Mark 9:2-13
  2 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain by themselves to be alone. He was transfigured in front of them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling — extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —  6 because he did not know what to say, since they were terrified.
 7 A cloud appeared, overshadowing them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my beloved Son; listen to him! ”
8 Suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
 9 As they were coming down the mountain, he ordered them to tell no one what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept this word to themselves, questioning what “rising from the dead” meant.
11 Then they asked him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first? ”
 12 “Elijah does come first and restores all things,” he replied. “Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written about him.”

 

GOING DEEPER
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 17:1-13; Luke 9:28-36.
See also: 2 Peter 1:16-18
 
1) GOING UP THE MOUNTAIN

• Exodus 34:29–35 — Moses reflects God’s glory
• 1 Kings 19:8–18 — Elijah encounters God on the mountain
• Exodus 13:21 — God leads His people by the cloud
• Exodus 40:34–35 — God’s glory fills the tabernacle
• Mark 1:10–11 — The Father declares Jesus His beloved Son
• Isaiah 6:1–5 — Isaiah beholds the Lord’s holiness and glory
• Philippians 2:6–7 — Christ humbles Himself in the incarnation
• John 1:14 — The Word became flesh and revealed His glory
• Hebrews 1:3 — Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory
• Revelation 1:12–16 — John sees the risen Christ in glory

2) COMING DOWN THE MOUNTAIN

• Malachi 4:5–6 — Elijah promised before the day of the Lord
• Dan. 12:2; Isa. 26:19 — The promise of resurrection at the end
• Isaiah 26:19 — God’s people will rise from the dead
• John 1:21 — John the Baptist denies being literally Elijah
• Luke 1:17 — John comes in the spirit and power of Elijah
• Matthew 11:14 — Jesus identifies John as the Elijah to come
• Mark 6:17–29 — John the Baptist is rejected and killed
• Isaiah 53:3–5 — The Messiah suffers for His people
• Luke 24:26 — The Christ must suffer before entering glory

ASSURANCE, VISION, TRANSFORMATION

• 2 Peter 1:16–18 — Peter testifies to Christ’s majesty
• Romans 8:17 — Suffering with Christ leads to glory with Christ
• James 1:2–4 — Trials produce endurance and maturity
• 1 Peter 5:10 — God restores His people after suffering
• Philippians 2:7–11 — Christ’s humiliation leads to exaltation
• Romans 12:2 — Be transformed by the renewing of your mind
• 2 Cor. 3:18 — We are transformed beholding the Lord’s glory
• Colossians 3:1–4 — Set your heart on the risen Christ

CONSIDER

1. The disciples saw Jesus’ glory on the mountain before hearing about His suffering. Why do you think that order matters?  How does it shape their understanding and ours?

2. Why do we tend to expect following Jesus to make life easier?
Where do you see that expectation in yourself or in the culture around you?

3. How have you seen the pattern of “glory comes through suffering” play out in your own life or in others’ lives?

4. When following Jesus becomes costly (relationships, comfort, reputation, etc.) What helps you stay faithful and not lose heart?

5. God the Father said, “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him.”  What makes it hard to truly listen to Jesus, and what might help you trust Him more?

6. Believers are being “transformed” into Christ’s image.  What is one area where you sense God is currently working to change you?

7. Jesus’ path is one of humility, surrender, and service.  What is one specific step you can take this week to follow Him in that way?

Mark 1:1 - 8:26   

Jesus comes and offers to meet our greatest needs first.  He doesn't address the loudest problem in the room; He addresses the deepest one. He offers redemption, forgiveness, fellowship, and freedom.

I don’t know where you are with this, but I forget that. I forget that Jesus is focused on meeting my deepest needs, my greatest needs.  And maybe the reason He isn’t dealing with what I think is the biggest problem in my life is because it’s not actually my biggest problem. There’s something deeper, something more pressing.

You know, it’s actually in our moments of desperate need that God gets a hold of us. Have you seen that in your life? Think about a hospital waiting room—the great leveling ground where a CEO and a janitor sit side by side, and who they are in the eyes of the world doesn’t really matter in that room, does it? There isn’t much difference between them.

Desperate need doesn’t make us weak. It shows us reality. It shows us where we really stand before God—what we truly need. And sooner or later, everybody ends up at that point.

1. Jesus Reveals Who He Is 

 
Mark presents Jesus clearly as:

• The Promised One, The Beloved Son, The True Adam (1:1-13) 
• The King bringing God’s Kingdom (1:14–15) 
• Calling people to repent and follow (1:16–20)

He shows Jesus’s authority:

• In teaching (1:21-22) 
• Over demons (1:23-27; 5:1-20) 
• Over sin (2:1–12) 
• Over nature (4:35–41) 
• Over sickness & death (1:29-34; 5:21–43) 

Jesus is Lord!  Not just come on behalf of God, but as God.  But He comes offering something other than what people expected...

2. Jesus Confronts Our Expectations 

 
Relief vs. Redemption (2:1-12):

• We look for relief from temporary external circumstances. 
• Jesus offers redemption and eternal glory... (forgiveness, fellowship, freedom) 

Control vs. Surrender (1:16-20, 6:7-29)

• We want control to shape our lives into what we desire. 
• He calls for surrender to His will, which is always is for God’s glory and our good! 

Religion vs. Relationship (7:1-23):

• We gravitate toward religion, formulas and rules in order to obligate God to bless us. 
• He offers real relationship and a transformed life as a gift! 

