Question MARK

Today we welcome acclaimed biblical storyteller, Tracy Radosevic, to explore together one of the most puzzling episodes of Mark’s Gospel - the ending. How to explain this startling, even disturbing cliffhanger? Tracy Radosevic is Professor at St. Mary’s Ecumenical Institute in Baltimore and Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC, as well as dean of the Academy for Biblical Storytelling (ABS...

‘The Burial of Jesus’. This week we were excited to host our first Bible translator on Question MARK: The Podcast. Father Nick King SJ is currently Lecturer in Biblical Studies at Heythrop College, University of London, having recently published a translation of the entire Greek Bible. Nick is also the author of an excellent book on Mark, called ‘The Strangest Gospel’. It was fascinating to talk w...

‘The Death of Jesus’. As a Professor, pastor and performer of biblical stories, Phil Ruge-Jones definitely knows his Mark! His understanding of Jesus’ death on the cross is particularly acute. If you’ve ever wondered why Jesus cries out on the cross, why the earth is covered in darkness for three hours and why the curtain in the Temple is torn from top to bottom, this episode will both expand your...

Mark 15:21-32: The Crucifixion of Jesus. On this pod we were pleased to welcome Dr Lucy Peppiatt, the director of the hugely popular WTC Theology, to talk about this climatic episode in Mark’s story. As it turns out, there’s a lot more going on between the lines and beyond the words than is at first apparent…. Some facts about Lucy’s work with WTC can be found here: https://wtctheology.org.uk/stud...

The soldiers’ torture and mockery of Jesus in Mark 15:16-20 must count as one of the more shocking episodes in all of Scripture. But is there more going on than a simple description of gratuitous violence? Andre and Mary-Anne Rabe have been passionate communicators of the good news of Jesus Christ since 1990. Their message has taken them to some of the most obscure corners of the earth as well as...

Ted Trost is Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He’s written a Master’s thesis on Mark’s Gospel and he’s working on an exciting new commentary of Mark called ‘The Gospel of the Unnamed’. This latter is based on the premise that Mark deliberately elevates the last and the least of the characters in his story, many of whom are unnamed. Today Ted helps us unpick what’s reall...

Pete Greig needs no introduction as the founder of the 24-7 Prayer movement. He is also the Senior Pastor of Emmaus Rd church alongside his wife Sammy, a director of Waverley Abbey Trust, and a multi-award-winning author whose books, such as Dirty Glory and God on Mute have been translated into many languages. To find out more about Pete and his work go here: http://www.dirtyglory.org/new-page-2 I...

‘Jesus Before the Sanhedrin’. John Burnett is one of our ‘go-to guys’ when it comes to understanding Mark’s gospel. If John doesn’t know it, or if he hasn’t read it, then it’s probably not worth listening to. So it’s with extra enthusiasm that we interviewed John about this (in his view) climatic episode in the story. Listen in to see whether or not you agree with him. As well as being the chief t...

“What’s with the naked guy?” Professor Helen Bond of the University of Edinburgh provides a lively take on that most dramatic of gospel scenes, the arrest of Jesus and his disciples’ cowardly desertion. Of particular interest to Mark’s readers over the years has been the identity and significance of a certain ‘young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment’, who flees ‘naked, leaving his garment b...

‘Gethsamene’. Most commentators on the NT (including such luminaries as NT Wright, Brandon Robbins, Brad Jersak and Ted Trost), would be in agreement on this: if you get a chance to listen to Richard B Hays speak, don’t turn it down! So imagine our delight when Richard himself agreed to appear on our podcast in conversation with our ‘resident theologian’ John Burnett. What came about was a feast f...

This episode, ‘Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial’, we had the huge privilege of interviewing one of the people whose idea it was to produce this podcast - the wonderful Lucy Warner. Listeners may recall that it is Lucy’s mellifluous tones which also grace the podcast Intro and Outro, and it is largely to Lucy that we owe our readings. Now in role as a commentator Lucy conveys a fresh and peculiarly mo...

Dr Paula Gooder is one of our favourite theologians and has written extensively on Mark’s gospel, as well as many other themes, particularly on the role of women in the New Testament. Therefore we were delighted to be able to quiz her about her thoughts and feelings about and one of the most dramatic episodes in the whole gospel, the Last Supper. As ever, our experts were more than happy to “disag...

