Joe Barnett

Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you.         —1 Peter 1:13 Bible scholars are nearly unanimous in the belief that Mark’s gospel is a record of Peter’s preaching. If so, the source of the gospel account of Peter’s denial of Jesus was Peter himself. We are more inclined […]

He began to be deeply distressed and troubled.        —Mark 14:33 Three times in Gethsemane Jesus prayed for deliverance. Mark inked powerful verbs to describe his angst: distressed . . . troubled . . . overwhelmed. But after submitting to his Father’s will, he awakened his sleeping disciples and serenely said: “The hour

Not what I will, but what you will.                   —Mark 14:36 Is your will ever at odds with the will of your Father? If so, Jesus understands, for he faced that disparity of wills: in Gethsemane his will and the Father’s were not in sync. He prayed

(He) made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.                             —Philippians 2:7 Danish philosopher and theologian Søren Kierkegaard spun a tale entitled The King and the Maiden that went something like this . . .

Of all the commandments, which is the most important?         —Mark 12:28 Jewish Teachers of the law concocted 613 commandments out of the original ten: 248 Dos and 365 Don’ts. A lawyer asked Jesus to comb through them and single out the most important one. The most important one, answered Jesus, is

She did what she could.        —Mark 14:8 When Mary anointed Jesus, “the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume” (Jn 12:3). Not just that house—the whole wide world has sniffed that scent, for Jesus said, “Wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be

What she has done will also be told, in memory of her.         —Mark 14:9 Today we play a part in fulfilling a promise of Jesus—the promise that a certain dear lady would never be forgotten. Her name was Mary. She did a lovely thing when she anointed the body of Jesus

The heart is deceitful above all things.                      —Jeremiah 17:9 “All of you will desert me,” Jesus told his disciples. Not me, protested Peter: “Not even if I have to die with you! . . . And all the others vowed the same” (Mk 14:31 NLT).

[I]t is not for man to direct his steps. —Jeremiah 10:23 Your toddler thought you were messing up, mismanaging her world; when she was a teenager she was sure of it. You’re God’s kid, viewing the world from a child’s perspective. When you fuss and fume, grumble and gripe, you are implying that God is

Do you believe that I am able to do this?                   —Matthew 9:28 Two blind men trailed Jesus, shouting, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” “Do you believe I can do this?” Jesus asked. “Yes, Lord.” “Let it be done for you according to your faith,”