Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
Mark 8:1-21 (NIV)
The next three episodes are going to take us through chapter 8 of Mark. Now, these chapters and verse numbers are a form of structure that has been placed within the text over time to help people refer to it, in its original form it is one unified story. And up to this point the plot has been building, What’s it gonna look like when Jesus does what he came for? And who so far seems to understand?
As we prepare for these few episodes, I want to you get ready by thinking back to a time in elementary school to that subject that you just could not understand. For me, it was fractions. Like I know what a fraction was, I could add and subtract, but start multiplying and dividing those dad gum things and it was like I hit a brick wall. And for all trying the teachers just could not make it stick. I remember those tense moments with a teacher standing over my shoulder, walking me through it, they might as well have been trying to plant seeds on a hard path… see what I did there.
Chapter 8 is the pivot point for the entire book of Mark, and it’s full of illustrative stories that help us see what’s happening on the inside for the disciples. Will they see Jesus for who he really is, and when they do, will they still be willing to follow him?
----------REFLECT----------
1. What part of this passage did you find most intriguing?
2. Is there something about Jesus that you’ve struggled to understand? Lessons that you’ve had to learn over and over again? Bring that to mind as you reflect on the disciples in this passage?
3. As we hear Jesus ask the question “do you still not understand?” Mark is positioning us the readers to be asked the same question. Are your expectations of Jesus accurate or are they blurred, is there something about who Jesus is that you struggle to fully embrace? The rest of the chapter will help us understand more, but until then we need to sit with the tension of our honest answer? Do we still not understand? Are there things that we are mistaken about regarding Jesus?
----------GO DEEPER----------
Bible Project: Mark Overview >>
Bible Project: The Gospel >>
Bible Project: Gospel of the Kingdom >>
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