Today's passage: Mark 16:9-20

Helpful thoughts:

• Go ahead and read the footnote in your Bible concerning this passage.  Here are two articles that might help you better understand the discussion on the authenticity of this section of Mark 16 if you would like to do more reading:
  • This writer believes these verses are not to be considered as canon in the Gospel of Mark.
  • This writer believes these verses should be considered as canon in the Gospel of Mark.
    • Whether this passage was in the original manuscript or not, it does not change any doctrines.
    • Debates of this sort are few and biblical scholars are aware of every question concerning what would have been in the original manuscripts.  The open (Public) dialogue and the lack of any doctrinal issues being at stake gives us greater confidence in knowing that we have everything we need from God's Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
• If baptism was required for salvation to take effect, then the end of verse 16 would include a lack of baptism for those who remain condemned.  What we see from the rest of Scripture is that believers are given new life and start following Jesus.  If a person professes by mouth to be a follower of Jesus but refuses to profess through their actions (Through obedience in baptism), then something is wrong.
• The list of signs accompanying those who believe in verses 17-18 are not said to be universal and they are not commanded to be done.
  • These are things we see happening in the 1st century church in the book of Acts.  The Apostles would see these things happening in their lifetime.  We should not expect to be seeing them today.

Questions to consider:

1. If these verses were added later, why do you think they would have been?  What parts parallel the other gospel accounts?  What do these verses appear to do for the end of the Gospel of Mark?
2. What events in the book of Acts are accounted for in verses 17-18?  Can you find them in Acts?
3. How is the Great Commission written out in this passage?  With whom have we been commanded to share the Gospel?  Who could you share Jesus with today?

Today's passage: Mark 16:1-8

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus is not in the grave!  He is alive!
  • Jesus had told His disciples He would rise from the dead…and He's no false prophet! (Mark 9:31)
• The resurrection proved Jesus is who He said He is and it proved God's wrath was fully and finally satisfied. (Romans 8:1)
• The testimony of women was not counted as reliable in that culture.  The fact that the Scriptures include their first eye-witness account only adds to the reliability of the story.  The writers of the Gospels were being honest.

Questions to consider:

1. Why did this experience leave the women in fear (Verse 8)?  Of what all could they have been afraid?  What would have given them reason for hesitation in making any announcement?
2. How does the resurrection guarantee the authenticity of Jesus' claims?
3. If everything we know about Jesus is true, what is the only right response?  What kind of fear is appropriate for all of us, knowing that Jesus is our king?

Today's passage: Mark 15:16-47

Helpful thoughts:

• Humanity mocked the sovereign authority of King Jesus.
• There are different times given in Mark's gospel and John's for the time of the crucifixion (The third hour or the sixth hour – 9 AM or Noon).  Generally, people guessed the timed by increments of 3 hours by the position of the sun.  The fact that one gospel rounded down and another possible rounded up should not cause any concern.
  • Regardless of exactly when Christ was nailed to the cross, there was darkness over the region for three hours in the middle of the day.  The judgment of God was being poured out against our sin, but on the Suffering Servant.
• Many evidences are given in this passage concerning the truth of Jesus' identity as the Son of God.  All these evidences are to result in the same acknowledgement as that of the Roman Centurion, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

Questions to consider:

1. How many parts of this narrative point to the truth of who Jesus is and what He came to do?  How and why are all of these signs significant?
2. What evidences does the Gospel of Mark share concerning the physical death of Jesus?  Why must the reader know that Jesus did truly die?  What's coming next?
3. Have you bowed the knee to the King of Kings who died on the cross for our sin?  For more information on what it means to become a follower of Jesus, check out this website.

Today's passage: Mark 15:1-15

Helpful thoughts:

• The Jewish authorities were not legally permitted to execute anyone under Roman rule, so they brought Jesus before Pilate.
• Pilate fully expected to see the crowd to ask for Jesus to be freed.  He knew the Jewish leaders did not like the attention Jesus had gotten from the people of Israel.
• The official verdict from Pilate concerning Jesus, “What evil has he done?”
  • The guilty sinner, Barabbas, was freed.  Jesus, the innocent, went to the cross.  This was the will of the people.

Questions to consider:

1. What was the crime Jesus was found “guilty” of by the Jews?  What was the verdict of the Roman authority, Pilate?  In the eyes of the world, what would have been said to have caused Jesus' death?
2. Why did God bring this about (Romans 3:23-26)?  What really brought about the death of Jesus?
3. What is the picture we see in Barabbas being freed, while Jesus went to the cross (The judgment Barabbas deserved)?  How does this illustrate the gospel message?

Today's passage: Mark 14:53-72

Helpful thoughts:

• They were seeking testimony against Jesus, “but they found none.”  Jesus is without sin.
• As long as the questioning from the Sanhedrin was based on the false witnesses, Jesus did not speak.  When he was asked a question directly concerning himself, he answered.
  • Jesus' official “crime” was this: Jesus called himself the Christ, the Son of God.
• By judging Jesus as guilty and worthy of death, the Sanhedrin's official position of Jesus' claim was that he was NOT the Son of God.  They officially rejected Jesus as the Messiah!
  • Jesus went to the cross (From man's perspective) because Israel rejected Him.

Questions to consider:

1. How important is the accusation and the verdict in this unlawful trial?  How fitting is it that Jesus was found guilty of revealing who He really is and that what was required for our Savior to go to the cross was for Israel to reject Him?
2. While the Jewish officials were busy denying Jesus, what was Peter doing?  What other sins did Peter commit in order to try to convince others of his denial?
3. In what way did Peter show sorrow for his sin initially?  What might he have felt sorrow over?  How did he later evidence that his sorrow was a godly sorrow?

Today's passage: Mark 14:26-52

Helpful thoughts:

• When Jesus informed the disciples they would scatter, He quoted Zechariah 13:7.  The rest of Zechariah 13 speaks of the day when the remnant are purified and committed to the Lord.  The scattering was temporary.  The end result of the striking of the Shepherd was the purification of God's people.
• God the Father chose to bring glory to Himself (And the Son) through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.
  • Jesus chose to obey the Father's will.
• Judas utilized the greeting of a close trusted friend in order to betray Jesus.
• It is believed verses 51-52 refer to Mark, the writer of this gospel.  The point of including these verses would be to show evidence of his eye-witness account, in addition to Peter's.

Questions to consider:

1. What can we learn from verse 36?  What is the heart of Jesus Christ?  Why did He go to the cross?
2. Jesus drank the cup of God's wrath to the very bottom.  What does this statement mean in correlation with His prayer in this passage?  How might we compare that to Jesus' claim from the cross, “It is finished?”
3. In what way could the phrase, “The spirit (Our inner man) indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” be discouraging?  How does the statement fit with Christ's encouragement to watch and pray in order to have victory over temptation?

Today's passage: Mark 14:12-25

Helpful thoughts:

• Jesus was a wanted man in Jerusalem.  God provided a place for He and His disciples to eat the Passover meal and inaugurate the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
  • This would have taken place Thursday night.  Before the sun comes up on Friday morning, Jesus will be betrayed and arrested.
• The ESV Study Bible calls attention to these four significant aspects of this Passover meal and why Jesus would have wanted to make sure they observed it prior to His crucifixion:
  • It (The Passover meal) represented the founding of the nation of Israel.
  • Jesus Himself was about to become the true Passover Lamb…this Passover meal was the last in long centuries of celebrating it while looking forward to the Messiah.
  • Jesus knew the meal would richly symbolize the giving of His body and blood for the disciples to earn salvation for them
  • This Passover meal itself looked forward to the “marriage supper of the Lamb” in heaven.
• Jesus also reveals His betrayer will be one of the twelve.

Questions to consider:

1. Which aspect(s) of this Passover meal is/are the most striking?  What was the significance?  How might our lack of experience with the nation of Israel in the Old Covenant prevent us from appreciating what we read to its fullest?
2. How do the connections we see in this passage and in redemptive history remind us of the fact that God is the Author of it all?  What grand story has He written?  What is our part in it?  How can we give Him the praise He is due?

Today's passage: Mark 14:1-11

Helpful thoughts:

• The outline of today's passage works out in a very interesting way:
  • Verses 1-2 – The Jewish leaders devise a way to have Jesus killed.
    • Verses 3-9 – A woman sacrifices much to worship Jesus.
  • Verses 10-11 – Judas devises a way to betray Jesus.
• A denarii was worth one day's wage for normal labor.  This ointment was worth nearly a year's salary.  Judas (And possibly some others at the time) saw the money being wasted.  This woman saw Jesus as more than worthy.
• Verse 9 was just fulfilled again…and is every time we read, write and teach about this passage.

Questions to consider:

1. What is the connection between Passover (Verse 1) and the coming death of Jesus (Exodus 12:13)?  What was the blood of the Lamb about to accomplish?
2. We do what we do because we want what we want.  What does it appear Judas wanted more than anything else?  How did his selfish desire affect his words and his actions?
3. Why were the Jewish leaders glad in verse 11?  How could religious leaders be glad (Perhaps even seeing Judas' actions as a “gift from God”) when they were about to sin against the Messiah?  What was wrong with their consciences?  What had and had not shaped their consciences?  How can reading the Word of God with an intent to learn and obey shape our consciences in accord with the will of God?

Today's passage: Mark 13:14-37

Helpful thoughts:

• After a thorough warning about looking for signs in the previous verses, Jesus now gives the disciples and Christians insight into what is to come.
  • The abomination of desolation is taken from Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11.  The antichrist will go to the temple and declare himself to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
• Jesus is coming back, and there will be no doubt and no confusion when he does!
  • The false christs will do all they can to lead astray even the elect, “if possible” (Verse 22).  That, “if possible” should encourage the elect, because this phrase reveals that it is, in fact, impossible.
• Verse 30 has been interpreted in many different ways.  The main questions are these: Who is “this generation?” And, what are “all these things?”:
  • It is my opinion that “all these things” is referring to the events of the end times only (starting from verse 14) and “this generation” is referring to the generation alive at the time the “end times” begin.
    • All the events Jesus was speaking about (once they begin) will take place quickly, within a generation.

Questions to consider:

1. Why do you think Jesus chose to use the words, “the elect” when referring to God's people in this passage?  What are we to know about ourselves?  Why are we God's people?  If God has made this to be true, who do we ultimately rely on to keep us secure?
2. What does it mean to “stay awake” (Verses 34-36)?  How could Jesus' exhortation from the first half of this chapter help answer this question?
3. With all of the difficulty and tragedy of the tribulation ahead, how do we know it will end (Verses 26-27)?  How could this give the elect confidence in that day (If it should happen to be after our time on earth has ended)?  How can the sure victory of Christ (And ours with Him) give us confidence through the challenges of today?

Today's passage: Mark 13:1-13

Helpful thoughts:

• Great buildings come and go.  God's kingdom is forever.
• When the disciples ask Jesus about signs, He warns them not to be led astray.
  • People often read this passage and start to look for wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, etc.  But, Jesus is telling the disciples not to fear when these things come because they are only the beginning.
• Instead of giving the disciples a specific marker to know the exact moment of the end, Jesus tells the disciples what their life will be like and encourages them to persevere.

Questions to consider:

1. What does it mean to be ready for Christ's return?  Is it a correct prediction of the date or a life being lived for His glory?  When we take Christ's imminent return into consideration, what should it compel us to do?
2. With all of the events Jesus listed in this passage, what is the actual command He gives?  Are we supposed to scout for signs or be cautious of them?  How does the end of verse 5, the first half of verse 7, the beginning of verse 9, and the end of verse 13 give us great instruction as we continue to await His return?
3. Who will persevere to the end?  Will there be true Christians who do not persevere?  What do passages like 1 John 2:19, and Romans 8:29-30 teach us about the perseverance of the saints?