People have a wide range of opinions on how Jesus viewed his own death and resurrection. But it’s important to listen to the Gospels themselves on this topic. They give us eyewitness testimony to Jesus that can be traced back to authoritative apostles. The Gospels also requires us to consider carefully the Old Testament background for his teaching. Let’s consider three ways Jesus speaks about his death and resurrection in the Gospel of Mark. We’ll see that Jesus speaks about his death in multifaceted ways, but he memorably describes his death as a substitutionary ransom for many. Necessary According to Scripture (Mark 8:31) The death and resurrection of Christ was necessary according to Scripture: “[Jesus] began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and to be handed over by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and to be killed and after three days to rise” (Mark 8:31, author’s translation). After Peter confesses Jesus as the Christ at Caesarea Philippi (vv. 27–29), Jesus begins to teach his disciples more of what it means for him to be the Messiah. He is the Christ, the anointed son of David who will reign over David’s kingdom forever. However, Jesus teaches that this kingdom will come not through military victory but through the death and resurrection of the King. The Greek word we translate as “it is necessary” (dei) refers elsewhere to what’s necessary according to Scripture (see Luke 24:26, 44). Jesus also speaks in Mark 14:21 of his death as according with what was “written of him” in Scripture. This aspect of Christ’s death is closely related to his kingship—and, indeed, Jesus brings about his permanent kingdom by means of his death and resurrection. But there’s more. Ransom for Many (Mark 10:45) Jesus describes his death as a ransom for many, echoing scriptural language: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). One scholar has called this the most remarkable statement in Mark. Jesus, the Son of Man, describes his death as substitutionary. Several features of the text point us in this direction. First, a “ransom” is something (or here, someone) given in place of someone else. The life that Jesus gives as a ransom is his own life—referring to his death on the cross. Second, the phrase “for many” is substitutionary. The preposition anti (“for”) in Greek points to something given in place of something else. Third, Jesus’s language “for many” echoes similar language in the Suffering Servant passage of Isaiah 53 (see v. 12). The Servant is pierced for the people’s transgressions (v. 5), and the Lord places on the Servant the iniquity of the people (v. 6), echoing the Day of Atonement in Leviticus 16:21. This Servant is killed like a lamb led to the slaughter (vv. 7–9). Jesus teaches that this kingdom will come not through military victory but through the death and resurrection of the King. The death of the Servant, like that of a sacrificial lamb, is the means by which the Servant bears iniquities, so that many sinners will be counted righteous (v. 11). Yet in the end, God will vindicate the Servant (52:13; 53:10–12). So when Jesus speaks of giving his life as a ransom for many in Mark 10:45, he, the Suffering Servant, speaks of giving his life unto death to redeem his people from sin. This was necessary according to Scripture. Blood of the Covenant (Mark 14:22–25) Jesus also talks about the purpose of his death in the words of institution at the Last Supper (Mark 14:22–25). Before he dies, he gives his disciples a perpetual picture of the purpose of his death: the bread is his body broken for them, and the wine is his blood poured out for the forgiveness of sins (see Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:19–20). Jesus’s death isn’t accidental. He has a purpose for it that’s evident in these words. His blood is the blood of the new covenant. It’s no accident that Jesus dies at the time of Passover. He enters Jerusalem at just the right time. His death fulfills what Passover represented, and the imagery of Passover must inform the way we understand Jesus’s death. His death accomplishes not only the deliverance from sin in a new exodus but also the forgiveness of sins that the Passover lamb represented (see John 19:36, citing Ex. 12:46). The Israelites killed the Passover lamb and sprinkled its blood on their doorpost so that God would spare the death of their firstborn sons (Ex. 12:21–23). The good news of the gospel teaches that God saves us from our sin not ultimately because of a lamb but because of the precious, efficacious blood of Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He’s the reality to which all previous Passover lambs pointed. Jesus dies that we might live. God saves us from our sin not ultimately because of a lamb but because of the precious, efficacious blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus’s actions at the Last Supper anticipate his death on Good Friday. His body is broken, and his blood is poured out for us. On the cross, Jesus truly dies (Mark 15:37). He’s buried (vv. 42–47) and remains under the power of death for a time (16:1–6). It’s significant that Jesus dies publicly, as someone officially condemned. His condemnation is a legal verdict (though it’s unrighteously administered), and this is good news for us. Jesus’s death shows us the horrors of what our sin deserves—it takes the death of the holy Son of God to pay our penalty. God doesn’t simply overlook the sins of his people; their penalty is truly paid by Christ. The further good news is that Christ’s death isn’t the final word in the Gospel of Mark. Had Jesus not been raised, we’d still be in our sins. But—thanks be to God!—Jesus rises from the dead, overcoming the penalty of death. The resurrection is also a legal verdict (1 Tim. 3:16). Jesus’s resurrection is the vindication of his unjust death, and this benefits all who trust in Christ. Jesus was handed over for our sins and raised for our justification (Rom. 4:25). Jesus’s death is multifaceted—it’s the way his kingdom comes, but it’s also the way he pays for our sins and how we can therefore participate in that kingdom. For indeed, it’s a kingdom that calls for faith and repentance (Mark 1:14–15). And the King himself provides the way for us to be citizens of this kingdom.

