House Of Prayer

Read Mark 11:1-25.

Notice that Mark does not emphasize Jesus’ act as a fulfillment of Zechariah like Matthew and Luke do. Look at the first 11 verses and consider what Mark wants his audience to pay close attention to regarding Jesus coming to Jerusalem. What does Mark reveal that the other accounts do not?

2 What does Jesus immediately do when he comes to Jerusalem? How does this fulfill Malachi 3:1-4?

3 What does Jesus do the next day (11:12-14)? What is the meaning? Consider Jeremiah 24; Hosea 2:12; Joel 1:12; Haggai 2:19 in your answer.

4 What does Jesus do this time when he enters Jerusalem (11:15-19)? What was the temple supposed to be (cf. Isaiah 56:7 and its context and consider 1 Kings 8:30-53)?

5 What does Jesus mean that they had made the temple a den of robbers? Read Jeremiah 7:11-15 to understand His quotation in its original context. What did Jeremiah mean when he said it?

6 The scriptures describe us as the temple of God (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:4-5). In light of Jesus’ message what does this mean about what we are supposed to be?

7 What do the disciples note when they pass by the fig tree again (11:20-26)? Look carefully at Jesus’ answer.

8 What does praying and forgiveness have to do with this discussion (11:25)? Consider what Jesus said in the temple about the house of prayer to help with your answer.

What did you learn about Jesus? How will this change you and your words and deeds and daily life?

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

Hardness Of Heart

Read Mark 10:1-12.

Why did Moses allow Israel to write a certificate of divorce and send their spouse away?

5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Now read Mark 10:13-16.

Now His disciples are rebuking the children for coming to Jesus!

Are the disciples hung up on this matter of earthly status and allowing it to harden their heart? Prior, in the matter of marriage and divorce a person’s selfishness hardens the heart.

What do we allow to harden our heart today and keep us from faithful service to our Lord Jesus?

Read Mark 10:17-31.

Wealth? Has the accumulation of wealth and seeking to find security in it hardened your heart from leaning on God, trusting and obeying Him fully with your life?

After all we must give our life here in order to gain eternal life.

It is impossible for man to save himself. But all things are possible with God. We must go to Him for salvation. However, a hardened heart is a barrier between us and the Lord.

Read Mark 10:32-45.

Jesus foretells of His death a third time. They still don’t understand.

What do you think is preventing them?

Then James and John request to sit on His right and left in the kingdom that they foresee coming?

How does Jesus use this as an opportunity to teach about authority and servitude in His kingdom?

Read Mark 10:46-52.

Example after example of the disciples, whom have been walking and learning from Jesus first-hand for months and months, are displaying a hardness of heart. Here, a BLIND BEGGAR in great faith and humility cries out to the Lord and Jesus heals him.

Upon being healed, what is Bartimaeus’s response?

What is your response to Jesus today?

Do you suffer from a hardness of heart? If so, why? Keep asking yourself, “Why?” until you get to the heart of the matter. Remove whatever it is keeping you from serving the Lord faithfully. But remember! Don’t try to do it alone. Go to the Lord. Lean on Him in trust and obedience. Let Him direct your way!

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

Welcome To The War

The disciples were in a battle—-but what Jesus now says to them implies that they don’t know. There is serious business afoot, which will have serious consequences; and unless they realize this they will be in real danger.

How and why does a battle suddenly make differences of class or race or opinion among soldiers irrelevant?

Read Mark 9:30-37.

What does Jesus teach His disciples about coming events?

Why don’t the disciples (perhaps) want to understand the plain meaning of what Jesus is telling them?

Earlier, Jesus said things to them in code, and they didn’t get it. They have struggled to get their minds round the fact that He often says things that have a clear meaning at the surface level, but what he wants is for them to look under the surface and find a hidden meaning somewhere else. And now he tells them something which we, the readers, realize he means quite literally; and they, not surprisingly, are puzzled because they are looking for a hidden meaning and can’t find it.

What is on the disciples’ minds as they travel to Capernaum that is preventing them from understanding Jesus (vv. 33-34)?

What does this argument tell us about their understanding of Jesus and His mission?

How does Jesus define greatness (vv. 35-37)?

How does His attitude toward children illustrate His point about greatness?

How can our concerns for status get in the way of both understanding Jesus and participating in His mission?

