Commentary Roundup posts are a series of short reviews or overviews of Bible commentaries. I’m working my way through a variety of commentaries, new and old, and hope to highlight helpful resources for my readers.
I begin what I hope will be an every-other-week series of “Commentary Roundup” reviews, with The IVP New Testament Commentary Series. I’ll be focusing on the Mark volume.
Book Details:
• Author: Ronald J. Kernaghan
• Series Editor: Grant R. Osborne
• Consulting Editors: D. Stuart Briscoe and Haddon Robinson
• Publisher: InterVarsity Press (2007)
• Format: softcover
• Page Count: 351
• ISBN#: 9780830840021
• List Price: $18.00
• Rating: Recommended
Series Description:
The IVP New Testament Commentary Series aims to “move from the text to its contemporary relevance and application.” Contributors are a “unique blend of scholars and pastors who share a passion for faithful exegesis and a deep concern for the church,” and although they come from “a wide range of theological traditions” they are united by a “common commitment to the authority of Scripture.” The base text is the NIV (1984).
Structure:
The book has a general preface, explaining the series; and an author’s preface, explaining why he wanted to write this volume on Mark. An introduction covers the author, audience, date, setting and other matters. While the introduction provides a simple outline, in the text that outline is not necessarily stressed. The outline headings are bolded, and there is a brief discussion of a paragraph or two at the start of each of the six major divisions of the book. Beyond that, the commentary moves right along almost like you are reading a book rather than working through a technical commentary. In line with this approach, the Scriptural text is not included in the commentary.
One more note on structure, the commentary ends at Mark 16:8. A short appendix is provided that explains the questions surrounding the longer ending of Mark, but no comments on that text (16:9-20) are included. This follows the prevailing opinion of conservative evangelical scholarship.
Features:
I have found that at least in Mark, this commentary series majors more on contemporary application and theological themes, than a detailed exegesis. This volume has a warm conversational tone and each section begins with a helpful illustration to draw the reader in. An eye is kept firmly on the use of the book to aid its readers in delivering sermons, and this may well come through the influence of the series’ consulting editors: D. Stuart Briscoe and Haddon Robinson, both notable preachers. Footnotes, when they are included (which is not often), are simplified and not very technical in nature. They do provide additional detail however, that will help in exegeting the passage.
Excerpt:
The following excerpt comes from his comments on Mark 2:13-17.
Furthermore, if we examine the three stories of the leper, the paralytic, and the tax collectors and sinners together, we can discern a very interesting progression. In his encounter with the leper [1:40-45] Jesus healed a disease. When the paralytic was lowered through the roof [2:1-12], Jesus first pronounced his sins forgiven and then healed his body. Here [2:13-17] we find Jesus keeping company with sinners and speaking as a doctor. These three events lead us from the physical realm where Jesus’ power to heal can be seen to the spiritual domain where his authority is more difficult to verify. Mark shows Jesus treating the most deplorable disease, leprosy, and the most deplorable social sin, the calculating greed of people who profit from the oppression of their own kind.
In this brief series of events Mark has recreated a moving exposition of Jesus’ preaching. As Jesus proclaimed the kingdom of God, he healed the worst of diseases, opened a new avenue of forgiveness and gathered together a fellowship of people whom the religious elite considered incorrigible and perhaps irredeemable. The Pharisees expected sinners to be destroyed when the kingdom of God came, but Jesus did not show the slightest interest in pronouncing judgment upon the unclean, the irreligious or the morally bankrupt. His intention was clear. He had come to heal and restore. Inviting tax collectors and sinners to accompany his preaching tour through Galilee was a sign that he had a very different idea about the kingdom of God. These three stories leave the reader with the single impression that Jesus came to make people whole. (pg. 62)
Evaluation:
The publisher’s description of this volume states that “Ronald Kernaghan invites readers into a fascinating exploration of Mark’s Gospel as a parable, an open-ended story that invites us on a lifelong journey of discipleship.” And indeed the stress in this commentary is on the personal and contemporary application of Gospel truth. This is a very readable commentary, but at times the author’s effort to apply the message distracts from the reader’s goal to discern the meaning of the text. While this book is not as straightforward in unpacking the text as other commentaries, it invariably uncovers some angle of the text or some theological theme that makes the text’s message all the more compelling.