How then should we respond to Jesus?

People Respond in Different Ways  

• Leaders are resistant and hostile (3:6; 7:1–13) 
• Crowds have a shallow curiosity (3:7–12) 
• Hometown people are familiar but offended (6:1–6) 
• His disciples follow but remain confused (8:17–21) 

It is possible to be close to Jesus… and still miss Him.  Why?
 

4. The Problem is the Heart 

 

• We misunderstand our true need (2:1–12) 
• Sin comes from within (7:20–23) 
• We resist or ignore truth… due to spiritual blindness (8:14–21) 

Not a lack of evidence… a heart problem.  How can our hearts be changed?  By Him, as we respond to Him in faith.
 

5. We Receive Him in Humble Faith 

 
Seen in:

• The paralytic (2:1–12) 
• Jairus & the woman with the issue of blood (5:21–43) 
• The Gentile mother (7:24–30) 

Faith comes empty-handed, trusting Jesus as our only hope.

My family served in the Philippines as missionaries in a little village on Luzon. The mission had a little helicopter to shuttle us in and out of the village and to transport us in case there were medical emergencies. This was a jet turbine helicopter, a miracle of modern engineering. It's so cool it could make a grown man weep. Just amazing.

The flight to our village on the coast was about 30 minutes over some of the last virgin rain forest on planet Earth. There was a particular waterfall we would fly over at the halfway point. It had this perfect veil of water cascading down into clear pools. Just stunning. And the flight through the final pass to the coast gave us a view of the village and its rice fields, and the turquoise ocean breaking onto the reefs. People take vacations and spend huge amounts of money to have a flight like that. It was breathtaking. Beautiful.

The first dozen times in the helicopter was incredible. But you know what would happen though? At some point in the flight, I would look to the back seat, and my kids would be there… sleeping. Or they'd have their books out because they were bored. And it would happen to me too. I would be enjoying the flight but at a certain point I’d start staring off into space, not really taking it in anymore. I felt like we’d seen it all before.

It can be a similar challenge for us with the resurrection story, because whether you meet weekly or Resurrection Sunday is the only day of the year you come to church, this is a challenge for all of us because at some point we start to feel like we’ve seen this before. We know this story. Jesus died. Jesus rose three days later. We've heard it all before.

My prayer is that we look at it again with fresh eyes, look at who Jesus is, and dig into the questions that come from the text below. These questions not only go right to the heart of the Christian faith— but they are life-defining, life-giving questions.

Mark 8:27-38
  27 Jesus went out with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi. And on the road he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am? ”
28 They answered him, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, one of the prophets.”
 29 “But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am? ”
Peter answered him, “You are the Messiah.” 30 And he strictly warned them to tell no one about him.
 31 Then he began to teach them that it was necessary for the Son of Man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and rise after three days. 32 He spoke openly about this. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 33 But turning around and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! You are not thinking about God’s concerns but human concerns.”
 34 Calling the crowd along with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and the gospel will save it. 36 For what does it benefit someone to gain the whole world and yet lose his life? 37 What can anyone give in exchange for his life? 38 For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 9:1
1 Then he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God come in power.”

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 16:13-28; Luke 9:18-27 
 
1) WHO IS JESUS?  

• Psalm 2 — The anointed King  
• 2 Samuel 7:12–16 — The promised King from David’s line  
• Jeremiah 23:5 — The righteous Branch, the coming King  
• Genesis 3:1–6 — The temptation in the Garden  
• Colossians 1:15–18 — Christ as King and Creator  

 
2) WHAT DID HE COME TO DO? 

• Luke 24:25–27 — He had to suffer/ the Scriptures point to Him  
• Isaiah 53:3–6 — The suffering servant 

 
True Forgiveness 

• Mark 2:5 — “Your sins are forgiven”  
• Romans 3:23 — All have sinned 
• Hebrews 9:22 — Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness 
• Colossians 2:13–14 — Debt canceled at the cross  

Human Inability 

• Romans 3:10–12 — None righteous  
• John 8:34 — Slave to sin  
• Ephesians 2:1–5 — Dead in sin, saved by grace  

Perfect Love 

• 1 John 3:16 – This is how we have come to know love 
• Romans 5:6–8 – Perfect love demonstrated at the Cross 
• John 3:16 – God’s love for the world, through Christ’s gift 

 
3) WILL YOU FOLLOW? 

• 1 Corinthians 15:17–19 — If Christ has not been raised… 
• Galatians 2:20 — Crucified with Christ  
• Philippians 3:7–11 — Losing everything to gain Christ  
• Romans 10:9 — Confess and believe 

On the day Jesus entered Jerusalem, the crowds were ready.

They shouted, “Blessed is the King!”
They laid their cloaks before Him.
They believed their moment had finally come.

But just days later, everything changed.

In this message from the Gospel of Luke 19:28–44, we look at how it’s possible to be close to Jesus, to even praise Him, and still not truly recognize Him.

Palm Sunday is one of the most sobering moments in Scripture. The day the Messiah arrived… and was not recognized.

The question is: could we be doing the same thing today?

Luke 19:28-44
  28 When he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 As he approached Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples 30 and said, “Go into the village ahead of you. As you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it? ’ say this: ‘The Lord needs it.’ ”

 32 So those who were sent left and found it just as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt? ”

34 “The Lord needs it,” they said. 35 Then they brought it to Jesus, and after throwing their clothes on the colt, they helped Jesus get on it. 36 As he was going along, they were spreading their clothes on the road. 37 Now he came near the path down the Mount of Olives, and the whole crowd of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:

38 Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven!