Read Mark 9:38-50.

How does Jesus’ attitude toward the man casting out demons in Jesus’ name differ from the disciples’ attitude?

How is the disciples’ attitude similar to how Christians react today toward other Christians who worship with another local group?

What does Jesus teach about discipleship with His use of these graphic pictures (9:42-48)?

There’s a war. God is at work in our world; so are the forces of evil; and there really is no time or space for self-indulgent disciples that shirk the slightest personal cost , or even resist it on the grounds that all the desires and hopes one finds within one’s heart must be God-given and so must be realized. Gehenna, the word in this passage that some translators render as “hell,” is the valley that runs past the southwest corner of the old city of Jerusalem. In ancient times it was Jerusalem’s place to dump trash, smoldering perpetually; by Jesus’ day it had already become a metaphor for the fate, after death, of those who reject God’s way.

How does Jesus’ final command in verse 50 tie back to the issues raised in verses 33-34 and 38?

In what ways can we better work with other Christians and peacefully share in Jesus’ mission together?

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

Faith Gets Difficult

Read Mark 9:2-29.

Jesus’ “transfiguration” (changing forms: physical to spiritual) (vv. 2-13) terrifies Peter, James, and John, and Peter blurts out an odd suggestion, which itself is strong evidence of the truth of the story.

How have we so far seen in Mark’s gospel Jesus continuing and finishing the works of Moses and Elijah?

As at Jesus’ baptism (1:9-11), a voice from the sky speaks, affirming Jesus as the deeply loved Son we should listen to. What can we do today to listen more closely to the voice of Jesus?

The disciples were puzzled about what Jesus meant by “rising from the dead” (vv. 9-10). In the first century, many Jews believed “the resurrection” would happen to all the righteous at the end of time, not to one person ahead of all the others. They couldn’t understand Jesus’ implication that the Son of Man would rise from the dead, while they would still be living.

Having read Malachi 4, the Jews thought that Elijah would return before the final victory of God’s people. In the next exchange about Elijah (vv. 11-13), what is Jesus talking about when he says Elijah has already come?

Vv. 14-18 begins with a problem for the disciples. What is it?

How can you relate to the father’s words in 9:24?

How does Jesus deal with the problem (vv. 19-27)?

The disciples have turned a corner and now it’s getting harder. People today often suppose the early years of discipleship are the difficult ones, and that as you go things get more straightforward. However, the opposite is frequently the case. When we learn to walk beside Jesus, we are given harder tasks, which will demand more courage, more discipline, more sacrifice, more submission.

Have you seen this truth in your life? If so, how?

What have you learned from this passage about what to do when you face problems and crises?

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

Failing The Test

Think back to your school days. What was your most challenging subject—-the one you dreaded, the one you longed to give up? Now try to remember what it was like sitting in a desk with the teacher trying to explain something to you for the twentieth or thirtieth time. Teachers have a particular look when they have said something as clearly as they can, over and over again, and the pupil still doesn’t get it.

This is the look I think Jesus probably has towards the end of Mark 8:1-21.

How is this feeding of a crowd (8:1-10) different from the feeding of the five thousand recorded in Mark 6:30-44?

What can we learn today from these two episodes?

Jesus not only feeds the crowds; he involves his disciples in the feeding. The life of a disciple of Jesus not only involves being fed, but becoming in turn, one through whom Jesus’ love can be extended to the world.

After this act of compassion, things get hotter. Right on cue, the Pharisees appear (8:11). What is ironic about them asking for a sign at this point in the story?

Instead of giving them a sign, Jesus and his disciples got in a boat to cross the water. He warned them against the “leaven” of the Pharisees and of Herod. The Jews used leaven to make ordinary bread, but at Passover time they were forbidden it, to remind them of when they were in such a hurry to leave their slavery in Egypt that they only had time to make unleavened bread.

In light of what we’ve learned from Mark so far, why does Jesus give this warning (8:14-21)?

In the middle of it all, Jesus quotes from the prophet Jeremiah (5:21). I think it is Jesus saying, “You’re in danger of going the way of the Israelites in Jeremiah’s day!”

Is there anything today that might cause a frustrated Jesus to say to me or you, “You still don’t get it?”

Read Mark 8:22-9:1.

When they arrive in Bethsaida, Jesus heals another blind man (8:22-26). How is this healing related to what happened in the boat?

