Jimmy Doyle

The story of the woman being healed contains interesting interactions between the woman, Jesus and his disciples. But what struck me most was that simple act of healing contained no admonishment fro...

This is so interesting. I love that even though her gain was his loss, Jesus isn’t contained by the boundaries of time. They both are healed/ redeemed; they both actually gain. Thank you for sharing!

@jimmy you're right! It probably has a lot to do with the fact that in a legalistic, patriarchal culture Jesus stops for an unclean woman. Whoop! (I kinda felt the same way in End Game when all the wo...

My commentary stated that it was very much the norm for mourners to cry out loudly…and that it was a disgrace to the family of the deceased if it did not happen…and yes, people made mourning a “job” a...

Can I just say how much I love this story!?!?!

Well really Mark ch. 5 may be a favorite of all. Jimmy I really resonated with what you said. Jesus is bringing rescue and salvation to these people. Death to LIFE. He is SO good! And let us not forge...

Shelley, thanks for putting this all together. It brings back so many great memories of the Holy Land and visiting the Decapolis. Although I was always in "work mode" there, it was awesome to once in ...

Travis, and something I was thinking about after listening to the podcasts was that all these people come to Jesus in my mind desperate. They KNOW He can cast out and heal and I sense this from each o...

So, something I didn’t get a chance to ask before, but I can’t help but notice a sort of parallel in the way Jairus responds to seeing Jesus and how the Legion-demonized Man responds to him. When he ...

As we read through the Old Testament last year, it was my second time to do so and I found myself reading about the tribes being established and found myself drawn to Wikipedia to get maps and try to ...

Pigs… You mentioned this and when Jimmy mentioned it to me on the Podcast, it made so much sense to me in a new way! I’ve always been puzzled by Jesus’s willingness to send the 2,000 pigs to die—but w...

This is so great! I am so visual, so it helps me so much. I am also like Bonnie though and think "how did she even gather this info." Also, I WANT TO GO! Thank you!!!

Partly because the series we are in but also because of the way it somewhat contrasts from the rest of Mark so far — after being freed by Jesus the man wants to follow Jesus, but instead Jesus te...

@jimmy this was so well done. Thanks Shelley

(Post image: Jerash in modern-day Jordan. Jerash was biblical Geresa.) On the last night of our Holy Land trip in 2014, our guide sat us down for a wrap-up, sending us off with these words, “The pil...

Shelley this is absolutely wonderful. Thank you for your attention to detail and your thorough work. Wow.

@jralphsmith Seems like a bad lil' dude* who got caught! Like the unclean spirits are taking advantage of the way God has allowed space for choice and evil... but immediately begs for mercy like it wa...

Jesus is moving forward with an authority that is immediately noticed by the spiritual beings around Him, yet so many are ignorant OR even accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub....

The demon possessed man, and I assume it is the demons talking, says “…I implore you by God…”. Is this significant? What god is he talking about?

I wonder why Legion was concerned about being cast out of the region. Makes me wonder where these evil spirits go when they are cast out, except for the pigs this time, of course 😅

@jimmy Hahaha, you are crazy… BUT - what a moment/shift in this whole story! Mark is telling it like this is the beginning of the good news flowing into all the world… and I feel like this makes it s...

There are three stories of healing in Mark 5. With the stories of healing come three different responses from Jesus on how the healed ones in the story should respond about telling others of their hea...

This reading of Mark continues to raise questions for me. I got to wondering, what would have happened if the disciples had not awakened Jesus?

🤪🤪🤪

@siteadmin As much as I'd like to help, I'm afraid technology has pretty much passed me by since the early days of podcasting. You guys have great discussions and the podcast is presented expertly! B...

@travisbruno3 thank you Travis my questions exactly.

Hey Travis! I've enjoyed hearing you in the podcasts!! Such good questions. To your first one, I had the odd sense as I read it again this morning that I finally understood it. And maybe Jesus really ...

@shelley-johnson @mallary-malwick Yes, thank you Shelley! It does seem to make more sense in the context of God's Word... especially the parable preceding that one line I mentioned. All things in God...

These two stuck out to me too, Travis. Even on this side of Jesus’s life, death and resurrection, these passages seem cryptic/confusing. I can’t imagine how they must have felt to those who were prese...

A few reflections on today's readings. We gave more in-depth insight in this week's podcast. I encourage you to listen if you're interested in digging a bit deeper. The scene from yesterday's readings...

Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit ( Mark 1-10-11). In Chapter 3 we see Jesus family saying “He is out of his mind” and the scribes saying He is demon possessed. Please correct me if I am wrong but...

The Message put it interestingly…more like today’s “labeling” “Jesus came home and, as usual, a crowd gathered—so many making demands on him that there wasn’t even time to eat. His friends heard what ...

What is the significance of Jesus renaming Simon, James and John? Why “sons of thunder”? Why not all of the disciples?

In my commentary, they characterized the statement about being “out of his mind” as concern Jesus’s family had for Jesus’ safety…it went on to say that when Jesus found himself ministering to large cr...

Jesus was fully God and fully man. To me the human side of him could easily be angry with people who have rejected his Father so many times, and who can’t seem to get it even when he comes among them...