39 Some of the Pharisees from the crowd told him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

 40 He answered, “I tell you, if they were to keep silent, the stones would cry out.”

41 As he approached and saw the city, he wept for it, 42 saying, “If you knew this day what would bring peace — but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come on you when your enemies will build a barricade around you, surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44 They will crush you and your children among you to the ground, and they will not leave one stone on another in your midst, because you did not recognize the time when God visited you.”
 

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, John 12:12-19 
 
 INTRODUCTION 

• Luke 19:28-44 
• Psalm 118:24 
• Luke 9:51 
• Ezekial 34 

 
1) PREPERATION PROPELS PROPHECY 

• Numbers 19:2 
• Deuteronomy 21:3 
• 1 Samuel 6:7 
• Genesis 49:8-12 
• 2 Samuel 7 
• Revelation 5:5 
• John 15:1-5 
• Zechariah 9:9 

 
2) PROPHECY THAT PRODUCES PRAISE 

• Psalm 118:25-26 
• Ephesians 6:12 
• Genesis 3:1-7 

 
3) PRAISE THAT PROMPTS PROTEST 

• Psalm 114:4 
• Isaiah 55:12 
• Psalm 148 
• Habakkuk 2:11 
• Joshua 24:26-27 

 
4) PEACE THAT PLUMMETS TO PAIN 

• Luke 13:34 
• Daniel 9:20-27 
• Genesis 4:1-10 
• Hebrews 12:24 

CONSIDER
1.  Preparation Propels Prophecy
Do I trust that God is at work—even when I don’t fully understand what He is doing?
Jesus was fulfilling a plan set in motion long before anyone in that moment could see it. 

• Where might I be tempted to doubt God’s purposes because I can’t see the full picture?  
• Am I willing to follow like the disciples—simply doing what He says?  

2. Prophecy Produces Praise
Is my worship of Jesus based on who He truly is—or who I expect Him to be?
The crowd praised Jesus—but they misunderstood Him. 

• Do I follow Jesus as King on His terms, or mine?  
• What happens to my worship when He doesn’t meet my expectations?  

3. Praise Prompts Protest
Is there any part of my heart that resists Jesus’ authority—even while I outwardly honor Him?
The Pharisees rejected what was right in front of them. 

• Are there areas where I subtly push back against His rule?  
• Do I want a Savior… but not a King?  

4. Peace Plummets to Pain
Am I recognizing Jesus for who He truly is today—or am I at risk of missing Him?
Jesus wept because they did not recognize “the time of their visitation.” 

• Am I responding to Him now, or assuming there will always be more time?  
• Have I truly received the peace He offers—or am I still looking elsewhere? 

There is something very satisfying and also unsettling about the passage below. On the one hand, I'm not sure we ever get tired of watching Jesus dismantle groups of smug hypocrites who've come to point fingers and pick fights, right? There's just something deep in us that loves seeing bullies get set straight. But on the other hand, while it'd be tempting to stand in judgment over those people, over the Pharisees, Jesus doesn't just have something to say to them he says something to all of us.

In Mark 7, what begins as a dispute about religious handwashing turns into something much deeper. Jesus doesn't mince words about this problem, and it's not just a Pharisee problem, it's a human problem.

This message is tough to swallow, but we need to hear this. We need to hear this, and when we do, it helps us see Jesus for who he is - how truly good he is.

Mark 7:1-23
  1 The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him. 2 They observed that some of his disciples were eating bread with unclean — that is, unwashed — hands. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders. 4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ceremonially unclean hands? ”

6 He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands.

 8 Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.” 9 He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up your tradition! 10 For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother; and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death. 11 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is corban’ ” (that is, an offering devoted to God),  12 “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”

 14 Summoning the crowd again, he told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15 Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

 17 When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? 19 For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean). 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 15:1-20 
 
1) THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM 

• Exodus 30:19 – Instructions for the priests’ ceremonial washing. 
• Exodus 40:13 – Ritual washing related to the Tabernacle service. 
• Leviticus 22:1–6 – Regulations for priests’ purity. 
• Isaiah 29:13 – “This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” 
• Leviticus 27:28 – On things dedicated to God (corban). 
• Numbers 18:14 – Items devoted to God cannot be used for personal purposes. 
• Deuteronomy 5:16 – “Honor your father and your mother.” 
• Proverbs 3:9 – Honoring God with first fruits and obedience. 

 
2) THE PROBLEM OF THE HEART 

• Colossians 1:15 – Jesus is the image of God 
• Luke 6:45 – “The mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart.” 
• Proverbs 4:23 – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” 
• Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” 
• Psalm 51:10 – Prayer for a clean heart, reflecting inner transformation. 
• Romans 12:2 – Be transformed by the renewing of your mind (heart-centered change). 
• Ezekiel 36:26 – God promises a new heart and spirit. 

In the scripture below is the account of when Jesus called a woman a dog and healed a man by what looks like giving him a wet willie. You know what that is, right? Where you lick your fingers and you go up behind your friends and stick your wet fingers in their ears. So, Jesus sticks his fingers in the man's ears, spits, and touches his tongue—very strange, right?

As we read through these stories, we should remember, Jesus was Jewish, and all this took place in a time and in a culture that can feel very foreign to us. Mark gives some translations and explanations for non-Jews to help bridge the gap, but still, this comes across as very strange, if not offensive to us.

