THE GOSPEL OF MARK

The Son of God (1:1-15) The strange, gnomic gospel of Mark begins not with a baby in a manger, but a painful, yearning cry in the wilderness. reading / episode / mailbag

They Forsook Their Nets (1:16-28) The new ministry begins with the calling of several unlikely disciples. reading / episode

Blaze Abroad (1:29-45) A ministry begun in secret begins to spread like wildfire. reading / episode

Jesus Heals the Boy Sick with Palsy (2:1-12) The growing crowd proves a small obstacle for a boy's devoted friends. reading / episode

The Lord of the Sabbath (2:13-28) Jesus's choice of company and fare causes a scandal. reading / episode

The Withered Hand (3:1-12) A miracle is greeted with recriminations as Jesus again flouts decency in the synagogue. reading / episode

A House Divided (3:13-30) As accusations of witchcraft flourish, Jesus assembles a council of twelve. reading / episode

My Mother and My Brethren (3:31-35) As Jesus's ministry draws crowds and controversy, his family tries to intercede. reading / episode

The Parable of the Sower (4:1-20) Jesus tells a perplexing story, whose meaning may not be as obvious as it seems. reading / episode

The Parable of Seeds (4:21-34) Jesus's agrarian parables continue in a sequence of images that together give a strange account of his project. reading / episode

Calming the Storm (4:35-41) A tempest disturbs Jesus's nap. It goes badly for the tempest - and for the baffled disciples who witness the bizarre scene. reading / episode

Legion (5:1-20) Departing Jewish Galilee for the Gentile region of the Decapolis, Jesus and his followers meet a figure who is, like their homeland, occupied by a malevolent foreign power. reading / episode

The Hem of His Garment (5:21-43) As Jesus's fame reaches the upper classes (who demand favours for their children), a woman who has been suffering for years takes a tremendous risk. reading / episode

Shake Off the Dust (6:1-13) Jesus's return to Nazareth prompts disbelief from his family and friends. And the disciples are dispatched throughout the countryside - with specific instructions. reading / episode

The Head of John the Baptist (6:14-29) The narrative of the gospel takes a strange but telling digression to relay the story of a bloodthirsty princess and a feckless puppet king. reading / episode

Feeding the Five Thousand (6:30-44) Jesus's program of radical socialist reform demonstrates its praxis. reading / episode

Walking on Water (6:45-56) Jesus takes unusual means to catch up to his disciples, again leaving them perplexed about who it is they sail with. reading / episode

That Which Defileth (7:1-23) Jesus has harsh words about what does and does not render people unclean. reading / episode

Ephphatha! (7:24-37) Jesus's prickly personality and unusually tactile manner of healing causes a stir. reading / episode

On Bread (8:1-21) Jesus grows frustrated with the lunkheadedness of his disciples. reading / episode

Who Do You Say That I Am? (8:22-38) Jesus stumbles badly during a miracle, and poses a pop quiz to his disciples. reading / episode

The Transfiguration (9:1-13) At the functional midpoint of the Gospel, Jesus reveals himself to his disciples. But what is it they see? reading / episode

Healing the Epileptic Boy (9:14-29) Jesus is asked to heal an afflicted child - but what are the results? Why is doubt, deflection, and uncertainty multiplying? reading / episode

Fire and Salt (9:30-50) As Jesus and his disciples prepare for their march on Jerusalem, Jesus muses with his characteristic opacity on the nature of community. reading / episode

Suffer the Children (10:1-16) Finally en route to the capital, Jesus confronts the nature and boundaries of family life for his burgeoning community. reading / episode

A Camel Through a Needle's Eye (10:17-34) Chatting with an interested young man, Jesus disappoints the comfortably well-meaning, and the radical socialist project of the Jesus movement declares its manifesto. reading / episode

Secret Mark A shadowy apocryphal text of uncertain provenance, deliberately disappeared from the historical record, sheds strange but stark light on the canonical gospel's shaky construction - and suppressed queer content. reading / episode

At His Left and Right Hand (10:34-52) Division breaks about among the disciples about who is Jesus's favourite and who should have pride of place. reading / episode

The Fig Tree (11:1-14) On the road to Jerusalem, a hungry Son of God encounters a fig tree out of season - and cruelly destroys it. What are we to make of his capriciousness and violence? reading / episode

The Temple Riot (11:15-33) Jesus and his disciples stage a protest riot in the Temple. What are their aims? What is the nature of their grievance? And how dangerous is such an action for their provincial movement? reading / episode

Render Unto Caesar (12:1-17) In the wake of inciting the Temple riot, Jesus is asked to clarify his views on the Roman occupation. His answer is much less clear, and much more fraught, than anyone would like. reading / episode

The Greatest Commandment (12:18-34) In dialogue with the sages of Jerusalem, Jesus is quizzed on several points of theological doctrine. How is he heretical? And how is he orthodox? reading / episode

Wealth and Fame (12:35-44) Jesus has some strange remarks to make about the title "Son of David", and considers some of the problems and ironies of public giving and prayer. reading / episode

The Olivet Discourse (13) On the eve of the Gospel's climax, the Gospel's tone undergoes a lurching shift, as Jesus suddenly delivers a lengthy disquisition on coming apocalypses. What do we make of this literary and genre shift? reading / episode

The Anointing at Bethany (14:1-11) In the aftermath of his alarming raid on the Temple, Jesus is celebrated at a wealthy patron's home. But the party takes an unexpected turn when a woman's kindness leads to scandal. reading / episode

The Last Supper (14:12-25) Sensing the approaching end, Jesus manages a tender, embittered last meal with his friends - whose theological and social implications still resonate today. reading / episode

Gethsemane (14:26-52) As the forces arrayed against him close in, Jesus takes a moment to consider the hopelessness of his situation - and the possibility of reprieve. reading / episode

The Denial (14:53-72) Jesus and Peter both face a difficult question: who are you? reading / episode

Before Pilate (15:1-15) Jesus is brought before the Roman governor, whose careless capriciousness leads to a cruel game. reading / episode

The Crucifixion (15:16-32) The climax of the Gospel of Mark arrives - but our narrative splinters and folds in strange ways. How do we reconcile the Gospel's literary project? reading / episode

The Death (15:33-47) As Mark's thematic and literary projects crescendo, we must struggle as readers with the central guiding question of this Gospel: what does the life and death of Christ mean? reading / episode

The Empty Tomb (16:1-8) The Gospel of Mark ends - but not at all the way we expect. Confusion, fear, and uncertainty proliferate. Is this the promised end? reading / episode

Amen Two "false" endings of Mark have entered most canons of the Christian bible. What do we do with the additional text(s) of so-called "long Mark"? What do they reveal about the early Christians - as readers and as practitioners? reading / episode