The blind man needs two touches to bring his physical sight. What two touches did the disciples need to bring the spiritual sight Peter articulates in 8:27-30?

THE CONFESSION OF PETER IS A TURNING POINT FOR THE STORY ACCORDING TO MARK. PRIOR, WE READ OF A LOT OF THINGS THAT PROVIDE EVIDENCE THAT JESUS IS THE CHRIST (MESSIAH), AND FROM HERE FORWARD THE FOCUS BECOMES MORE ABOUT PREPARING THE DISCIPLES FOR WHAT IS TO COME.

Consider a conversion story. Evidence will bring someone to believe and know that Jesus is the Son of God. Upon confession and obedience to the gospel, they need to know how to live as a true disciple of Jesus. That is an over-arching pattern we see in this gospel account.

Back to the text: The Jews were expecting a Messiah they thought would be God’s agent in bringing in the kingdom, in sorting out the mess Israel was in politically, in putting the Gentiles in their place. Peter’s reaction points towards this understanding.

How does Jesus redefine what the Messiah would do instead here in 8:31-9:1 and throughout the first eight chapters of Mark?

Jesus began to teach them something new, implying that once they’d declared that he was the Messiah, they’d need to pick up their own cross (8:34). How can following Jesus be dangerous for us as well?

This passage makes it clear that following Jesus is the only way to go as well as making sure we understand this is not some pleasant hike. It’s choosing to walk into danger and risk.

How have you seen in your life and in the lives of others the truth that “if you want to save your life, you’ll lose it; but if you lose your life because of Me and the gospel you’ll save it”?

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

The Heart Of The Matter

All societies have rules of cleanliness and health. Children in the Western world today are taught quite strictly when and how to wash their hands to prevent sickness. And woe to any restaurant owner whose staff doesn’t observe a very strict code of hygiene. They could very well be shutdown. At the beginning of Mark 7, we are getting a glimpse into the same societal behavior of their day, except the Pharisees were binding these rules of cleanliness and health upon others as though they were the commandments of God.

Read Mark 7:1-23.

What is the problem according to the Pharisees (vv. 1-5)?

What is the problem according to Jesus, and how does He illustrate it (vv. 6-13)?

Does this happen today? Are you guilty of this?

In Mark 7:14-23, what is radically different about Jesus’ teaching on what is clean and unclean?

Read Mark 7:24-37.

Jesus knew that salvation would come to all nations through Him and here is an early sign of what was to come. Why does Jesus finally respond positively to the request of this Gentile woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit (vv. 24-30)?

How does Jesus affirm in this episode the same point about cleanless and uncleaness that he made in 7:1-23?

Why do you think Jesus would sometimes tell people to not say anything about the things they had witnessed Him do (vv. 31-36)?

Do you ever participate in behavior or traditions that become a stumbling block for other people who are trying to pursue a right relationship with God?

Is there anything you need to change in your life so that the traditions you keep don’t turn people away from God?

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

Amazing Compassion

Read Mark 6:30-44.

After a period of exhausting, stressful work, followed by devastating news (John being executed), it would be natural to think that we need some rest, a break, time to recover and regroup. This is exactly what Jesus had in mind for them. But things don’t always go as planned.

When you have important plans that are interrupted, how do you respond?

The short boat trip is the only time Jesus and the disciples have to themselves. By the time they get to the shore everyone else has gotten there first.

How does Jesus respond to this interruption of his planned break?

Why do the disciples want to send the people away?

What is Jesus’ challenge to them instead?

How do the disciples respond to this challenge and why?

Jesus, however, has compassion and a plan. How does Jesus use the resources they have?

When have you seen God use meager resources to meet a challenging situation?

How does the shepherding (leadership) that Jesus provides contrast with the kind of leader we saw Herod to be in the previous story?

What do we learn about God’s coming kingdom from Jesus’ actions in this situation.

Read Mark 6:45-56.

It is about 3:00 AM when the disciples see Jesus walking on the sea. What emotions do they feel (vv. 49-52)?

At this point, we can recognize a steady build-up of astonishing events, but play close attention for a theme that is now running alongside these events until it achieves an initial response in chapter 8. “They hadn’t understood about the loaves,” says Mark of the disciples, “because their hearts were hardened.”

