind of like he cleaned the temple. Yeah.
Student
Also, I think on this point, so like, as we know, the faith should be our path to we don't have a particular point to reach to, so we just need to follow it. That's why we don't have to have any expectation. If we just follow the path and like we cannot prepare for anything because like if we doing the right things and taking actions, we will just like keep, keep going into like seeking phase. But you like, we don't have a particular point to like reach. ⚠
Brad
And doing the right thing seems to be mostly about your inner orientation, right? So it's just like feeling the right way or loving the right way or something like that, right? Yeah. Good. Another thing that maybe I— let's talk for a moment about the temple itself. So the temple itself, Right. There's been two temples, one built by Solomon, as I said a few minutes ago, right, and the other built, then destroyed, and then rebuilt by donation from Cyrus, right? And so that's the one that was here. And then that second one, which is usually called the Second Temple, that was destroyed in the year 70, right? And so right around the time that this was written, The debates around whether this was written before 70 or in 70 come down to whether or not, yeah, was this a prediction of something that was going to happen or was this a record of something that did happen that was then prophesied in hindsight, you know what I mean? And lots of debates on that. There's lots of evidence actually both ways. ⚠
1:02:13

Lecture on Temple History and Sacred Geography

Brad
Personally, this is just, I'm not a Bible scholar, but personally, the ones that I've read seems to suggest that maybe most of Mark's Gospel was written before 70, and then 13 was kind of written still by the same person, but kind of inserted, hey, let me revise this a little bit. I don't know. Who knows? But let's talk a little bit more about the temple. So the temple, as I said, super important, right? So Moses was told originally to build the temple, and then he had his anger management issues and so was prevented from even going into the Promised Land, right? Yeah, that whole Martin Luther King, I may not get to with you, right? But that sort of thing. And then David tried to build the temple, so he established the kingdom of God, and then Solomon built the temple, right? ⚠
Brad
The temple is— so all of these instructions about the temple, where it was supposed to be built, how it was supposed to be built, how many cubits this direction, and what materials, and how to prepare the materials, all these kind of stuff spelled out in painstaking detail, right, at great length in the book of Exodus when Moses is up on Mount Sinai having this chat with God, right? So God reveals all these things to him. Where— so here's my question— where is the temple supposed to be built? So it's supposed to be built not just in Jerusalem, but in a specific spot. Anything— anybody know anything about that specific spot? So it's connected back to our reading earlier in the first half of the semester with the episode from Genesis where Abraham almost sacrifices his son Isaac, right, the akedah that we talked about earlier. So remember Abraham heard this voice in his head, said, "Sacrifice your son." He said, "Okay." Takes him up on a mountain, right? And then right before he's about to sacrifice him, what happens? Yeah, an angel stops him and says there's a ram over there in the bush, right? ⚠
Brad
And so he sacrifices the ram instead. So then the temple is supposed to be built on that spot, right? So the Holy of Holies is specifically that spot. So hearkening back to that very important episode, which is almost a filicide, right? Almost where where Abraham is about to kill his son, sacrifice his son, but then doesn't, right? And so how we have something similar going on here in Mark's Gospel, right? Another— we're told numerous times that Jesus is the Son of God and he's going to be sacrificed right here, and that will be consummated, unlike the one with Isaac. Anybody know anything about that spot? Today, where is that spot today, or what is in that spot today? There's not a temple there, but— international studies folks. So today, if you look at a picture of Jerusalem— it'd be nice if I had a picture up— but if you look at a picture of Jerusalem, or probably if you imagine a picture of Jerusalem in your head, you're going to see the big dome, big golden dome, right? It's called the Dome of the Rock. ⚠
Brad
So the Dome of the Rock, I mean, so the rock, if you go in the Dome of the Rock, it's just plexiglass over the top of the mountain, right? Just the rock. And so that is, at least traditionally, the spot, right, where Abraham almost sacrificed his son Isaac, right? So, and this spot is incredibly sacred to all three of the Abrahamic traditions. So Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all regard this spot as highly sacred because of Abraham and his faith in almost sacrificing his son. So then the Holy of Holies is supposed to be more or less in that spot. And so this is when Jesus was alive, when he went in and overturned the money changers and all that kind of stuff. This is the exact temple we're talking about. So the temple over that same spot. And yeah, it was something else I was going to say. I guess just, I'll throw this in for— this part's free. You don't have to pay for it. But the Al-Aqsa Mosque is also in that spot, right? So you have the Dome of the Rock, which is just a place, right? ⚠
Brad
Like I said, plexiglass over the rock. But then not far from there, maybe 200, 300 yards, not very far at all, is the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is the mosque where it commemorates Muhammad's night journey, where he ascended to heaven and met Jesus and met Moses and met all the— many, many of the prophets, and his ascension on the Barak. So a very sacred site, right? And very much at the center of the Israeli-Palestinian-Lebanese, all sorts of conflict that's going on at the moment. And has been for a couple thousand years, actually. Yeah, I feel like that's everything I wanted to get in there. Any questions? Or, um, you know, how does this connect to what Mark is trying to say about the temple being destroyed? What does that represent? Why is that significant, right, from, from a Jewish perspective? Which Mark— I think most all scholars agree that Mark was a Jew. And so, and obviously Jesus was a Jew. So this site is super important and all those, for all of those reasons. So then what is being said here about the destruction of this very important temple? ⚠
Brad
By the way, in the other gospels, Jesus says, right, everything's going to be destroyed. So we have versions of the little apocalypse in those other gospels. But then, like in Luke, I think Luke and Matthew, but definitely one of them says, this temple will be, you know, I will rebuild this temple in 3 days, right? So pretty clear symbolism there, right? Meaning it's not the temple that's going to be rebuilt in 3 days, but instead his body, which is resurrected after 3 days, right? So Maybe some connection here between the temple that is being destroyed and his body is being destroyed, but also, you know, there's the hope that comes out of that with the resurrection, right, or the rebuilding. Thoughts, questions? Got a couple minutes left. I feel you. All right, then let's stop for today, I think. Yeah, really nicely done, especially from all of our really strong leadership today. Love all the commentaries. Let's keep that up for the remaining classes. It'll be dope. I have office hours right now. I still have office hours tomorrow also. And, um, ⚠

THEO 1432: The Religious Quest · Brad Bannon · Boston College

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