We shouldn't let that throw us off, because if you can see past the offensiveness of the first part and the weirdness of the second part, we find a clear picture of how to come to Jesus and why Jesus is certainly the one we need to come to.

Mark 7:24-37
 24 He got up and departed from there to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it, but he could not escape notice. 25 Instead, immediately after hearing about him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit came and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she was asking him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, because it isn’t right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”
 28 But she replied to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
 29 Then he told her, “Because of this reply, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.” 30 When she went back to her home, she found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone.
31 Again, leaving the region of Tyre, he went by way of Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of the Decapolis. 32 They brought to him a deaf man who had difficulty speaking and begged Jesus to lay his hand on him. 33 So he took him away from the crowd in private. After putting his fingers in the man’s ears and spitting, he touched his tongue. 34 Looking up to heaven, he sighed deeply and said to him, “Ephphatha! ” (that is, “Be opened! ”). 35 Immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was loosened, and he began to speak clearly. 36 He ordered them to tell no one, but the more he ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.
 37 They were extremely astonished and said, “He has done everything well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 15:1-20 
 
1) HOW TO COME TO JESUS 

• Isa. 23, Jer. 47:4, Ezek. 26-28, Joel 3:4, Amos 1:9-10, Zech. 9:2-4 – Tyre as godless oppressor of Israel 
• James 4:6 – “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 
• Luke 18:9–14 – The Pharisee and the tax collector (humility before God) 
• Matt. 15:24 – “I was sent only to the lost sheep of… Israel.” 
• Acts 10:9–16 – Peter’s vision of the sheet with unclean animals 
• Acts 10:28 – “I must not call any person impure or unclean.” 
• Acts 10:34–36 – “God shows no favoritism…” 
• Gen. 12:1–3 – God’s promise that all nations would be blessed through Abraham 
• Rom. 1:16 – “First to the Jew, and also to the Greek.” 
• Eph. 2:12–13 – Gentiles once far off, now brought near in Christ 

 
2) WHY JESUS IS THE ONE TO COME TO 

• Rom. 8:23 – Creation and believers groan awaiting redemption 
• 2 Cor. 5:2 – “We groan in this tent…” 
• Heb. 4:15–16 – Our high priest who sympathizes with our weakness 
• Exo. 4:11 – “Who gave man his mouth… Is it not I, the LORD?”  
• John 11:25 – “I am the resurrection and the life.” 
• Eph. 1:19–20 – The immeasurable greatness of God’s power in Christ 
• Gen. 1:31 – “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” 
• Isa. 35:4–6 – The deaf hear and the mute sing when God comes to save 
• John 1:14 – The Word became flesh and dwelt among us 

What are God’s plans for his church? This time of year, as a congregation, we like to take time to consider what are God’s plans for us, for Jerome Prairie. And in Ephesians 4 we can see the answer to that very clearly. His plan is for everyone who puts their faith in Christ to grow—to grow up in him. We are destined for maturity in Christ together, to grow together.

By growth, we aren’t talking about numerical growth. You say “growth” in church circles, and we’re tempted to think numbers, right? Attendance, budgets, programs, that sort of thing. But that isn’t the kind of growth that Ephesians 4 is talking about.

If you have a pile of bricks and you add more bricks to that pile, that is growth—numbers growth. But that pile of bricks is never going to do anything but be a pile of bricks. It doesn’t mature. They aren’t arranged or connected. It’s fundamentally different than the way a tree grows or the way a child grows—the way any living thing grows. Living things grow in increasingly interconnected, more and integrated together.

Spiritual growth, then, is who you are in Christ—what he has said is spiritually true of everyone who has put their faith in him. That truth about who you are now in him; we connect that to the way we live our lives.

Who we are as a body, as a church—not just a bunch of individuals, but a family—we are to grow up together in him as individuals and as a church. We want this kind of growth that’s being talked about here in Ephesians 4.

So, what does that look like? How does that work?

[Eph 4:1-16 CSB]
1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit -- just as you were called to one hope at your calling -- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people.
9 But what does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth? 10 The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens, to fill all things. 11 And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, to build up the body of Christ, 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, growing into maturity with a stature measured by Christ's fullness. 14 Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. 15 But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head -- Christ. 16 From him the whole body, fitted and knit together by every supporting ligament, promotes the growth of the body for building itself up in love by the proper working of each individual part.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
 

• Phil. 1:27 – “Live… worthy of the gospel of Christ” 
• Col. 1:9–10 – “walk worthy of the Lord” 
• 1 Thess. 2:11–12 – “walk worthy of God” 

 
1) UNITY 

• 1 Cor. 13 – Love’s character (humility, gentleness, patience) 
• Gal. 5:22–23 – Fruit of the Spirit (gentleness, patience, love) 
• Phil. 2:5–8 – Christ’s humility and servant role 
• Rom. 12:10 – Honor one another above yourselves 
• Col. 3:12–14 – Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love 
• 1 Pet. 3:8–9 – Unity, compassion, humility, harmony 
• John 17:20–23 – Unity of believers in Christ 

 
2) GIFTS 

• Psa. 68:18 – “When He ascended on high, He took captives captive; He gave gifts to people” 
• Phil. 2:6–11 – Christ’s descent and exaltation 
• Rom. 12:3–8 – Diversity of gifts in the body of Christ 
• 1 Cor. 12:4–31 – Spiritual gifts and the body analogy 
• 1 Cor. 1:2 – Saints as members of the body of Christ 
• 1 Pet. 4:10–11 – Serve others with gifts as faithful stewards of God’s grace

3) GROWTH

• Heb. 5:12–14 – Moving from spiritual infancy to maturity 
• Col. 3:16 – Teaching, admonishing, growing together in wisdom 
• 2 Pet. 3:18 – Grow in grace and knowledge of Jesus 
• Phil. 3:12–14 – Pressing toward maturity in Christ 

A book like Ephesians is full of exciting application at the end, but if you skip the truth at the beginning then you also skip the power to live out what's there. I know what I need - what I need, before I dig into growing up into Christ, I need to remember that I am already in him. Before the call to maturity comes the gift of identity. And that's where Paul starts in Ephesians 1, not with what the church must do, but with what God has done.