What have the disciples not understood about the loaves that they should have?

What causes our hearts to be hardened?

Again, we see people drawn to Jesus for healing, and He didn’t turn them away even though that wasn’t His primary reason for being there.

How can we show compassion and help others even when people interrupt our plans?

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

Opposition Mounts

Read Mark 6:1-29.

This chapter has the three foremost elements that sell newspapers: royalty, sex, and religion. It begins with the latter. When Jesus went back to His home region His religious teachings became the center of attraction. But instead of welcoming Him, people took offense at Him (vv. 1-6). Why?

Jesus sends out His twelve disciples in pairs. What is significant about the instructions He gives them (vv. 7-10)?

How are they to respond to being unwanted and why (v.11)?

The kingdom of God is at hand. In the context of Jesus’ mission, there was a great sense of urgency. Therefore, woe to those who have missed their chance. Today, what demands this same urgency and how does patience play its part?

When the king (here is the royalty news) hears about Jesus and what He is doing, some think it is Elijah based on the words of the prophet Malachi (4:5). Why would Herod think Jesus is John the Baptist raised from the dead (vv. 14-16)?

Herod had arrested John previously because John opposed Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife. (Here’s the sex news) Why did John oppose this act (vv. 17-18)?

Then we read of Herod’s scandalous birthday bash. Even though Herod feared and listened to John, why does he order John’s beheading (vv. 22-28)?

When does pressure to please people override our desire to obey God?

Why do you think Mark places this story about John right after the episode of Jesus sending out the Twelve?

What are the costs or potential costs for us as we play our part as agents of God’s kingdom?

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

Trading Fear For Faith Continued

From a storm on a lake (Mark 4:35-41) we shift to a storm within a man. When Jesus and His disciples landed on the southeast shore of the Sea of Galilee, they were in Gentile territory (Jews don’t keep pigs). A man with an unclean spirit confronted them there.

How does Mark describe this Gentile (5:1-6)?

How does Jesus deal with him (5:7-20)?

Why does Jesus tell the man he cannot come with Him?

Read Mark 5:21-43. After healing the demon-possessed man, Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee again. In the crowd that greets him is Jairus, a synagogue president. What does Jairus do (5:22-23)?

How might Jairus’s actions affect him politically, socially, and religiously?

While Jesus is walking to Jairus’s house, a woman with internal bleeding touches Jesus’ clothes (5:25-32). Why does she do that instead of speaking directly to Him?

As this woman is healed, someone arrives from Jairus’s house to tell him his daughter has died. How does Jesus respond to this news (5:35-42)?

Why does Jesus command the girl’s parents and his companions not to tell anyone about this miracle, whereas he told the demon-possessed man in 5:19 to tell everyone about his healing?

Perhaps the story of the woman with chronic bleeding and the story of Jairus’s daughter are together purposefully. How are both stories about fear and faith?

Consider the same concluding thought as last week. Life is going to produce its storms and pressures. That is a given. We must not listen to modern American propaganda and think that we are our own heroes. That we are the saviors. That we can dig down deep and save ourselves. Instead, we must condition ourselves to go directly to Jesus, reach out to Him in whatever mixture of fear and faith that we possess and allow Him to save us. For truly, Jesus is our Savior.

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com

Trading Fear For Faith

To this day, the parking areas on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee have signs warning drivers of what happens in high winds. The sea can get very rough very quickly, and big waves can swamp cars parked on what looked like a safe beach. A boat on the Sea of Galilee can suddenly get tossed around like a child’s toy and people as well when the storms roll in.

How do you normally react to “storms” in your life and why?

Read Mark 4:35-41.

What person from the Old Testament do you recall who slept in a boat during a storm, and how does this story in Mark contrast with that one?

Why are Jesus’ disciples still fearful after Jesus calms the storm?

Imagine if this event was being made into a blockbuster movie and you were going to audition for a part. How would you play out your role?

When life brings its storms and trials and stress, there is always room for us to go directly to Jesus. We must teach ourselves, remind ourselves to rely on Him, to reach out to Him and quit trying to be on our hero, our own savior, and rather put all faith in Him. Whatever mixture of fear and faith it may be in that particular storm, we must bring it to Jesus.

What storms and fears of life do you need to bring to Jesus today?

Trent Dean

dean008@gmail.com