We were delighted to welcome back Carolyn Meers for this episode of Question MARK about the story of Jesus’ anointing in Bethany. We think you’ll find that she explores this scripture with a clarity, depth and agility that is truly exceptional. In this episode she helps us get underneath Mark’s purpose in including this story in the first place, and how it challenges us to live for Jesus with ever...

In this episode: ‘The Destruction of the Temple and the Signs of the Times’ (Mark 13:1-31). It’s not every day that you get two Markan megastars to drop into your studio all at once, but this is what happened when we started chatting about one of the most puzzling and enigmatic passages in all of Scripture. Orthodox scholar, John Burnett shares his incisive detailed knowledge of the ancient texts...

It was wonderful to have Daniel Goodman, Senior Leader of City Church, Cambridge, as our guest on this episode of the show, because, among his many talents and accomplishments, he’s a passionate aficionado of Mark, having read it in depth over 40 times. See what we made of what is probably one of the most puzzling aspects of Mark’s gospel: the three-part climax of Jesus’ Temple teaching at the end...

Who would have thought that when we began our little podcast exploring Mark’s gospel that we would end up having one of the world’s greatest living authors on the show? Well, here he is - William P. Young, author of international bestseller, The Shack, with his own take on one of the most often quoted passages in Mark - the Greatest Commandment (Mark 12:28-34). Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.app...

For this episode I had to do without David Payne’s gravelly tones and silky segues. See how I got on using one of the links below. Better still, enjoy the delights of soaking in the musings of a real Markan mastercraftsman - J.R. Daniel Kirk. Daniel, a prodigious author and NT thinker, has guested on the show before, in the controversy of the Syro-Phonecian Greek woman in Episode 7:24-30 (remember...

Following on from our wonderful chat with Rowan Williams, we’re privileged to announce two more bona fide world experts on Mark’s Gospel - namely, John Burnett and Ched Myers. John is a prominent theologian in the Orthodox tradition, while Ched is an activist and the author of the seminal commentary ‘Binding the Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark’s Story of Jesus’. Be prepared to have your th...

What a joy and privilege it was to interview celebrated author, Dr Bradley Jersak, again on this fascinating and controversial text - the payment of taxes to Caesar. An encouragement for Christians to be good citizens, or the opposite? You decide. Bradley’s new book, ‘Out of the Embers: Faith after the Great Deconstruction’ is worth a look and can be found here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Embers...

We are so glad to welcome Matt Hyam to the podcast - for the third time of asking! We were hoping he’d have something interesting to say about this puzzling passage about how his enemies viewed Jesus’ authority, and we weren’t disappointed. Matt is a former pastor in the Vineyard church and is now Senior Church Engagement Officer for the World Vision Charity. Matt is also a Biblical scholar of som...

FIG TREE ABUSE! It’s one of the most disturbing scenes in the gospel….and the filling of this two part sandwich comprises one of the most shocking images of Jesus, as violent opponent to the status quo. So what is going on here, and what if anything has it do with my life, now? Perhaps Rowan Williams, former Archbishop of Canterbury, can help us understand… For Stefan Smart’s solo word-for-word dr...

Who better to chat about Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday in Mark 12:1-11 than with one of the world’s leading experts on Mark, Rico Tice? Rico is an Anglican clergyman and writer, co-author of Christianity Explored. He is currently associate minister at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London, and is well known in the UK as a speaker at Christian conferences and an evangelist of nationa...

How would you describe authentic discipleship? What should following Jesus actually look like? Maybe, says Cliff Barbarick, biblical storyteller and seminary professor, Mark’s story of blind Batemaeus in Chapter 10:46-52 gives us a clue. Join us as we discuss this poignant and enigmatic episode, in all its richness and layered complexity. And don’t be surprised if you find yourself powerfully stir...

This episode we welcome back Bible teacher, Phil Orchard, to discuss one of the little discussed elements in the Gospel, Jesus’ repeated warnings of his death and resurrection on the road to Jerusalem - in this example buttressed by the reactions of his followers (Mark 10:42-34). Yet in many ways this small segment, and its numerous repetitions, hold the key to an understanding of the Gospel and J...

Today we’ll be looking at an episode in Mark that would be really funny, were it not for the fact that it’s also deeply tragic: ‘The Request of James and John’ in Mark 10:35-44. To help us do so, we welcome Cliff Barbarick, a Biblical Storyteller and Seminary Professor out of Aberline, Texas. You can get to hear Cliff some more by checking out his blog and his YouTube channel. See links below. But...