[Eph 1:3-14 CSB]
3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. 5 He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One.
7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace 8 that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9 He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ 10 as a plan for the right time -- to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him.
11 In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will, 12 so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory.
13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. 14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.

GOING DEEPER
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
 
1) BLESSED 

• Matthew 6:19–20 — Treasures in heaven, not earth 
• 1 Peter 1:3–4 — Imperishable inheritance kept in heaven 
• Genesis 1:27-30 — Creation blessing: be fruitful, fill, rule 
• Genesis 12:2–3 — Abraham blessed with full-life promises 
• Matthew 5:5 — The meek shall inherit the earth 
• Revelation 21:1 — New heaven and new earth 
• Psalm 16:11 — Fullness of joy in God’s presence 
• Romans 8:14-17, 23-27 — Spirit assures adoption, helps in weakness/prayer 
• Romans 8:18 — Future glory outweighs suffering 
• Colossians 3:1–4 — Life hidden with Christ in God 
• John 14:16–17, 26 — Helper/Comforter given to believers 
• John 16:8-14 — Spirit convicts of sin, guides into truth, glorifies Christ 
• 2 Corinthians 1:21–22 — Spirit given as guarantee 

 
 
2) IN CHRIST 

• John 15:4–5 — Branch united to the vine 
• 1 Corinthians 12:12–13, Eph. 1:22 — Body united to the head 
• Ephesians 5:22–32 — Bride united to husband 
• Romans 6:5 — United with Him in death and life 
• Galatians 2:19-20 — Christ lives in me 
• Colossians 2:9–10 — Fullness in Christ 
• John 17:21-23 — Loved as the Son is loved 
• 2 Timothy 1:9 — Grace given before time 
• 1 John 3:1-2 — Called children of God 
• Romans 8:1-2 — No condemnation in Christ 
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 — New creation in Christ 
• Hebrews 12:1-2 — Look to Jesus 
• Colossians 3:11-12 — Identity: chosen, holy, loved 
• 1 Corinthians 1:30-31 — Christ our righteousness 

Mark 6:31-56

When the disciples came back from their ministry trip and told Jesus everything they had done, he said to them in verse 31, "Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. The disciples needed rest, and at least one decent meal together. The word eat or ate or eaten, it comes up no less than six times in this passage. It's important, and Jesus knows them. He knows their limits, their needs. And he says to them that it's time for them to get away, have a bit of a camp out, a day trip, a picnic, however you want to put it, where they can pull back from ministry and rest.

We need rest too, but our society is terrible at it. America is great at so many things, but resting? This is not one of them. Have you ever come back from a vacation and felt like you needed a vacation to recover from your vacation? We find ways to make even our time off exhausting. I'm hesitant to take advice from American society in general, so let's take advice instead from Jesus.

First of all, notice it's Jesus who says it's time to rest. It's surprising how many times he pulled the disciples away to rest. He regularly went away and took his disciples away to rest. But notice when he does that, it's to a remote place. It's removed. It's away. It's a quiet place.

We now have this amazing technology that allows us to work from anywhere, which means what?  We work everywhere, right? Everywhere and all the time. Interconnection all the time. And it's exhausting.

For Jesus and the disciples, a quiet place was all about geography, getting away from the city, away from the crowds, away from the work. And for us today, a quiet place, a remote place, has as much to do with unplugging as anything. If you're going to rest today you may need to head for the hills, but more than anything, resting means shutting out the noise.  

Do you do that? Do you make time to get away?

There's another thing to see about rest. True rest is not simply stopping the work and picking up your hobbies and whatnot. It's being with Jesus. It's getting away with him. Time off is essential, but all the time off in the world isn't going to be restful if you've been avoiding him. You're never going to find the true rest that you need if you're keeping Jesus at arm's length in your life.

Matthew 11:28-30 is very familiar. It's where he says, "Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." It doesn't say just leave your work, all of you who are weary and burdened. It says, “Come to me.” 

Real rest is found with Jesus.

If you live your life either ignoring God or trying to earn your way to God, either you will end up weary and burdened one way or another. Either way, if you live your life going through the pages of the Bible and saying, "Well, this is what God requires to live right with him, and I'm just going to muscle through it," you'll end up exhausted. And yet, if you ignore what God says about how you were made to live, you'll end up just as lost.

There's only one answer if you want real rest. It's what he says, “Come to me all who are weary.” You cannot carry the load. The good news is that Jesus has come to do for you what you could never do for yourself and carry not just the weight of your sin, but of your whole life.

The gospel isn't just a message to believe once and then forget. It's the truth that works its way down into every area of life. If you don't know him, you need him. And if you do know him, he's calling you to rest in him. Shut out the noise. Get alone with him. You need him.

