My most recent publications are:
- ‘The reimagining of theological time: Revelation’s use of the Old Testament’ in The Scriptures in the Book of Revelation and Apocalyptic Literature.
- ‘The genre of Revelation’ (including two new proposals!) in The Apocalypse of John amongst its Critics.
- The New Testament’s Vision of Mission Grove booklet, exploring key themes from the teaching and practice of Jesus.
- The Practice of Evangelical Spirituality Grove booklet, looking at the seven dimensions of biblical discipleship.
- Exploring the New Testament, Volume Two: Letters and Revelation third edition, fully updated, revised and expanded.
- Revelation: Faithfulness in Testing Times, a series of six studies for individuals or groups.
- Revelation, the Tyndale New Testament Commentary from IVP. (If you order from an online store, make sure you choose mine, not the previous edition by Leon Morris!)
My other recent publications include:
- How to Interpret the Bible: four essential questions (Grove, 2017)
- Being Messy, Being Church (Bible Reading Fellowship, 2017)
- Kingdom, Hope and the End of the World (Grove, 2016)
- The Book of Revelation: currents in British research (Mohr Siebeck, WUNT, 2015)
- Evangelical Leadership: Challenges and Opportunities (Grove, 2016)
Jesus enters Jerusalem on ‘Palm Sunday’ in Mark 11
This Sunday in the lectionary is Palm Sunday, the week before Easter, and here in Year B we are offered the choice between reading the account in Mark 11 and John 12. I am going to look at Mark 11, since we have been doing a lot in the Fourth Gospel in recent weeks, and the account in Mark makes some important connections back with ideas that we found in its early chapters. We perhaps ought to note from the outset that the festival of ‘Palm Sunday’ is a later construction of the church; Mark makes no mention of palms (which are only found in the account in John 12.13), and the idea that this occurred seven days before Jesus’ resurrection relies on counting back in Mark’s chronology, which is more likely to be a narrative creation of Mark than a historical schedule.
It is worth remembering the events that have immediately preceded this reading, since they put this event in its theological context. On the one hand, Jesus has just come through Jericho where he has healed blind Bartimaeus, who has unequivocally identified Jesus as ‘Son of David’, a title with clear messianic implications. As Jesus approaches Jerusalem, the secrecy around his identity is cast off, and his explicit claims to be the anointed one of God become clear. On the other hand, the episode immediately before that is the dispute between the disciples about who is greatest. Jesus puts an end to their argument with one of the most important statements in this gospel:
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10.45).
As at the beginning of the gospel, where the sonship of Jesus proclaimed at his baptism wove together ideas of royal enthronement with suffering servanthood, the juxtaposition of these two episodes makes it clear what kind of king Jesus is.
Our passage begins by commenting that ‘they’ came near to Jerusalem; the language of ‘coming near’ is perhaps better than ‘approached’, since the latter terms suggests the city would be visible to them, when in fact the Mount of Olives would obscure their view. But who are ‘they’? We are given a clue by the parallel phrase in Mark 10.46, when ‘they’ come to Jericho. This would certainly have included both Jesus and the Twelve, but we know they did not travel alone (Luke 8.1–3), and by now they are accompanied by the pilgrim crowds, all heading to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Mark later confirms this (in verse 8) and this is important for understanding the strange dynamic of adulation and rejection that Jesus experiences once he arrives at the city.
Mark mentions both the villages of Bethphage and Bethany, where Matthew only mentions the first of these. Bethany is well known to us from the Fourth Gospel as the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, and it is clearly a place that Jesus knows and in which he has friends. The site of Bethphage is not accurately known (despite the fact that you can locate it on Google maps!), but perhaps it is the name of the village (‘house of unripe figs’) that is significant for Mark, given Jesus’ blasting of the fig tree as a symbol of the unfruitfulness of the temple later in this chapter.
‘Palm’ ‘Sunday’ in Mark 11 video discussion
The lectionary gospel reading for Palm Sunday in Year B is Mark 11.1–11. (There is an alternative reading from John 12.) It is a fascinating passage, since, rather than focus…
‘The Fund for Healing, Repair and Justice’: a discussion
John Root writes: By a macabre coincidence the Church of England is simultaneously engaged in debates about safeguarding and the victims of abuse, and responses to its involvement in slavery…
In what way does Jesus ‘welcome’ sinners?
When I was a teenager, one of the books I treasured was William Barclay’s New Testament Words. It was a collection of word studies—with an impressive Scrabble-style tiling of Greek words…
The paradox of Jesus’ glory in John 12
The lectionary gospel reading for the fifth Sunday in Lent in Year B is John 12.20–33, and here we are reading the text in a strange order! There are clear…
The Paradox of Jesus’ glory in John 12 video discussion
The lectionary gospel reading for the fifth Sunday in Lent in Year B is John 12.20–33, which follows the passage we read next week! It is in three parts: the…
Should the Church generate a £1 billion fund for slavery reparations?
PR car-crashes for the Church of England are like buses—there are none for ages, then three come along at once. Except for the Church of England, the ‘there are none…
The Church of England after COVID: quo vadis?
David Goodhew writes: The Church of England is beginning to recognize that the years of COVID had a hugely corrosive effect. The Church lost a fifth of its congregation members…
God’s love for the world—and judgement—in John 3
The gospel lectionary reading for Lent 4 in Year B is John 3.14–22, the monologue ending of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, which includes perhaps the best-known verse in the New…
God’s love for the world—and judgement—in John 3 video discussion
The gospel lectionary reading for Lent 4 in Year B is John 3.14–22, the monologue ending of Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, which includes perhaps the best-known verse in the New…
Artificial intelligence: a guide for the perplexed
A former airline pilot, Simon Cross left industry to complete a PhD focusing on the metaphysical tensions in scientific perspectives on divine action. For the past four years he has…