Mark 8:27–16:20 (Word Biblical Commentary, Volume 34b | WBC)
Overview
Thoroughly engaging with the massive body of scholarship on Mark, Craig Evans’s commentary presents a thorough textual, historical, and theological examination of Mark. He addresses “the synoptic problem” and provides an engaging and stimulating exposition on the church’s second gospel.
Top Highlights
“The story also underscores the importance of faith, for along with repentance it is the prerequisite for unleashing the power of the kingdom of God. When faith is present, God works.” (Page 54)
“Your faith has saved you [ἡ πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε]; go in peace’ (Luke 7:50). To be saved means to be delivered from whatever ails, afflicts, or threatens one. The idea of salvation, therefore, can refer to deliverance from physical danger, from spiritual oppression, or from the consequences of sin.” (Page 134)
“God permits divorce, not because it is his perfect will but because of human sinfulness. The purpose of the Mosaic law was to check divorce (and protect the relatively defenseless woman), not to encourage it. The religious authorities had never considered this option.” (Page 84)
“Because wealth (τὰ χρήματα) competes for loyalty to God, those who have it will find it very difficult to receive God’s rule.” (Page 100)
“The judgmental thrust is not against Israel but against Israel’s religious caretakers, as the parable of the Wicked Vineyard Tenants (12:1–12) makes clear. The kingdom is not to be given over to the Gentiles, but the leadership of the kingdom is to be taken from the ruling priests and given to Jesus’ disciples. Jews as well as Gentiles will be invited to enter the kingdom.” (Page 154)
Dr. Craig A. Evans received his PhD in New Testament from Claremont Graduate University and his DHabil from the Karoli Gaspar Reformed University in Budapest. He is the John Bisagno Distinguished Professor of Christian Origins at Houston Baptist University in Texas.
Evans taught at Trinity Western University in British Columbia for 21 years, where he directed the graduate program in biblical studies and founded the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute. He has recently served on the advisory board for the Gospel of Judas for National Geographic Society and has appeared frequently as an expert commentator on network television programs.
Evans has written and edited extensively on the historical Jesus and the Jewish background of the New Testament era. His published works include From Prophecy to Testament, Jesus and the Ossuaries, Jesus: The Final Days, and Dictionary of New Testament Background.
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