We can rest in the fact that if he was more than enough to deal with our sin, then he's more than enough to deal with whatever the day brings. Right? That's the gospel message that we carry forward. He's more than enough to deal with all your sin and more than enough to deal with whatever the day brings.

My prayer for you is that you will see Jesus as he is, more than enough to not only meet your needs but to give you real rest.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 14:13–36, Luke 9:10–17, John 6:1-21 
 
1) HUNGER 

• Acts 5:37 – Judas the Galilean and the Zealot revolt 
• John 6:14–15 – The crowd wants to make Jesus king by force 
• Isaiah 55:1-3 – Invitation to true food from God 
• Matthew 11:28-30 – Invitation to true rest in Jesus 

 
2) COMPASSION 

• Psalm 23 – The Lord as Shepherd 
• Numbers 27:16–17 – “Like sheep without a shepherd” 
• Ezekiel 34 – God condemns Israel’s false shepherds and promise to care for His people Himself 
• John 10:11–14 – Jesus the Good Shepherd 

 
3) PROVISION 

• Psalm 145:15–16 – God satisfies every living thing 
• 2 Corinthians 9:8 – God’s all-sufficient grace 
• Philippians 4:19 – God supplies every need 
• Psalm 107:9 – He satisfies the thirsty and hungry 
• John 6:35 – Jesus the Bread of Life 

 
4) POWER 

• Job 9:8 – God walking on the waves 
• Exodus 3:14 – “I AM” (divine name of God) 
• Exodus 33:19–23 – God passing by Moses in glory 
• Colossians 1:16–17 – Christ’s supreme power and sufficiency 

There are times when you can see in his Word that you're being called to obedience even without seeing how he's going to provide, before you can see the outcome, before you can see how the future's going to work out. That's the walk of faith. We need to follow Jesus in more than words; we need to follow him in how we live.

[Mar 6:7-30 CSB]
7 He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8 He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a staff -- no bread, no traveling bag, no money in their belts, 9 but to wear sandals and not put on an extra shirt. 10 He said to them, "Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. 11 "If any place does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." 12 So they went out and preached that people should repent. 13 They drove out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.
14 King Herod heard about it, because Jesus's name had become well known. Some said, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that's why miraculous powers are at work in him." 15 But others said, "He's Elijah." Still others said, "He's a prophet, like one of the prophets from long ago."
16 When Herod heard of it, he said, "John, the one I beheaded, has been raised! "
17 For Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because he had married her. 18 John had been telling Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." 19 So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.
21 An opportune time came on his birthday, when Herod gave a banquet for his nobles, military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee. 22 When Herodias's own daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me whatever you want, and I'll give it to you." 23 He promised her with an oath: "Whatever you ask me I will give you, up to half my kingdom."
24 She went out and said to her mother, "What should I ask for? " "John the Baptist's head," she said.
25 At once she hurried to the king and said, "I want you to give me John the Baptist's head on a platter immediately." 26 Although the king was deeply distressed, because of his oaths and the guests he did not want to refuse her. 27 The king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring John's head. So he went and beheaded him in prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. 29 When John's disciples heard about it, they came and removed his corpse and placed it in a tomb.
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 10:1–16; 14:1-12, Luke 9:1–9 
 
1) THE APOSTLES’ MISSION 

• Num. 35:30, Deut. 17:6; 19:15, 2 Cor. 13:1, 1 Timothy 5:19 – A matter is confirmed by two or three witnesses. 
• Exodus 12:11 – Israelites told to be ready to leave Egypt. 
• Luke 22:35–36 – Jesus teaches different applications in different seasons. 
• Mark 10:45 – The Son of Man came to serve. 
• Matthew 28:18–20 – Jesus sends His disciples with authority. 
• John 13:34–35 – Love marks discipleship. 
• Hebrews 13:17 – Obey and submit to God’s authority. 
• Proverbs 3:5–6 – Trust God for guidance. 

2) HEROD’S TROUBLE 

• Leviticus 18:16; 20:21 – Prohibition against marrying a brother’s wife. 
• Genesis 16:1–3 – Sarah schemes; Abraham complies. 
• Genesis 27:6–17 – Rebekah schemes; Jacob complies. 
• Genesis 3:6 – Eve deceived; Adam follows. 
• Esther 5:6–8 – Haman’s plot parallels Herodias’ scheming. 
• Psalm 37:12–15 – God’s justice prevails over wicked schemes. 
• Proverbs 16:18 – Pride precedes destruction. 
• Romans 1:28–32 – Consequences of rejecting God’s truth. 

 
3) THE LOOMING SHADOW 

• Philippians 2:8 – Christ humbled Himself to death. 
• 1 Peter 2:21–23 – Christ suffered as an example for believers. 
• Hebrews 12:2–3 – Jesus endured the cross; perseverance. 
• Matthew 5:10–12 – Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness. 
• 2 Timothy 3:12 – All who desire to live godly, face persecution. 
• Romans 8:17–18 – Sharing in Christ’s sufferings and glory. 

Mark 6:1-6

Going through Mark, we are looking at the key question: who is Jesus? This really is the emphasis in the early chapters of Mark, and we can get a sense of why God would belabor this point to us—this question, who is Jesus?

For a long time, people have noticed that there’s a pattern that comes out through Mark. This is the way David Garland presents it in his commentaries and it has really helped me.

Okay, so in chapter 1, verse 24—in the synagogue, a demon-possessed man bursts in suddenly and he says, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God. I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

Just a few verses later, in verse 27, the people who were there, who heard Jesus’ teaching, they’ve seen his power to cast out an unclean spirit, and they ask, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority.”

