Rev. Shawn Linnell, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Blair, NE, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 12:1-12 . Jesus’ parable against the chief priests, scribes, and elders uses Old Testament imagery that describes God’s people Israel as His beloved vineyard. The actions of the tenants in the parable indicate their enmity toward the master. They intend to send him a message by their over-the-top mistreatment of his slaves. Similarly, the religious leaders’ rejection of the LORD’s prop...
Mar 10, 2021•54 min
Rev. Mike Newman, president of the Texas District of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 11:27-33. On Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus’ enemies begin to confront Him. Threatened by the Lord’s actions in Jerusalem the previous two days, they come to Jesus with the false belief that they have authority of their own. They do not trust that authority is God’s gift by which He provides for service for His people, and so they think that they can trap Jesus. As He...
Mar 09, 2021•54 min
Rev. Luke Zimmerman, pastor at Calvary Evangelical Lutheran Church in Mechanicsburg, PA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 11:12-25. Jesus’ words to the fig tree on His way into Jerusalem on Monday of Holy Week serve to illustrate what He does in the temple that same day. The fig tree Jesus sees is not fulfilling its vocation of producing figs. Jesus speaks words of judgment upon that fig tree as a warning to unfaithful Israel who is not producing the fruit of faith He desires. That la...
Mar 08, 2021•56 min
Rev. Brian Flamme, pastor at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Roswell, NM, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 11:1-11. Jesus’ ministry reaches a pivotal moment as He enters into Jerusalem. He instructs two of His disciples very specifically as to where and how they will acquire a colt for Him to ride into Jerusalem. The fervor of the crowd following Jesus grows as they realize that Jesus’ use of a colt signals that He is the promised King in the line of David who comes in humility to save as...
Mar 05, 2021•55 min
Rev. Kurt Cockran, pastor at Faith Lutheran Church in Tucson, AZ, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 10:46-52. Although Bartimaeus is blind, he sees Jesus truly in faith. He comes to Jesus as a little child with nothing, crying out the prayer of every Christian: “Lord, have mercy!” Although the crowd initially rebukes him, Bartimaeus only repeats his prayer louder. Jesus shows mercy by acknowledging and hearing the prayer of this lowly man. Bartimaeus springs forward in hopeful faith. W...
Mar 04, 2021•55 min
Rev. Roy Askins, managing editor for The Lutheran Witness, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 10:32-45. As Jesus continues to lead the way up to Jerusalem, He adds to what He has taught His disciples concerning what awaits Him there. He speaks with great clarity and precision concerning the details of the betrayal, condemnation, mockery, torture, and death He will endure at the hands of both Jews and Gentiles before rising after three days. The disciples once again miss Jesus’ teaching,...
Mar 03, 2021•53 min
Rev. Jacob Dandy, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church and School in Terra Bella, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 10:17-31. The rich young man stands in contrast to the little children Jesus has just welcomed. Whereas those little children came with nothing and desired to receive from Jesus, this man presumes that he does have something to offer Jesus. He believes he has kept the law. Jesus responds to his law questions with law answers, all the while trying to draw the rich man toward...
Mar 02, 2021•54 min
Rev. Steve Andrews, pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Lee’s Summit, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 10:13-16. This text is far more than a heart-warming scene. Children are brought to Jesus because they are in need of His eternal gifts of forgiveness and salvation, and Jesus desires to give it to them. Jesus’ disciples, however, have failed to recognize their Lord’s priorities. They see children as a hindrance to what they think Jesus’ work as Messiah should be. Jesus teac...
Mar 01, 2021•55 min
Rev. Dustin Beck, pastor at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Warda, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 10:1-12. Jesus’ ministry of teaching continues in the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. In the same area where John the Baptist had once spoken against Herod’s sin against adultery, the Pharisees come to Jesus to test Him with a question about divorce. When Jesus turns the question back to them, they quote from Moses in Deuteronomy 24. Jesus’ response makes it apparent that they ...
Feb 26, 2021•54 min
Rev. Timothy Appel goes “Back to the Forge” to answer some listener email concerning the work of the devil against Jesus. How did the Pharisees and scribes ally themselves with the devil? How are all unbeliever’s under Satan’s power? Did the devil want Jesus to die or not? Let the Word of God sharpen your faith on these matters and rejoice that Jesus has conquered your enemy for you! Do you have a question, topic, or guest you’d like to hear on Back to the Forge? Send an email to kfuo@kfuo.org a...