In this live recording from TGC25, Rebecca McLaughlin and Sam Chan discuss strategies for answering skeptics’ questions about Christianity, then they answer questions posed by the audience. They model how to talk with skeptics about difficult issues like abortion, suffering, hell, mental health, and sexuality. Resources Mentioned: Evangelism in a Skeptical World by Sam Chan How to Talk About Jesus (Without Being That Guy) by Sam Chan

Every time a president so much as changes the color of the White House drapes, the press clutches its pearls. Unless the name on the stationery is Barack Obama’s, even routine restoration becomes a national outrage.President Donald Trump’s decision to privately fund upgrades to the White House — including a new state ballroom — has been met with the usual chorus of gasps and sneers. You’d think he bulldozed Monticello.If a Republican preserves beauty, it’s vandalism. If a Democrat does the same, it’s ‘visionary.’The irony is that presidents have altered and expanded the White House for more than a century. President Franklin D. Roosevelt added the East and West Wings in the middle of the Great Depression. Newspapers accused him of building a palace while Americans stood in breadlines. History now calls it “vision.”First lady Nancy Reagan faced the same hysteria. Headlines accused her of spending taxpayer money on new china “while Americans starved.” In truth, she raised private funds after learning that the White House didn’t have enough matching plates for state dinners. She took the ridicule and refused to pass blame.“I’m a big girl,” she told her staff. “This comes with the job.” That was dignity — something the press no longer recognizes.A restoration, not a renovationTrump’s project is different in every way that should matter. It costs taxpayers nothing. Not a cent. The president and a few friends privately fund the work. There’s no private pool or tennis court, no personal perks. The additions won’t even be completed until after he leaves office.What’s being built is not indulgence — it’s stewardship. A restoration of aging rooms, worn fixtures, and century-old bathrooms that no longer function properly in the people’s house. Trump has paid for cast brass doorknobs engraved with the presidential seal, restored the carpets and moldings, and ensured that the architecture remains faithful to history.The media’s response was mockery and accusations of vanity. They call it “grotesque excess,” while celebrating billion-dollar “climate art” projects and funneling hundreds of millions into activist causes like the No Kings movement. They lecture America on restraint while living off the largesse of billionaires.The selective guardians of historyWhere was this sudden reverence for history when rioters torched St. John’s Church — the same church where every president since James Madison has worshipped? The press called it an “expression of grief.”Where was that reverence when mobs toppled statues of Washington, Jefferson, and Grant? Or when first lady Melania Trump replaced the Rose Garden’s lawn with a patio but otherwise followed Jackie Kennedy’s original 1962 plans in the garden’s restoration? They called that “desecration.”If a Republican preserves beauty, it’s vandalism. If a Democrat does the same, it’s “visionary.”The real desecrationThe people shrieking about “historic preservation” care nothing for history. They hate the idea that something lasting and beautiful might be built by hands they despise. They mock craftsmanship because it exposes their own cultural decay.The White House ballroom is not a scandal — it’s a mirror. And what it reflects is the media’s own pettiness. The ruling class that ridicules restoration is the same class that cheered as America’s monuments fell. Its members sneer at permanence because permanence condemns them.RELATED: Antifa is what you get when cowards run civilization Photo by Julia Beverly/Getty ImagesTrump’s improvements are an act of faith — in the nation’s symbols, its endurance, and its worth. The outrage over a privately funded renovation says less about him than it does about the journalists who mistake destruction for progress.The real desecration isn’t happening in the East Wing. It’s happening in the newsrooms that long ago tore up their own foundation — truth — and never bothered to rebuild it.Want more from Glenn Beck? Get Glenn's FREE email newsletter with his latest insights, top stories, show prep, and more delivered to your inbox.

A suspected drug smuggling vessel burns the day after a Coast Guard crew fired on it in the Caribbean Sea, on Sept. 7, 2025. U.S. Coast GuardPresident Donald Trump expanded his administration’s fight…

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by Jonas E. Alexis, The Unz Review: Christopher Hitchens: “The Holocaust has become a secular religion, with state support in the form of a national museum.” David Irving is arguably one of the most controversial historians of the modern era. He has been characterized by critics as an “anti-Semite,” a “neo-Nazi,” and a “Holocaust denier.” […]

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