Introducing the New Testament: A Historical, Literary, and Theological Survey

Top Highlights

“Instead, he tells us something else. Sometimes, miracles do happen. Sometimes, prayers are answered, heroes are rescued, pagans are kind, martyrs die bravely, and people of faith turn the world upside down. Remember those times. Indeed, the basic message of Acts may be just that: Remember! Sometimes, God’s will is done!” (Page 213)

“He does all this in spite of the fact that they seem obtuse and self-obsessed and show few (if any) signs of improvement. In fact, he predicts that they will betray, deny, and forsake him, adding only that he will want them to rejoin him after his resurrection. And, sure enough, the word that goes out from the empty tomb is a word of invitation for the faithless disciples to come back and continue as before (16:7). Despite their failings, Jesus keeps them as his disciples. The point, for Mark, seems to be that discipleship is a relationship established by the call of Christ and defined by his own faithfulness, not by any merit that can be attributed to the disciples themselves.” (Page 143)

“One thing that Jesus means in proclaiming God’s rule as a present reality is that ‘holiness’ is now contagious in a way that ‘uncleanness’ was before: what is holy now has the power to transform what is unclean.” (Page 140)

“In a nutshell, Mark does not think that any aspect of the Jesus story can be understood apart from the cross. Jesus tells people not to talk about his miracles or his glorious transfiguration because those elements of his biography need to be understood in context, and the proper context for interpreting them does not come until the end of the story, when Jesus dies on the cross.” (Page 138)