Feb 25, 2021•21 min
Rev. Mark Barz, pastor at Crown of Life Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 9:38-50. John breaks the disciples’ recent silence with a question for Jesus concerning an unnamed man who had been casting out demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus’ response calls His disciples to gentleness toward this man. His use of Jesus’ name indicates faith; he is not in league with the scribes and Pharisees who are against Jesus. This is not an excuse for false or sloppy doctri...
Feb 25, 2021•54 min
Rev. AJ Espinosa, assistant pastor at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Irvine, CA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 9:30-37. Jesus continues to teach His disciples concerning His upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection. For the sake of the salvation of sinners, the Father delivers Jesus as the Son of Man into the hands of men. They will do their worst to Him by killing Him, yet He will be vindicated through His third day resurrection. The disciples once again fail to understand what ...
Feb 24, 2021•55 min
Rev. Matt Ulmer, pastor at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Bishop, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 9:14-29. While Peter, James, and John struggled to understand the events of Jesus’ transfiguration on the mountain, the other nine disciples struggled with unbelief down the mountain. Despite their previous successes, they were now unable to cast out a demon in Jesus’ absence. Jesus laments the lack of faith that surrounds Him and speaks further to the boy’s father. When the father’s fa...
Feb 23, 2021•56 min
Rev. Phil Hoppe, pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Finlayson, MN and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Bruno, MN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 9:2-13. Jesus’ trip with Peter, James, and John up a high mountain recalls the Old Testament revelations the LORD gave to His people on mountains. On this high mountain, Jesus’ appearance and clothes are transformed by the divine glory that is His. The appearance of Moses and Elijah reminds us that the prophets who came before Jesus pointed to...
Feb 22, 2021•53 min
Rev. Dan Speckhard, pastor at St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in North Judson, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 8:27-9:1. As Jesus prepares for His journey south to Jerusalem, He goes to the northern region of Israel. He eases His disciples into answering the question that stands at the center of the Gospel: “Who is Jesus?” The answers of the people in Israel are on the right track, but they are incomplete. The disciples cannot be bystanders to this question, however. Jesus a...
Feb 19, 2021•55 min
Rev. Ryan Ogrodowicz, associate pastor and headmaster at Grace Lutheran Church and School in Brenham, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 8:22-26. In this transitional text, Jesus goes to Bethsaida, placing Him in a region where there is both Jewish and Gentile influence. As in previous accounts, people bring to Jesus a man in need; in this case, a blind man is brought for Jesus to touch and heal. Jesus takes the man out of the village, a foreshadow of Jesus’ own work outside the cit...
Feb 18, 2021•54 min
Rev. Gaven Mize, pastor at Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church in Hickory, NC, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 8:11-21. After several miracles received through faith in Gentile territory, Jesus returns to Jewish territory, only to be met by unbelief. The Pharisees seek a sign from Jesus, a demand springing from their unbelief and serving as a temptation for Jesus to avoid the cross. Jesus refuses to provide such a sign in the face of this unbelief; He seeks faith that relies on His...
Feb 17, 2021•54 min
Rev. Stephen Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Vinton, IA, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 8:1-10. When St. Mark states that the feeding of the 4,000 took place “in those days,” he gives more than just a time indicator; he signals that Jesus is actively ushering in the reign of God. Still in Gentile territory, Jesus has been surrounded by a great crowd hungering for the Word of God for three days. His acts with compassion that suffers with them and shows mercy to them in th...
Feb 16, 2021•56 min
Rev. Carl Roth, pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Elgin, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 7:31-37. Jesus continues His ministry among the Gentiles by taking a circuitous route from Tyre to return to the Decapolis. The people there bring to Him a man who is both deaf and mute, asking in faith for Jesus to touch the man with healing. Jesus draws the man aside privately and communicates to him what he is about to do. Jesus’ physical touch reminds us of the importance of the way God ...
Feb 15, 2021•55 min
Rev. Sean Daenzer, director of worship for The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod and chaplain for the International Center, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to answer listener email concerning the synoptic Gospels and to study Mark 7:24-30. As Jesus enters again into Gentile territory, His trip takes Him to the particularly notorious area of Tyre and Sidon. This home of the wicked Queen Jezebel is certainly not the place a pious Jew would be expected to travel, but Jesus enters a home there. Though He...