Just a little bit later, you get to verse 34, and it says he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. But then right after that, you have the religious leaders wondering about who Jesus is. Jesus forgave a man his sins, and they say, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Move forward a bit. Chapter 3, verse 11—you have the unclean spirits confessing, “You are the Son of God.” It’s very clear. You are the Son of God.

But then not too long after, in chapter 4, the disciples are asking, “Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him?” Seeing a pattern here?

Chapter 5, verse 7, there is the man tormented by a legion of demons saying, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”

And then we get to chapter 6, verse 3, and the people are saying, “Isn’t this the carpenter, Mary’s son?” In other words: Where did this man get these things? What is this wisdom that’s been given to him? How are these miracles performed by his hands?

What’s my point? The demons can see who Jesus is. They know. But the people Jesus came to reach are standing around scratching their heads. They’re wondering - Who is this guy? What’s the deal?

It would be funny if it weren’t so tragic, because many people in Mark don’t answer their own questions. They don’t come to know who Jesus is. Even though over and over again we see people posing the question, “Who is Jesus?” and they often don’t come to a conclusion.

Even some of the people who are closest to Jesus—in fact, rather than see Jesus for who he is, they end up offended by him. And that’s the tragedy of Mark 6:1-6, that some of the people who potentially would have been most familiar with Jesus, instead of being drawn to him, they are repelled.

It’s tragic, but it’s here to point us to the truth—some would argue the central truth that Mark’s gospel is here to help people see. Robert Gundry, who’s written one of the better commentaries on Mark, argues that Mark wrote this gospel to “Rescue people from falling into the trap of being offended by Jesus.”

The woman who was healed with the issue of blood—what was the issue Jesus wanted her to know made the difference in her being healed? Faith. With Jairus, what was the one thing Jesus told him to do? He said, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.” He’s saying trust me, Jairus. That’s all I’m asking you to do. These other people didn’t believe. They didn’t reach out in faith.

Don’t misinterpret this to mean Jesus didn’t have the power. Faith is how we lay hold of Jesus. We come to him by faith. God is able to do whatever he wants. The issue is that the people here won’t come to him. They won’t trust him. They have an astounding lack of faith.

In fact, look at verse six. It says, “And he was amazed at their unbelief.” Don’t take this the wrong way, but I think it takes a lot to impress God—to amaze Jesus. There are two places in the Gospels where it says Jesus is amazed.

The first place where we hear that Jesus is amazed is when the centurion comes to Jesus and asks Jesus to heal his servant. Jesus offers to come to his house, and the centurion replies, "I'm not worthy for you to come to my house. I'm not worthy for you to come under my roof.” The centurion trusts Jesus is someone with such authority that all Jesus has to do is say the word. Just say the word it'll be done. And we're told Jesus marveled at his faith.

The second place Jesus marveled is in 5:6. But here it is for their lack of faith. He's amazed at their unbelief.

You know what isn't astonishing? Failure is not astonishing. Weakness is not astonishing. Sin is it's not surprising. But you know what is surprising? The stubborn, hard-hearted refusal to trust God. After all these people have seen, they still don't believe.

What do we do with this? What can we learn from this? What is the truth here that we need to take home with us?

Well, the truth is Jesus is more than a carpenter. They didn't see that. It doesn't seem they wanted to see that. They were offended by him and so they wouldn't trust him. And we need to understand why so that we can see that this danger applies to us as well.

Ignorant familiarity.

There is a danger that Jesus would become familiar to us without seeing him for who he really is—to assume that because we’ve seen Jesus in one light, we’ve got him all figured out.

It’s been said that we are living in a post-Christian society. Have you ever heard of it? Here’s part of it: post-Christian is not the same as non-Christian. A non-Christian culture doesn’t know Jesus or what it means to follow Jesus, and a post-Christian society also doesn’t know Jesus or what it means to follow Jesus—but they think they do.

The mark of a post-Christian is, “I already know. I’ve heard it all before. I’ve got it figured out.” They may pose questions like the people do here in Mark, but they don’t stick around to get the real answer. Usually in a post-Christian society, you you'll hear lots about Jesus, but it's mostly like the folks here. He's just a carpenter. He's just Mary's son, nothing more.

So, how do we avoid ignorant familiarity? For starters, don't settle until you have wrestled through the claims this book makes about Jesus. Don't settle until you get a clear answer to the question these people asked here.

Where did Jesus get these things?
Where does a carpenter from Nazareth get the power and the wisdom to change the world?

There are libraries-worth of books written on that question and we could dive into the weeds on all the intricacies, all the explanations, all the possibilities, and all the things that people have said. Many people have tried to account for Jesus's impact in the world. But consider this though, the unanimous testimony of the Bible is that Jesus Christ is the son of God, the one who made you and everything that exists. So, if the God who made you is behind all of this, a reasonable place to start is to ask him to move you to open your eyes. Ask him, “God, help me see who Jesus is.” And I tell you, he will. That is a prayer God honors.

GOING DEEPER
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 13:53–58, Luke 4:16–22

1) TRAGEDY (in Nazareth)

• Isaiah 61:1–2 – “The Spirit of the Lord is on me…” 
• Mark 5:34 – “Your faith has healed you.” 
• Mark 5:36 – “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” 
• Matthew 8:10 – Jesus marvels at the centurion’s faith. 

