The Gospel of Mark
Who is Jesus and how have you thought about him? Whether you have been actively involved in the church for decades or just started back into it, there is a constant need to grow in our understanding of—and relationship with—Jesus.
Scripture speaks about Jesus in multiple ways in order to reveal different aspects of his character, and one of the primary ways that we grow and continue in our faith is by refreshing our minds and hearts with the various ways the Bible presents him to us. Additionally, it can be helpful to reflect on the ways that we have failed to recognize who he really is. In our study of the Gospel of Mark, we'll address the simple question, "Who is Jesus?"
Session 1 | Introduction
This session will introduce the basic question: who do you think Jesus is? There are, indeed, competing understandings of who Jesus is; what are they?
It will also offer some helpful guideposts for reading Mark and discerning the Good News within its words.
Session 2 | Mark 1
The Good News is revolutionary, but it is not foreign. This session reminds us what the Gospel is and is about. Jesus appears as one who baptizes and calls the Jewish people into repentance.
Session 3 | Mark 2—3
There is inevitable controversy in believing the Gospel, and Jesus’ interactions with the Pharisees reveals this.
Session 4 | Mark 4—5
This week we focus on the way parables work. They require something of you—your attention.
Session 5 | Mark 6—8:21
Jesus continues to reveal who he is—somehow one with YHWH. He heals; he walks on water; he feeds crowds with almost nothing. To follow Jesus is to receive his abundance, but it is not always easy to believe, as the disciples show. “Do you not yet understand?”
Session 6 | Mark 8:22—10
Jesus is the Christ, and we discover with even greater intensity what that means. The healings of blindness at the beginning and the end show us how Jesus opens our eyes to his reality.
Session 7 | Mark 11—12
Jesus comes to Jerusalem on a donkey, he curses the fig tree, and he cleanses the temple. This Messiah comes to reestablish, to judge and clean out the house of God.
The right response is to believe!
Session 8 | Mark 13
There have been apocalyptic undertones from the beginning, but Jesus raises his significance to that level fully. Jesus is coming again; it will be a terrible day; and the task is to endure to the end.
Session 9 | Mark 14—15
Jesus, by his own will, offers up his life on the cross. This act is not one of stoic resolve, but passionate (and mysterious) intentionality. Jesus is God who is betrayed by all, and in doing so, the Crucifixion is both a profound act of obedience and an atoning sacrifice.
Session 10 | Mark 16
The resurrection is completely unexpected even though Jesus has told his disciples three times that he must die and rise again. Resurrection is not something that we expect either if we’re honest.
The angel directs them to proof of his resurrection (see here they laid him…), and then directs them to the proper response: tell the rest!