Feb 12, 2021•54 min
Rev. Kyle Mietzner, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Anchorage, AK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 7:14-23. Jesus takes the religious leaders’ challenge about unwashed hands as an opportunity to teach about true defilement and true cleanliness. Defilement does not come from without but from within a person. When His disciples fail to grasp the truth, Jesus chastises their lack of understanding and explains to them further. Food only goes into the body and then out of the body. Thos...
Feb 11, 2021•55 min
Rev. Tim Storck, pastor at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Chesterfield Township, MI, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 7:1-13. The Pharisees and scribes ignore the wondrous miracles of Jesus and confront Him again for the practices of His disciples. Jesus’ disciples did not ritually wash their hands in the manner prescribed by the oral tradition that the Pharisees and Jews regarded as coming from God. Jesus’ rebuke of these religious leaders is sharp. He calls them hypocrites because...
Feb 10, 2021•56 min
Rev. Caleb Adams, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bend, OR, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 6:45-56. Jesus has not forgotten the rest that His disciples need. After feeding the large crowd, Jesus sends His disciples before Him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. He remains alone to pray concerning His Father’s will for the salvation of sinners. By now it is late, and the disciples have everything but rest as the wind works against their trip across the sea. Jesus sees them ...
Feb 09, 2021•56 min
Rev. Chris Hull, pastor at Zion Lutheran Church in Tomball, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 6:30-44. The apostles had gone out to teach and act with Jesus’ authority. Having handed out the Lord’s gifts, they return to Jesus in need of Him to give to them yet again. He calls them away to a desolate place for that purpose, but the crowds continue to hunger and thirst for Jesus’ gifts as well. When they beat Jesus to the place He was going, the Lord does not react with anger or anno...
Feb 08, 2021•54 min
Rev. Matt Wietfeldt, Director of Admissions and the Christ Academy program at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 6:14-29. The spread of Jesus’ name throughout Israel provides St. Mark the opportunity to recount the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. Thoughts about who Jesus is swirl among the people, though these ideas are incorrect or incomplete. Herod Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee, falls into the camp that believes Jesus is John raised f...
Feb 05, 2021•54 min
Rev. Joel Heckmann, pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Okarche, OK, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 6:1-13. When Jesus returns to Nazareth, the town where He was raised, the reaction is sinister. The people there believe they can know Jesus according to His family or His profession, and they stumble into unbelief when they hear Him preach. They do not recognize Jesus as the Prophet He truly is, and His judgment against their unbelief is a strong warning. Such rejection will not ...
Feb 04, 2021•55 min
Rev. Nate Hill, pastor at St. Michael’s Lutheran Church in Winchester, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 5:21-43. Jesus crosses back to Galilee and is met by the same large crowds as before. The ruler of the synagogue, Jairus, comes to Jesus in faith that the Lord will be able to heal Jairus’ daughter. Jesus’ journey to Jairus’ house is interrupted by a woman whose social standing couldn’t provide a greater contrast. Her twelve-year issue of blood has left her unclean religiously a...
Feb 03, 2021•54 min
Rev. Sam Wirgau, pastor at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Ossian, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 5:1-20. Jesus makes His first foray into Gentile territory. There He confronts the same enemy who attacks the children of Israel. A man possessed by an unclean spirit meets Jesus as soon as He steps off the boat on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. This unclean spirit is the epitome of all that opposes the kingdom of God. Yet even the unclean spirit quickly recognizes that Jesus ha...
Feb 02, 2021•54 min
Rev. Peter Ill, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Millstadt, IL, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 4:35-41. Jesus’ ministry transitions from a time of teaching to a time of miracles. He calls His disciples to go with Him across the Sea of Galilee to the other side. In trust of His Heavenly Father, Jesus sleeps in the boat even as a great windstorm arises. The disciples wake Jesus, thinking that they will die. With His Word, Jesus rebukes the wind and calms the sea. He questions His ...
Feb 01, 2021•53 min
Rev. Dr. Adam Koontz, assistant professors of exegetical theology at Concordia Theological Seminary in Ft. Wayne, IN, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 4:26-34. Jesus’ parables make use of agricultural imagery to teach that the growth in the kingdom of God is due to His work. As a seed sprouts and grows in ways that are mysterious to the farmer, so the kingdom of God grows through the work of Jesus in His Word. He sees the time for the harvest, even when we do not. The mustard seed pro...
Jan 29, 2021•57 min
