Mark

THE OPEN YOUR BIBLE COMMENTARY

PAGE BY PAGE

Do you want to grow closer to God and stronger in your Christian faith?

There’s no better way to make that happen than frequent and regular reading of God’s Word.

The Open Your Bible Commentary was written to encourage your daily Bible reading. Each reading is short, but don’t let the brevity fool you! The content is rich with careful explanation, devotional warmth, and practical relevance to your life.

The Open Your Bible Commentary has four great strengths:

Accessible—it’s written for the average, thoughtful Christian without assuming a great deal of background, yet it is never superficial.

Digestible—it’s written so you can read a section or two a day, working your way through an entire book of the Bible in days or weeks.

Dependable—it’s written by an amazing group of scholars and trusted pastor-teachers. The list is like a Who’s Who of evangelical scholarship.

Practical—it’s a rich combination of specific application and encouragement to listen to God for guidance.

The Open Your Bible Commentary reveals the context of each chapter of the Bible, draws out the truth, and applies it to your daily life, enabling you to understand and appreciate what God is saying. It will help you to

Discover the content of the Bible

Understand the truths of the Bible

Apply the message of the Bible

The complete Open Your Bible Commentary is in two books, each containing nearly 1,000 daily readings.

Old Testament

Print edition, ISBN 978-1-909680-02-9

Ebook edition, ISBN 978-1-909680-22-7

New Testament

Print edition, ISBN 978-1-909680-03-6

Ebook edition, ISBN 978-1-909680-23-4

Or you can get smaller sections as ebooks

The Pentateuch (Genesis to Deuteronomy)

David F. Payne and Derek Kidner

ISBN 978-1-909680-24-1

The Historical Books (Joshua to Esther)

H.L. Ellison, I. Howard Marshall, and J. Stafford Wright

ISBN 978-1-909680-25-8

The Wisdom Books (Job to Song of Solomon)

J. Stafford Wright, H.L. Ellison, and Arthur E. Cundall

ISBN 978-1-909680-26-5

The Major Prophets (Isaiah to Daniel )

Arthur E. Cundall and J. Stafford Wright

ISBN 978-1-909680-27-2

The Minor Prophets (Hosea to Malachi)

John B. Taylor

ISBN 978-1-909680-28-9

Matthew, F.F. Bruce

ISBN 978-1-909680-29-6

Mark, I. Howard Marshall

ISBN 978-1-909680-30-2

Luke, E. M. Blaiklock

ISBN 978-1-909680-31-9

John, Robin E. Nixon

ISBN 978-1-909680-32-6

Acts, Ralph P. Martin

ISBN 978-1-909680-33-3

Romans, E. M. Blaiklock

ISBN 978-1-909680-34-0

1 & 2 Corinthians, Ralph P. Martin

ISBN 978-1-909680-35-7

The Shorter Letters of Paul (Galatians to Philemon), Ralph P. Martin, William L. Lane, and Leon Morris

ISBN 978-1-909680-36-4

Hebrews to Revelation, Leon Morris and H. L. Ellison

ISBN 978-1-909680-37-1

INTRODUCTION

As a Bible teacher and college principal, I am regularly asked for advice about which is the best resource for reading and understanding the Bible. Many of us may be familiar with the Gospels, and perhaps Paul’s epistles. But we may become a little more vague when trying to work out what Leviticus or Zephaniah has to do with either Jesus or being a twenty-first-century Christian. Well, here you will find help and guidance from trusted scholars on how to hear and correctly handle the very words of God. The Open Your Bible Commentary has four great strengths:

Accessible. These studies address the average, thoughtful Christian without assuming a great deal of background information, yet they are never superficial. After all, the Lord Jesus commanded his apostles to feed his lambs and sheep and not his giraffes! In other words, this book is an excellent teaching tool.

Digestible. No study section is overly long. The assumption is that we can read through a section or two a day without getting indigestion. However, the little and often approach means we can systematically work our way through a whole book over a number of days or weeks. One writer who worked on a commentary on Isaiah for some thirty years said he felt like a very small mouse trying to digest a very large and extremely succulent cheese. Well, here you can enjoy every mouthful of every Bible book!

Dependable. A team of internationally renowned theologians, Bible scholars and experienced pastor-teachers has written these studies. You are in safe hands as you read their contributions.

Practical. Sometimes, preachers are in danger of being too general in applying Scripture. The result is that the hearers can feel perpetually guilty to pray more, read more, give more and witness more than they do. One of the benefits of these studies is the diversity and subtlety of the applications suggested. Sometimes, things are clearly spelt out; other times, one is left to ponder for oneself. What shall I do, Lord? (Acts 22:10) is always a fitting response when I meet the Risen Lord.

As a very young Christian, I was first introduced to this amazing series through a recommendation from a pastor who simply said that the money he had paid for the study guide on Psalms was the best he had ever spent! How right he was! Come and enjoy!