The simplicity of the approach of this commentary makes it ideal for lay readers who are aiming to apply Scripture more than uncover every last nuance hidden in the text. And pastors seeking to preach the text will appreciate the abundance of illustrations and the often poignant application of the text to contemporary times. This book deserves to be consulted by anyone teaching the book of Mark and would make a fine addition to any pastor’s library.
About the Author:
Ronald J. Kernaghan (Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary) is an ordained minister of the Presbyterian Church (USA). He is Director of Presbyterian Ministries and assistant professor of Presbyterian ministries and pastoral theology at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. Previously he served on the staff of several different Presbyterian churches in Southern California.
Where to Buy:
• Amazon
• Christianbook.com
• Direct from IVP
You can also get the entire series through a subscription discount via IVP. You can also sample the IVP New Testament Commentary Series through the free BibleGateway App (for Apple, Android and Kindle Fire).
Disclaimer:
This book was provided by InterVarsity Press. I was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.
Bob,
Regarding Kernaghan’s comments about Mark 16:9-20: his claim that “the earliest manuscripts simply stop at 16:8” is not true. Codex Vaticanus (the earliest extant MS of Mark 16) does *not* simply stop at 16:8; the stoppage at 16:8 is followed by a distinct blank space which includes an entire blank column, against the copyist’s usual practice of beginning a new book at the top of the column situated immediately after the column in which the preceding book was concluded. In Codex Sinaiticus, the decorative design after Mk. 16:8 is abnormally emphatic; Mk. 14:54-Luke 1:56 are written on replacement-pages, and the rate of letters-per-column varies erratically on these pages in a way that cannot be called simple. As for all the other Greek manuscripts in which Mark’s text stops at 16:8 . . . oh wait. There aren’t any.
Kernaghan’s treatment of Mark 16:9-20 is very brief and very one-sided. He claims that “Mark 16:9 contradicts 16:8,” but this is simply not true. Nothing in 16:9 contradicts anything in 16:8.
He says, “The longer ending contains no mention of Jesus meeting the disciples in Galilee,” and then says that “The longer ending denies the expectation that the young man’s message sets up.” This is however an overstatement. There is no /specification/ that Galilee is the location of the encounter in 16:14ff., but that is not the same as a /denial/ that the location of that encounter is Galilee. Istm that the abrupt ending — in which Jesus does not make any post-resurrection appearance in Galilee or anywhere else — is the ending that *really* collides with the message of the young man (i.e., angel) at the tomb, inasmuch as the young man forecasts a meeting between the disciples and Jesus, and the abrupt ending at v. 8 narrates no meeting at all.
Kernaghan’s statement that “In fact, the longer ending itself does not appear to have been composed at one time” is, in fact, a precarious speculation; he refers to France’s commentary for support but France simply asserts the possibility the way that Kernaghan does. In fact, there is zero basis for Kernaghan’s claim that “There seem to have been several stages in its development, as indicated by the apparent break at the end of 16:11 and the awkward and unspecific beginning of 16:12.” But the shift from 16:11 to 16:12 is no more drastic than many other scene-shifts throughout the Gospel of Mark. The idea that this indicates multiple steps in the production of Mark 16:9-20 has no basis outside Kernaghan’s imagination; this aspect of his approach does *not* reflect current conservative scholarship.
Naturally Kernaghan, wishing to guide his readers to reject Mark 16:9-20, does not mention the early and widespread patristic support for the inclusion of the passage.
Is there anything new to report about this?
Yours in Christ,
James Snapp, Jr.
James,
For the length of the commentary, I wouldn’t expect a full discussion of this question. He could have explained it more, yes. I would have preferred that. But I won’t fault him for siding with the prevailing consensus of most evangelical scholars. I’ll give you the bit about “not composed at one time,” though.
As you know, there is a long history of question related to the ending of Mark. All the way back to Eusebius (and possibly earlier) scholars have noted there are differences in the copies.
I’ll refer my readers to this link, which has a good summary of the various issues when it comes to studying out this question. And James has several resources that are quoted and linked to from that page.
Thanks for commenting.
Bob