@jimmy yes! That too! It's so hard to shake narratives about Jesus that have been part of our growing up experiences -- even if they are false narratives. But, that's why we read Scripture together, y...

@jimmy in my experience, it's very hard to see Jesus as angry. Maybe because we equate anger with sin? Yet we know Jesus was sinless. Or maybe because we think of love -- and Jesus is love -- as only ...

I'm grateful that Mark includes a clarifying phrase after he tells us Jesus is angry -- because he is grieved by their hardness of heart -- so that we don't have to speculate on the source of His ange...

I was just going to post that I connected with the same language. Grief and anger being tethered here is a great insight into the heart of Jesus.

What was God’s intention when he gave us Sabbath? How can we honor God’s original intention for keeping the Sabbath? Many of us use Sunday as our Sabbath but don’t make much difference to it than any ...

@shelley-johnson thank you! That is so helpful and the way you dissected the verses within the structure of the chapter is so insightful.

If you’re like me–after having read Mark 2:18-22–you’re wondering what all the hubbub is about fasting. Using commentaries can be helpful (and challenging!), but there are basic steps any of us can mo...

Jay, and Judy…I had not connected with Simon being married before Carol and I started watching the crowd-funded series called “the Chosen”. It’s all about Jesus choosing His disciples. One episode in ...

Two thoughts from the Pillar Commentary on Mark that I thought were great. It is clear that one of the things that the Kingdom of God is defined as, in the life of Jesus, is an upside down understandi...

@judidoerr I think this is quite the insight as well. I know there are some traditions that speak to their broader families but I don't have any of that off the top of my head.

Back in the first chapter Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law. I hadn’t thought about the disciples having wives and families. It makes it even more amazing that they would just drop everything and foll...

Gosh, I just got swept away yesterday with everything else — but I didn't want to forget this section! Which is easier – forgiveness or healing??? Jesus's question feels like it assumes forgiveness is...

This week's readings are all from Mark chapter 2. Click here to see a list of each day's readings. Each day's segments of the readings will be posted on this site during the week. Today's Reading...

The connection between sinfulness and healing is something I think we actually still have tucked away in a deeper recess of our hearts/brains. Are there ever times where you assume someone's plight is...

Really great intro. Appreciate the insight!

So I am just getting to read all the discussions this AM! It made me think with the whole discussion @Jimmy and @travis were having… so when Jesus says to the paralytic “son your sins are forgiven” wa...

As someone who has battled several major illnesses I find this conversation especially interesting. I must admit that sometimes in the midst of those battles, I asked “why me, God?” God and medical ...

@jimmy Good stuff, thank you! So then, was it more normal to ask for healing (skipping over forgiveness) then? Or is it sort of like a symptom/problem situation where illness is perceived as the symp...

I'm sure we will talk more about Jesus' responses tomorrow, as well, but why do you think Jesus responded with offering forgiveness to their efforts to seek physical healing?

My Bibles commentary regarding verse Mk 2:4 pointed out that the crowd in and around the house, could represent one’s church and the sad point is that the crowd, “church” did not recognize the need to...

41 Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him,  “I will; be clean.” (ESV) 41 Jesus was indignant. 1:41 Many manuscripts Jesus was filled with compass...

Jimmy, could you talk about the word in verse 41 that is translated ‘pity’ as in Jesus was moved with pity. It is also translated as ‘indignation’ in the above translation. There seems to be a signifi...

Now that I am retired, early morning does not carry the burden of worry or stress associated with working for a tribal government, the long commute and the appointments of the day. Instead, my day st...

It has been a long time since I have been a part of a slow walk through the scriptures, but I am starting to get the rhythm back. Thanks for the opportunity to do this in such good company!

John's version is so wildly different! I know his gospel usually is. I find myself trying to think through how both versions could be true. 😅

Enjoying reading together and all the comments. Thank you all. Jay I too was struck by the language of the heavens being torn apart as God’s spirit descended on Jesus. Value of this slow reading, seei...

I love the pre-dawn hours to sit with Jesus. It's something I try to always do, but I am so thankful for all the thoughts you all shared below because there are times it doesn't happen (like when I've...

As I read today's passage about Jesus going to Peter's home and healing his mother in law then preaching and healing many, I picture the scene as it was presented in The Chosen. They didn't miss a det...

@jralphsmith When I get mornings right — it makes a monumental difference on the rest of the day... but I also need to be better about days where I don't make the morning time, and giving myself grace...

1:35 Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer.  I’ve been trying to set my year up for ove...

@okiebull13 I think the baseline is to read the whole chapter(s) once on Sunday, and then dive into the segments of the chapter(s) again each day through the week. 🙂 And explore any other reso...

The commentary for versus 1:16-19 states that the disciples did not always answer Jesus’s calling the first time. Peter, James and John didn’t answer Jesus’s calling until the 3rd time. Luke 5:1-11 ...

@jimmy Amen, Jimmy! Sometimes I sound like doom and gloom, but my strength and joy come from that! No fear and lots of thankfulness!

@siteadmin But... I asked @amberhocker first! Hahaha. I tend to think about things like this from the context of my relationship with my own daughter... And so it makes sense from a place, as her fath...

Sometimes it’s like I’m always in the “wilderness”. It feels like that what “the world” is. No matter where we are, or where God leads us, Satan is tempting as the Spirit is guiding.