The story told by Mark moves up another gear as Jesus' authority is questioned and he tells an extraordinary parable that summarises Israel's history and prophesies his death.
This post comes after the meeting for once. Tonight we discussed the incident where Jesus curses the fig tree, a story told either side of the "cleansing" of the temple.
We agreed that it was probably an enacted parable of judgement upon Israel.
Further research bears this out - read the prophetic text from Hosea 9
This week we come to a short but important passage in which Jesus welcomes little children. In the old translations it says "suffer the litle children". "Suffer" seems to mean "allow" but it suggests that the disciples didn't like children crowding round. Why?
And - usual question - what does it mean for us today?
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