Hearing Jesus through Marks gospel

1. Jesus and Discipleship Although you should concentrate on the passages below when you meet, it would be best if you were to read through 1:1-39, preferably beforehand, so that you see Jesus call for us to follow him in the context of Marks description of Jesus as fulfilling the Old Testament expectation of a Coming One, a King, and of his character as revealed by his actions. Read Mark 1v14-20, 2v13-17 What do you think being a disciple of someone means? What demands did Jesus ask of his followers then and which still apply? What do repentance and believing the good news mean? What is the relationship he wants to have with us? How can we follow Jesus in our daily lives? What would have motivated Levi to invite Jesus to a meal with his acquaintances? What do you learn in these passages about the character of Jesus? 2. Jesus and Healing Mark relates many instances of Jesus healing the sick and driving out demons. If possible, read beforehand his descriptions of some of these other occasions: 2:1-12; 3:9-12, 22-30; 5:1-43; 7:24-37; 8:22-26; 9:14-29. Read Mark 1v21-45 What does Jesus ministry to the sick tell you about his role as Messiah? What does it tell you about who Jesus is? What response to the sick should we make if we are followers of Jesus? Is the demonic something only in the past, or is it to be encountered now? What perspective do Jesus actions give on the present world and that to come? Can you share any personal testimony about healing after prayer? 3. Jesus and Freedom Mark portrays Jesus as encountering misunderstanding from his sympathizers and growing opposition from the Jewish leaders. Other passages that might be read are: 2:1-12; 3:1-6, 20-21, 31-35; 6:1-6; 8:14-21,31-38; 9:33-50. Read Mark 2:18-28 & 7:1-23 Why did Jesus opponents turn against him? What conventions of his day did Jesus break? Why did he do so? What traditions of ours might Jesus call into question? What secular world views of today would Jesus call us to defy? How should we handle different opinions where God has given no explicit commands? How can we be sure we are doing Gods will? 4. Jesus the teacher A disciple is a learner, but over-familiarity can deaden our response, and we may have become too satisfied with where we are spiritually. Pray that these stories will have a fresh impact on ourselves. What parables of Jesus do you immediately remember? Why do you find them memorable? Read Mark 4v1-34; 12v1-12 What lessons do you learn from these stories of Jesus? What understanding do these parables give of the kingdom of God? The following passages could be studied if time permits. Here Jesus teaches through his actions, rather than through stories; other passages see him doing so in response to comment & questions: 9:38-10:12, 17-31, 35-45; 12:13-34.

Read 9v33-50 and 10v13-16 What do Jesus words (and actions) tell us about our standing in his kingdom? How should we relate to other followers of Jesus, in view of his words? How should we regard and treat children? Why was Jesus so severe about those who cause others to sin? 5. The miracles of Jesus Mark has been leading us to see who Jesus is, all along. Apart from these miracles, for the closest three this is made explicit in 9:2-13, for others, it is hinted at in 11:1-10, 15-18 & 12:35-37 and made clear in 14:61-62 & 15:2. Read Mark 4v35-41; 6v30-56 What conclusions about Jesus does Mark want us to draw from these events? [see Mark 8:27-30] How did Jesus companions react in the situations described? What application therefore are we to make to situations in our own lives? Why, despite these evidences, did the faith of Peter & the others fail? Who do you say Jesus is? The suffering of Jesus Ideally, you should read beforehand, the whole of Jesus Passion 14:1-15:39, but the sections below teach us much about our possible relationship to Jesus, and his to his suffering and death. Read Mark 8v31-9v1; 14:32-42 & 15:15-39 What evidence is there that Jesus saw his death as the will of his Father? [see also 9:31; 14:27,36,62] Why did Peter oppose this understanding on Jesus part? What lessons can we draw for ourselves as we face our own suffering and death? What hints does Mark give of the purpose of Jesus death? [see 10:45; 14:22-24; 15:38] Why does Mark devote so much space to these events? What is our response to Jesus resurrection? What difference does it make to us? Jesus asks his disciples about what has increasingly become the central question of Marks story: who he is. Some, they report, say he is John the Baptist (as we have already heard Herod Antipas fears), others that he is Elijah or another of the prophets. To the more direct question, But who do you say that I am? Peter replies, You are the Christ. (Whereas Christos is normally translated as Christ, here the NRSV oddly switches to a translation to Hebrew, Messiah or mashiach. Mark knows how to switch to Hebrew or Aramaic, nevertheless, here he uses Christos.) The word has not appeared in Mark since the very first verse. It has never been part of Jesus teaching. Mark does not make explicit what Matthew saysFlesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven (Mall. 16: 17)but the implication is there. Peters confession comes out of the blue, not directly prepared for by Jesus previous teaching. As always in Mark, faith is a gift from God. If the notion of a suffering Messiah runs counter to what we know of messianic speculation in the first century, how much more an oxymoron a crucified Messiah must have seemed. After all, according to current interpretation of Deuteronomy 21:2223, a victim of crucifixion was cursed of God. Yet, the Messiah is literally Gods Anointed. Clearly, the cross of Christ presented a conspicuous enigmait cried out for reinterpretation. Some regard the resurrection of Jesus as the crucial key to overturning the ignominy of the cross. Its role in authenticating Jesus mission in spite of the cross should not be downplayed. 13:2 destruction of the temple 14:58; 15:38 13:9, 1112 delivered up 14:1011, 18, passim 13:1213 Betrayal 14:10, 21, 43 13:24 Darkness 15:33 13:26 Son of man: Tribulation, Parousia 14:62 13:3233 The Hour 14:3242 13:5, 9, 23, 33, 35, 37 Eschatological Watching 14:34, 3738 13:25 provides the chronology for 14:1715:1 13:36 Come, Find, Sleep 14:37, 40

