Were the Palm Sunday and Good Friday crowds completely different?

One of the questions thrown up by the Easter week narrative is how could the crowds so quickly have turned on Jesus? How is it possible that those who on the previous Sunday were shouting “hosanna” were by Friday shouting “crucify”? One possibly, strongly favoured by commentators is that there were two different crowds. Those… Continue reading Were the Palm Sunday and Good Friday crowds completely different?

Gethsemane

For Good Friday, here’s a little Bible study, formally used at our old Sunday Night Church. I thought this might be a useful thing for people wanting something to work through reflectively. I’ll also be sharing a study on the crucifixion For Starters Have you ever made a New Year’s Resolution or similar commitment/promise? What… Continue reading Gethsemane

Tales of the Kingdom -new publication

My introduction to teaching and preaching on Mark’s Gospel is now available on the Publications page. Tales of the Kingdom – Teaching and Preaching Mark’s Gospel Mark’s Gospel is foundational to our understanding of what the good news is about Jesus, his life, death and resurrection. This is in many respects a stripped back account… Continue reading Tales of the Kingdom -new publication

Remember: You are not Jesus!

What turns out to be the most controversial is often a surprise.  Sometimes I can write something or say something and it gets little reaction when I would expect it to create a lot of heat. Other times, I say something I consider fairly innocuous or obvious and it creates waves with people taking the… Continue reading Remember: You are not Jesus!

An intentional detour of grace

In John 4:3-6 we read: 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was… Continue reading An intentional detour of grace

Eve, deception and Doctrine

thought it might be helpful to dig a bit further into some of the things raised in my conversation with Elyse Fitzpatrick on last week’s podcast.  If you haven’t watched or listened in yet then I’d encourage you to do so via one of the links below. One thing that Elyse raised was the way… Continue reading Eve, deception and Doctrine

The end of a world

I recently wrote about whether the book of Revelation and other apocalyptic literature (Daniel, Matthew 24) etc predict current events that we are seeing now.  I guess my answer was “yes and no.”  No, in the sense most people understand the prophecy to be working.  We are not meant to find chapters in the Bible… Continue reading The end of a world