Daily reflections

Jacob's brother Esau has been marrying women from Canaan, who worshipped other gods. Jacob has been sent on a long journey to find a wife from his own people. Those were very different times: polygamy was standard, and the...

The way Mark tells the beginning of Jesus' ministry, it starts with a bang. He gathers disciples and commences to cast out demons and heal people. The impression we get is of someone who may be a huge public figure, but who...

The four friends of the paralysed man are so desperate for his healing that they break open the roof so that he can get to Jesus. It's been suggested that Mark's Gospel may have been based on the testimony of Peter, and that...

Jesus faced opposition from his family. Their view that he is 'out of his mind' (verse 21), seems to be linked to the accusation by the scribes that he was 'possessed by Beelzebul', (verse 22), and provokes a very sharp response...

The Parable of the Sower is one of the best-known of all Jesus' stories. It's graphic and powerful, with a simple message: some people will respond to the word of God and some will not, because they are hard, shallow or easily...

This passage contains a story within a story. Jesus is on the way to the home of Jairus, whose little daughter is ill. On the way there's an encounter with a sick woman. Her case is far less urgent; she has been bleeding for...

Jesus was attracting large crowds who came to hear his teaching and receive his ministry. When he went to his own town, Nazareth, it was a different story: the people there saw only the carpenter who had grown up among them...

This is a strange story, because it seems to show Jesus treating harshly someone who comes to him in desperate need ...

Jesus' ministry had been going well. There were lots of healings, crowds flocked to hear him and he hadn't yet been faced with much significant opposition. For him to start talking about crucifixion must have struck his disciples...