Dr Steve Brady

Moorlands College

Christchurch, UK

AUTHOR

I. Howard Marshall, professor emeritus of New Testament Exegesis, University of Aberdeen, former chair of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians. His wife was president of Evangelical Seminary in Hong Kong.

With introductory articles by

Harold H. Rowdon, teacher at London Bible College and historian

Donald Guthrie, lecturer at London Bible College, and New Testament scholar. He wrote numerous books including New Testament Introduction and New Testament Theology.

Pieter Lalleman, tutor and Academic Dean at Spurgeon’s College

CONTENTS

Introduction

Author

Reviser’s Introduction

Abbreviations

The World of the New Testament

The World of the New Testament Map

Mark

Mark’s Use of the Word Immediately

Palestine in the New Testament Times

Jerusalem in Jesus’ Time

Jesus’ Life and Ministry

Jesus’ Last Week

The Teaching of the Gospels & Acts

Commentary

Miracles of Jesus Christ

Parables of Jesus Christ

Prayers of Jesus Christ

Thank You, Scripture Union

Copyright

More ebooks to help you

REVISER’S INTRODUCTION

These studies are a sensitively edited version of Bible Study books originally published by Scripture Union. The intention of that series was to encourage the daily study of the Bible at greater depth than was possible with Bible Study notes. This allowed fuller discussion of introductory, textual and background material, whilst still aiming at devotional warmth, sound exegesis and relevance to daily life.

The authors of the original studies were given a liberty of approach within the general scope of the series. This provides for a certain variation which it is hoped will prove stimulating rather than disconcerting. All authors are united within the circle of conservative evangelical scholarship.

This text may be used with the New International Version (NIV), the English Standard Version (ESV), or indeed with any version of the Bible.

The principal aim of these studies is to stimulate daily Bible study as an aid to personal devotion and application to life in the firm belief that All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17, NIV).

Martin H. Manser

In this ebook, which is a section from The Open Your Bible Commentary, we have added book introductions, maps, and other material from The Bible Book by Book.

ABBREVIATIONS

Bible versions referred to in this book

ESV – English Standard Version

GNT – Good News Translation

JBP – J.B. Phillips New Testament in Modern English

KJV – King James Version (Authorized) 1611

NASB – New American Standard Bible

NCV – New Century Version

NEB – New English Bible

NIRV – New International Reader’s Version

NIV – New International Version

NJB – New Jerusalem Bible

NKJV – New King James Version

NLT – New Living Translation

NRSV – New Revised Standard Version

RSV – Revised Standard Version

RV – Revised Version (1885)

TM – The Message

Standard Abbreviations

c. – (circa) about

eg – for example

f. – verse following

ff. – verses following

Gk. – Greek

Heb. – Hebrew

ie – that is

LXX – Septuagint (Greek Version of the O.T.)

p. – page

pp. – pages

THE WORLD OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

HAROLD H. ROWDON

The World of the New Testament was not the geographical world, but the Roman world, an enormous area stretching from Spain all the way around the Mediterranean Sea to North Africa. Its supreme ruler was the emperor. Technically he was no more than first citizen, but his power was supreme. He was commander-in-chief of the armed forces, his instructions acquired the force of law and he possessed powers which gave him the right of legal veto and jurisdiction to hear appeals.

The Roman empire consisted of some forty provinces which fell into two categories. Those which were situated in frontier or unsettled areas were under the authority of the emperor. They were governed by senatorial legates with the title of pro-praetor, or by nobles who were known as prefects or procurators. All were directly responsible to the emperor. More settled provinces were ruled by proconsuls appointed by, and responsible to, the Roman senate. This was an old established institution going back to Rome’s republican days which still retained some power under the empire.

The Roman world was plentifully supplied with cities. Many of them had been founded in the days of the Greek empire. They served as centers of government and administration, contained lavish provision for recreation and social communication, light industry and trade, and provided a kind of focus for the surrounding countryside. In some ways they were rather like English market towns. They contained many voluntary associations, or guilds, which brought together people with common interests in matters of business or social life. The banquets held by such associations, like the general civic festivals, contained religious overtones and created problems of conscience for Christians. Citizenship of a notable city was a source of special pride. The holding of municipal office might carry with it Roman citizenship. This was also given in recognition of outstanding services to the empire, and might be purchased.

Some cities which were formed by settlements of Roman citizens, often discharged soldiers, were known as coloniae. Others, which had been free cities before they were incorporated into the Roman empire, were allowed to retain their independent status, and were termed municipiae.

Radiating from the city of Rome was a superb system of roads which was better than anything before or since till the eighteenth century. Built for military purposes, they were maintained at the public expense and provided a unique system of communications – even if the motive power was only horsepower! Travel by sea was also relatively easy, because the Mediterranean had been almost entirely cleared of pirates. Navigational aids were few,