This Changes Everything

An Introduction to the Gospel of Mark

For Openers:

• What are some events that have caused the biggest changes in your life?
  
• What one thing in your past do you wish you could change?
  
• If you were able to change one thing in this world, what would it be?

For Your Information:

• Read through the "Introduction" and the "Outline to the Gospel of Mark."
  
• Read Mark 1.1.

• "The beginning..." - It could also be translated, "A beginning..." Compare this phrase to Genesis 1.1.
  
• "The good news" - This Greek word, euangellizo, may also be translated as "gospel." Like our English word, "evangelize," which comes from it, It has to do with announcing the good news of salvation and peace. See Isaiah 52.7.
  
• "Christ" - This is a Greek word which is translating the Hebrew word "Messiah" which means "anointed." As a passage like 1 Samuel 10.1 indicates, in ancient Israel, a person was anointed to be made king. Mark 8.29 and 14.61 are two other key places in Mark where this term is used.
  
• "Son of God" - An honorific title denoting a person's relationship to God, especially in view of God's saving actions. Note its use in 1.11; 3.11; 5.7; 9.7; 14.61; and 15.39.
  

• Read Mark 1.2-3.
  

• The quotation is actually a combination of Isaiah 40.3, Exodus 23.20, and Malachi 3.1.
  

• Read Mark 1.4-8.
  

• Compare John the Baptist with Elijah as described in 2 Kings 1.8. Now read Malachi 4.5 and Mark 9.11-13.
  

• Read Mark 1.9-11.
  

• The same word for "torn apart" will be used again in 15.38.
  
• Regarding the heavenly voice, see Psalm 2.7 and Isaiah 42.1.
  

• Read Mark 1.12-13.
  

• "Immediately" - Note how often this term is used throughout Mark.
  
• On Satan, also see Mark 3.23-26; 4:15; and 8.33.
  

• Read Mark 1.14-15.
  

• "After John was arrested..." - See Mark 6.17-29.
  

• Read Mark 1.16-20.
  

• In 1.20 it tells of how James and John left their father. See Mark 10.29-30.
  

• Read Mark 1.21-28.
  

• "Authority" - Also see Mark 11.27-33.

For Your Consideration:

1. Does it make any difference if we do or do not know exactly who wrote this Gospel? Is there any reason why it may have been written anonymously?
   
2. The two biggest holidays in the church year are Christmas and Easter, but Mark has no birth story and no account of Jesus' resurrection appearances! What is given more attention in Mark? How does this shape your picture of Jesus?
   
3. As you look at the outline to the Gospel and note the geographical references, what conclusions do you draw?
   
4. Look at 1.1 again. List all the things you have to presume or know in order to understand what this phrase is saying.
   
5. What new "beginning" has Jesus made in your life?
   
6. What is the most significant title you use for Jesus? Why?
   
7. Read 1.4. How do you explain the relationship between the terms "baptism," "repentance," and "forgiveness"?
   
8. Read 1.9-11 again. Who exactly sees the event? Who hears the voice? What then does this event prove and to whom?
   
9. Compare 1.10-11 with 15.38-39. What is the significance of paralleling Jesus' baptism with his crucifixion?
   
10. Read 1.14-15. What is so good about Jesus' message?
    

11. If you knew that the world was going to end tomorrow, what would you do today?
    

• Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die!
  
• Get all my family and friends together for a final goodbye.
  
• Do exactly what I normally do.
  
• Plant a tree.
  
• Live it up like there was no tomorrow.
  
• Start praying to God like there was no tomorrow.
  
• Stand on a street corner with a sign saying, "The end is near!"
  

12. What did Simon and Andrew and James and John know about Jesus before he called them? Why do you think they responded so quickly?
    
13. How would you describe your steps in following Jesus? Something that happened quickly? Slowly? In spurts?
    
14. When do the disciples ever fulfill Jesus' promise that they will "fish for people"?
    
15. What do you think made Jesus' teaching authoritative? What makes it authoritative today?
    
16. Who makes the more profound confession of faith: the unclean spirit or the people?
    
17. What are the various authorities to which you are subject every day? How would you rank their importance? What do you do when you experience a conflict of or with authority?

For Later:

• Be sure to repent of your sins, ask for forgiveness and renewal, and rejoice in the grace and salvation that God has given you through Christ!
  
• Consider what things you have left behind to follow Jesus. What things have you gained? Commit both losses and gains to God in prayer.
  
• Make a daily remembrance of your own Baptism by making the sign of the cross when you awake. Remember, you have been marked for life!