Sunday Morning Bible Study

All are welcome to this six-week Lenten Study of The Last Week, by Marcus Borg & John Dominic Crossan. Come not only to meet the historical Jesus, but meet a radical and little-known Jesus who engages us and invites us to follow him. Using the gospel of Mark as their guide, Borg and Crossan present a day-by-day account of Jesus’s final week of life.

Read Mark 11:27-13:37

Tuesday is a busy day, a full day. Mark’s narrative of the day’s events covers almost three chapters, 11:27–13:37, a total of 115 verses. It includes some of my favorite stories, I do want to start with the video history of the temple, tho. Better late than never.

There’s much to cover in this chapter but here are some questions for you to be thinking over. There will be plenty to talk about.

Questions for the conversation

1. Most stories underscore conflicts with the temple authorities who challenge Jesus’s authority. How do these stories reflect the conflict between Caesar’s kingdom and God’s?
2. Scholars agree Jesus did not focus on himself or life after death but the “kingdom of God” that is here. The “exalted” terms in the Gospels are later additions. Give this some thought.
3, Consider Mark’s “little apocalypse.” “What has begun in Jesus will triumph, despite the tumult and resistance of this world.” The author of Mark believed the end was coming soon. It did not. But the little apocalypse functions to say to the followers of Jesus your efforts are not in vain. Reflect on our confidence in our convictions in the midst of opposition and violent opposition. What functions today to give us hope for our
world? Let us hope it is not the desire for an end!!

This is one of Bill Lamb’s favorite books and he will be facilitating these discussions.

Here is the full Amazon description of the book.

Top Jesus scholars Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan join together to reveal a radical and little-known Jesus. As both authors reacted to and responded to questions about Mel Gibson’s blockbuster The Passion of the Christ, they discovered that many Christians are unclear on the details of events during the week leading up to Jesus’s crucifixion.
Using the gospel of Mark as their guide, Borg and Crossan present a day-by-day account of Jesus’s final week of life. They begin their story on Palm Sunday with two triumphal entries into Jerusalem. The first entry, that of Roman governor Pontius Pilate leading Roman soldiers into the city, symbolized military strength. The second heralded a new kind of moral hero who was praised by the people as he rode in on a humble donkey. The Jesus introduced by Borg and Crossan is this new moral hero, a more dangerous Jesus than the one enshrined in the church’s traditional teachings.
The Last Week depicts Jesus giving up his life to protest power without justice and to condemn the rich who lack concern for the poor. In this vein, at the end of the week Jesus marches up Calvary, offering himself as a model for others to do the same when they are confronted by similar issues. Informed, challenged, and inspired, we not only meet the historical Jesus, but meet a new Jesus who engages us and invites us to follow him.

For the Zoom information, check your Saturday Zoom email or contact Bill Lamb at william.e.lamb@gmail.com.

Zoom (CUCC):  reserved for Bill Lamb; 9:30-10:30AM