The message is complicated further by the theology that says Christ suffered in obedience to the Fathers will. Divine child abuse is paraded as salvific and the child who suffers without even raising his voice is lauded as the hope of the world. As already noted, anointed one (Hebrew mashiach, Greek christos) could mean many different things to firstcentury Jews. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has complicated an already complex picture. Some Jews did not think very much about a messiah at all. Some hoped for a military leader who would drive out the Romans, some for a new high priest who would restore the Law. Some expected an ordinary human being accomplishing things in an ordinary human way; others imagined that the messiah would have all sorts of God-given powers. Some thought there would be more than one messiah. When Mark has Peter say to Jesus, You are the Christ, therefore, we cannot give any simple answer as to what that meant. At least it meant this: You are Gods anointed, who will somehow make things better than they are now, better than they have been for a long time. In ancient Israel, kings, priests, and prophets were all anointedthey had oil poured on them as a symbol that they were ordained by God for some special service for the people of Israel. So Samuel says to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel (1 Sam. 15:1). So the Lord tells Moses to take the special priestly tunics and sashes and headdresses and put them on your brother Aaron, and on his sons with him, and ... anoint them and ordain them and consecrate them, so that they may serve me as priests (Exod. 28:41). So that anonymous prophet Second Isaiah declares, The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me (Isa. 61:1). As early as the fourth century, the church historian Eusebius saw Christ, the anointed one, as the fulfillment of all three of these earlier offices: No one of those symbolically anointed of old, either of priests or of kings or indeed of Prophets, possessed so great a power of divine virtue as was displayed by our Savior and Lord Jesus, the only true Christ. John Chrysostom spoke of Christs threefold dignity as king, prophet, and priest. But it was in Protestant theology, first in Andreas Osiander and Martin Bucer but especially in John Calvin, that the threefold office became a key way of explaining Christs person and work. As prophet, Calvin explains, Christ provides the perfect teaching on what we should believe and how we should live: He was anointed by the Spirit to be the herald and witness of the Fathers grace. He is a spiritual king, not a temporal one. Hence those who follow him must fight throughout life under the cross, our condition is harsh and wretched. Yet, we may patiently pass through this life with its misery, hunger, cold, contempt, reproaches, and other troublescontent with this one thing: that our King will never leave us destitute, but will provide for our needs until, our warfare ended, we are called to triumph. Finally, The priestly office belongs to Christ alone because by the sacrifice of his death he blotted out our own guilt and made satisfaction for our sins. As a prophet, Christ is a teacher who shows us what to believe and how to live in what he says and does. His kingship is more paradoxical, for the one who can calm the winds and walk on the sea, who has power beyond the imaginings of even the most powerful of Roman emperors, is also the one who travels around Galilee among ordinary folk and wifi in the end be tortured and crucified. His reign has begun, but it remains hidden in this world. I will need to return to the theme of his priesthood when Marks story comes to the cross; for now, the obvious point is that he is both priest and sacrifice. The greatest of Reformed hymn writers, Isaac Watts, ties Christs three offices together: