We shall continue with
the study of the Book of Mark this week.
(1) What impact do you think the previous experience on the mountain had
on their understanding of the following?
a. Who Jesus is
b. Jesus’ mission in going to Jerusalem
Would it explain why they failed to understand what ”rising from the dead” meant?
(2) In v.11 the disciples asked Jesus a question about Elijah, only to be asked a question in return about the Son of Man in v. 12. How were the two questions related? (The link is in v. 13 which refers to the suffering and death of John the Baptist.)
(3) Jesus simply appeared in v.15 without having done anything, yet the crowd was overwhelmed with wonder at His sight. Why? Does it have anything to do with what happened to Jesus on the mountain? (See Exod. 34:29)
(4) In response to the news that His disciples failed to drive out the evil spirit, Jesus gave a seemingly frustrated reply in v.19. Was it directed to the disciples or to the people or both when he said, “O unbelieving generation”? What does it mean if it was directed to the disciples? What if it was directed to the people?
(5) Jesus obviously knew everything. Why then did He ask the father, “How long has it been like this?”? What did the father’s answer reveal about himself?
(6) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what ‘rising from the dead’ meant.” (Mk. 9:10)
The transfiguration obviously left a deep impression on the mind of the three disciples, and it would take a long time, until after the death and resurrection of the Lord, for them to fully comprehend its meaning. It is interesting that, in spite of their inability to understand the experience, their focus seemed to be on Jesus’ comment about His death and resurrection afterwards.
Of course, it was not the first time Jesus told them about His death and resurrection. Earlier on, Peter was rebuked by Jesus as he tried to stop Jesus from talking about His death, as if it was something that did not befit “the Christ” (Mk. 8:29-33).
The transfiguration itself should have cast away all doubt about Jesus’ resurrection, but it deepened the mystery of His death. While resurrection demonstrates undoubtedly the power, glory and victory of God, death signifies weakness, shame and defeat, and that, even though followed by resurrection, death was not fitting when it pertained to God. This was hard for them to comprehend, and it is still for us.
No one welcomes the thought of suffering, let alone death—we find it especially unfitting for those who love the Lord.
Jerry
Sittser, a Christian and a professor of religion,
lost his wife, his mother and his daughter through a car accident. He penned a book, A Grace Disguised, and followed up with another book, A Grace Revealed. Christopher Hall, the dean of Palmer
Theological Seminary (my alma mater) wrote a short review of his last book in Christianity Today in which he said (quoting partly from Sittser’s latest book),
“As we surrender to Christ, God’s story, the story (of Christ’s death and resurrection), can envelop and transform all other stories, ‘however sensational or mundane, tragic or happy'. Sittser sees himself ‘as a witness to this truth: God redeems our stories through Him. If you dare to surrender yourself to God, He will take up the story of your life and integrate it into the great story of salvation, turning it into something so extraordinary that you will be tempted to think it was all a beautiful dream'.”
Hall ended his
review of the book with these words,
“Today’s wreckage may look like nothing but shattered glass. But there’s a beautiful window, a conduit of God’s light, well under construction.”
(1) Why did Jesus repeat the last words of the father and turn it into a rhetorical question?
(2) The father’s reply appears to be rather contradicting in v. 24 when he said, “I believe, help my unbelief” (literal translation). What did he mean by that? Did he believe that Jesus could help him? Then what was his “unbelief” then?
(3) Was Jesus driving out the evil spirit a result of his faith?
(4) Jesus said, “This kind (of spirit) can come out only by prayer.” How did the disciples drive out other spirits before (6:7-13)? Did they depend on prayer (What does prayer demonstrate as far as the attitude of the ones who pray is concerned?)
(5) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” (Mk. 9:22)
The father who made the above request to Jesus had demonstrated his faith already in bringing his demon-possessed son to the disciples of Jesus. It is natural to assume that, at this point, the man did not know who Jesus really was, and his faith in Him might not be anything more than a faith in any witch-doctor or miracle-worker.
The inability of the disciples to drive out the demon, perhaps, only served to reinforce this belief of his, except that his hope was revived as he saw the arrival of Jesus, the master himself. So, his request in Mark 9:22 amounted to saying, “Please give it a try!”
The response by Jesus was a very powerful one — “If you can?” In essence, Jesus was saying that he knew not whom he was asking. Jesus then followed up with this saying, “Everything is possible for him who believes.”
This statement echoes another statement that Jesus made later about the repentance of even the rich, “all things are possible with God.” (Mk. 10:27) Both statements need to be read together, because belief is not just belief, but “the” belief that Jesus is God Himself.
Then the man, probably out of fear that Jesus would not heal his son, “immediately” exclaimed, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief.” On the one hand, we have to appreciate his honesty, because ultimately faith is a gift of God, not something we can claim as ours. On the other hand, if the faith he had in mind was only that of Jesus’ power to heal and not who Jesus is, he missed the greatest gift of faith—saving faith.
Unfortunately these days, we continue to struggle with whether “Jesus can” in our lives, forgetting that Jesus of course "can", but this is not the faith that He requires of us. Saving faith is a faith that does not only recognize Jesus as our Savior God who can, but a faith that submits to Him as our Lord—irrespective of the outcome of our request.
(1) In passing through Galilee, why did Jesus not want anyone to know where they were? What does the reason given in v. 31 teach you?
(2) Given the seriousness of what Jesus said about His death and resurrection, what might be the reason for why the disciples “were afraid to ask”? What might your reason be for not asking a question about something which is obviously of great significance?
(3) In the previous 32 verses in chapter 9, more than once Mark told us that Jesus was trying to impress upon His disciples His coming sufferings in Jerusalem. Why then would it result in the Twelve arguing about who was the greatest among them? In so arguing, in what way was it a reflection of their faith? In what way(s) were they wrong?
(4) Jesus says, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Then, if we work hard at serving others and at making sure we occupy the least important role in order to be the greatest, will it work? Why or why not?
(5) We all love children. Then why did Jesus imply that we in fact have a hard time “welcoming these little children”? What does welcome mean? Under what circumstances might we not welcome children and why?
(6) What can you do to welcome children, thereby welcoming Jesus and the one who sent Him?
(7) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because He was teaching His disciples.” (Mk. 9:30-31)
In his Gospel, Mark paints a picture of the popularity of Jesus, always surrounded by crowds of people, whether for the purpose of healing, or for the purpose of hearing His teaching. And often, Jesus would withdraw from the crowd. In this particular instance, Mark spells out the reason, and that is for the sake of teaching His disciples, away and apart from the crowd.
Why did Jesus do that? Could He not teach this inner circle while speaking to the crowd?
Obviously, teaching is more than the passing of knowledge, and is also more than a one-sided monologue. Discipleship involves the sharing of life, not just knowledge, and true knowledge involves interactions, the probing of the hearts with questions and answers. All these take time. And, it takes an environment without distraction and quietness.
Modern-day discipleship often falls short of this model demonstrated by the Lord in that
- We, preachers and leaders, often long for a huge audience, equating size with success, resulting in what Chuck Colson calls a Christianity of a mile wide and only an inch deep.
- Few disciples are willing to invest time away from their crowds—their career, their family, their pleasure and even ministry—and are content with “distant” learning that does not necessitate life sharing, and “fast-food” courses that feed the mind and not the heart.
To restore the depth and not the width of Christianity, pastors and Christian leaders need to be willing to invest our lives in a small number of disciples, and the disciples need to reset their priorities, and be willing to invest their time—enough time—in both having a personal time of devotion and being taught in a life-sharing environment that feeds both the mind and the heart.
(1) Why did John try to stop others in driving out demons in Jesus’ name? What was the implication of his action? Is John’s attitude a reflection of yours as well?
(2) What has the teaching of the giving of “a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ” to do with John’s action?
(3) Many people doubt that there is a hell. What kind of a place is hell, as made clear by Jesus in this passage? Try to define hell, given Jesus’ repeated description to the disciples.
(4) The analogies of losing a hand, foot and eye are called hyperboles, which is using exaggeration to make a point. What then is the main point of these hyperboles?
(5) The using of salt as an analogy appears to be one of Jesus’ favorites. In this passage, the emphasis is on “at peace with each other”. How appropriate is the use of salt in its application?
(6) What is the most significant lesson you have learned today and how can you apply it to yourself?
“I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” (Mk. 9:41, italics mine)
Reading how John tried to stop the man from driving out demons in Jesus’ name because “he was not one of us” (Mk. 9:38), helped me look back to my years of walking alongside other believers in Christ; and I can distinctly divide them into two different phases—the pre-1990 and the post-1990 eras.
In the former era, I basically walked alongside Christians who were very like myself, with a traditional worldview that could adjust to that of the Bible quite readily. In the latter era, I have come across believers who have come out of the “post-Christian” past but continue to struggle with accepting a more biblical worldview that was foreign to them. And as they struggle, I also find myself struggling to accept them as totally in Christ, given their lingering critical attitude toward what I perceive as fundamental Biblical teachings, although they are not necessarily basic doctrinal teachings.
Over the years, I have come to understand two things:
(1) They, nonetheless, belong totally to Christ, as long as they truly believe Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior — the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life through whom we are reconciled to the Father because of His death and resurrection.
(2) The renewal of their mind (Rom. 12:2) is necessarily a process.
I have found myself frustrated as I argued with them over issues like abortion, evolution, the social gospel and individual human rights etc. But gradually as I turned from skeptical arguments to patient listening and dialogues, directing them not so much to accept my interpretations, but to examine the bases of their viewpoints against the Scriptures, I have witnessed the wonderful renewal of some of their minds.
The Jews (i.e. the rabbis) by Jesus’ time, had adopted as legal what was called an “any cause divorce” (Instone-Brewer’s Divorce, p.55) invented by Rabbi Hillel. Some Jews saw it as contrary to the Law of Moses but it appeared that they were in the minority. Both gave permission to divorce, except the former one almost gave men the license to divorce their wives at will. The Pharisees were testing Jesus, perhaps, hoping that He might restore the more conservative of the two.
(1) If that was the case, did they succeed? Why or why not? As much as they might prefer a stricter rule in this respect, what was their problem in the matter of divorce?
(2) How does the fact that “the two will become one flesh” reflect the original intent of God’s creation of male and female?
(3) What does “let man not separate” mean and how does it form the basis of the rationale used by Jesus in vv.11-12?
(4) This passage, like most teachings recorded in the gospel, is a summary of a much longer discourse by Jesus. Therefore it does not cover the explicit exception (“except for marital unfaithfulness”) (Matthew 19:9). Therefore we should be careful not to use this specific passage as “proof-text” to look at the entire matter of divorce. However, the way that Mark summarizes (as inspired by the Holy Spirit) in this section, conveys a main message. What is that message?
(5) How then shall we look at “marriage” and at “divorce” today?
(6) What is the most significant lesson you have learned today and how can you apply it to yourself?
“It was because your hearts were hardened that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied.” (Mark 10:5)
Jesus was responding to the “test” or trap set by the Pharisees about the legality of divorce (within the Law of Moses) and pointed out that the core problem of divorce (sexual immorality as He qualified in Matt. 19:9) lies in our hardened hearts. I find it to be true, not only in the issue of divorce, but in other aspects of a Christian life that concerns obedience to the word of God.
Often, a believer will confide his or her struggle over a certain issue with another brother and sister. But when the other brother or sister asks, “Why don’t you ask the pastor?” the reply is often, “There is no use. I know what he is going to say!”
This reminds me of the rebuke by Isaiah to the people of his time:
“These are rebellious people, deceitful children,
children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction.They say to the seers,
‘See no more visions!’and to the prophets,
'Give us no more visions of what is right!
Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel.’”
(Isa. 30:9-11)
(1) Why did people bring children to be “touched” by Jesus? What were they thinking? Did the disciples have any good reason for turning children away?
(2) Granted that the disciples were wrong, why would Jesus be “indignant”?
(3) What is the entrance requirement for entering the kingdom of God? (See Jn. 3:16)
(4) How does being little children define what “saving faith” really is?
(5) As Jesus “took the children in his arms and put His hands on them and blessed them”, was it an act of teaching or an act in essence?
(6) How should you treat children, especially in the church?
(7) What is the most significant lesson you have learned today and how can you apply it to yourself?
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” (Mk. 10:14)
I think many of us who are Christian parents have a similar experience in that as we are going through some trial in life as a family, and as we fret over it and are talking about what to do next, one of your little children reminds us innocently, “Why don’t we pray about it?”. The beauty of this reminder is that the child really means it, expects that God will definitely answer our prayer and it is the first, rather than the last thing we should do as God’s children.
(1) From parallel passages in the other synoptic gospels (Matt. 19:16-22; Lk. 18:18-23), we understand that this man was young, rich, and a ruler too. Based on what he asked Jesus and how he asked (i.e. the actions that accompanied his search), how would you describe his character and what outcome would you have expected from his sincere search for eternal life?
(2) What was the purpose of pointing out that “No one is good except God alone” to the man while accepting his kneeling before him?
(3) Do you think the man’s answer (that he had kept all these things—the six commandments—from youth) was a truthful answer? Why? (Note Jesus’ immediate emotional response to his answer.)
(4) There are Ten Commandments (see Exod. 20). Why did Jesus only quote the last six and leave out the first four in asking if he also had kept them?
(5) What was the “one thing” he lacked in terms of having eternal life and what did it entail? What does “the one thing” that the man lacked have to do with these four omitted commandments?
(6) In His encounter with people, Jesus did not ask everyone to physically follow Him (Zaccheus was a case in point). They would still be disciples but ones who did not have to follow Him physically like the Twelve. But here, Jesus asked the man to follow Him, and that necessarily demanded him giving up all he had (like the Twelve). What does this tell you about being a disciple of Jesus Christ?
(7) Why did the young man leave grieving? What was he grieving about?
(8) What is the most significant lesson you have learned today and how can you apply it to yourself?
As we reflect on one of the saddest stories in the Bible—the turning away from Jesus of the rich, young ruler in sadness “because he had great wealth” (Mark 10:22), may I invite you to meditate on the lyrics of this rather old hymn below:
1
Are there any idols still in your heart— you cherish too much to have them broken;
Remember that you have been purchased by His precious blood
He deserves to be first in your life2
Are there any idols still in your heart—their beauty is too much for you to let go;
Remember that the Lord was crucified for your sake
He purchased your life to be eternally His.3. Are there any idols still in your heart—pursuing them day and night;
Calves of gold cannot ease your pain
You cannot worship both Mammon and the Lord.4
Are there any idols still in your heart—forgetting that you’re the temple of the Holy Spirit;
What has His temple to do with the idols
No longer can you be friends with them.5
Are there any idols still in your tent—preventing you from your pilgrimage;
Sacrifice them for His sake, even it is your “love”,
That you may be bold and draw near to the Father.6
Are there any idols greater than God—surrender not your knees to the king’s decree;
The Son of God will be with you in the furnace
You will not be scorched by the flame.7
Lord, burn down all idols in me—let me love you with all my heart;
Let me imitate your death and your holy image
Under the reign of my Righteous King.