 
2) TRUTH (for Us) 
IGNORANT FAMILIARITY 

• Isaiah 53:1-4 – The Messiah, despised and rejected 
• John 1:10-13 – Jesus rejected by His own, but received by faith 

 
ACCOUNTABILITY 

• Acts 4:12 – Salvation in no one else. 
• Philippians 2:9–11 – Every knee will bow to Jesus. 

 
HUMILITY 

• 2 Kings 5:1–14 – Naaman’s humility and healing. 
• Philippians 2:5–8 – Jesus humbled Himself to death on a cross. 
• James 4:6 – “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 
• 1 Peter 5:6 – “Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand…” 

 
THE CROSS 

• Mark 8:31 – Jesus predicts His suffering and death. 
• Mark 15:25–27 – Jesus crucified. 
• 1 Corinthians 1:23 – “Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” 
• Galatians 6:14 – “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 
• Romans 5:8 – Christ died for us while we were sinners. 
• 1 Peter 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…” 

Mark 5:21-43

Desperate need doesn’t make us weak. It just shows us life as it is. It doesn’t make us fragile. It shows us what we always were. And God, in his word, has plenty to say about the value of sobering up to your desperate need before him.

Psalm 90:12 says this, “Teach us to number our days carefully so that we may develop wisdom in our hearts.” Help us to think about this, God, in a way that develops wisdom in our hearts.

Ecclesiastes 7:2 talks about how it is better to attend funerals than parties. Why? Because it puts the reality of our desperate need in front of us in a way that develops wisdom in us.

James 4:14 talks about our lives being vapor, a mist. When the illusion of control finally cracks, when we take to heart the precarious situation we’re in, one of two things happens. Either—and these are two real options—either we harden ourselves in fear and bitterness, or we do what Jairus and the woman with the issue of blood did in Mark 5. We fall down at the feet of Jesus.

The reason why this isn’t the worst place they could be is where it has brought these people: to their Savior, to Jesus. When you’re bent low by your desperate need, Jesus will meet you there too. No matter who you are—and you see that here—Jairus and the woman are two completely different people. The world would consider them polar opposite ends of the social ladder, and Jesus meets them both side by side.

Jesus is their only hope. Jesus shows himself to be our only hope. He's worthy of our full trust because he's powerful, even over even death itself. And we get a hold of him. We lay hold of him by faith.

Faith is a position of the heart first and foremost. It’s not blind. Faith—and you see that here in Mark 5:27—is based in evidence, having heard about Jesus. The woman heard about Jesus, and then she came to him and told herself, “What I’ve got to do is get a hold of him somehow, and then I’ll be healed.”

And Jesus essentially says, “You got a hold of me when you believed.”

Let me ask you this—just think about it for a minute. This is not a theological question; it’s an honest question.

Who do you trust?
Who do you trust with yourself, completely?
Who do you trust with what is most precious to you?

When life starts to slide out from underneath you, what do you reach for? What is the thing you believe is going to hold you together? What is the thing you tell yourself, “This has to be okay in order for me to be okay”?

This is where your faith is.

The question is not if you believe; the question is who. Who are you trusting with your life?

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 9:18–26, Luke 8:40–56 
 
 
1) THE DESPERATE NEED 

• Leviticus 15 – Laws concerning uncleanness 
• Psalm 90:12 – Teach us to number our days 
• Ecclesiastes 7:2–4 – Facing death brings wisdom 
• James 4:13–14 – The uncertainty and brevity of life 
• Psalm 34:18 – The Lord is near to the brokenhearted 

 
 
2) THE NECESSITY OF FAITH 

• John 6:29 – The work of God is to believe in the One He sent 
• Mark 9:24 – “I believe; help my unbelief” 
• John 1:12 – Receiving Christ by believing 
• Romans 10:17 – Faith comes by hearing 
• Ephesians 2:8–9 – Saved by grace through faith, not works 
• Hebrews 11:1 – Faith defined 
• Philippians 3:9 – Righteousness through faith in Christ 

 
 
3) THE DEFEAT OF DEATH 

• 1 Corinth. 15:26 – “The last enemy to be destroyed is death” 
• John 11:25–26 – Jesus as the resurrection and the life 
• Isaiah 25:8 – Death swallowed up forever 
• 1 Thess. 4:13–14 – Death described as sleep for believers 
• Romans 8:38–39 – Not even death can separate us from Christ 
• 1 Corinth. 15:54–57 – Victory over death through Christ 
• 2 Timothy 1:10 – Christ abolished death 
• Revelation 21:4 – Death shall be no more 

John 1:14-18

What would it mean to know the God who made all things and holds it all together with a word of his power? The God that made everything with a purpose, for a reason, and with a plan in mind. The one who made you, who had his eye set on you. What would it mean to know what he is like and what he wants? How is it we can know him?

Some people want to imagine God as an impersonal force without a personality, without a mind or will or emotions. But you have to wonder—how did you get your mind and your will and your emotions? You were patterned. You were made in the image of a God who has a mind and will and emotions. But that’s also terrifying, right? Because if God is not simply some impersonal force but a full person—a true person—well, then he has thoughts and desires and plans. And then we have to ask, what does he want? What does he want for you? These are not small questions. How can we possibly come to know him?

Philosophers sit around and figure they’ll just think about it really hard. They’ll think about it and talk about it and figure God out. But who can say their particular ideas are right about what God must be like? That’s not how it works. What we end up doing is inventing a version of God that usually seems suspiciously a lot like us.

The real God—he’s holy. He’s unique. The real God—how could you come to know him? You can’t put him under a microscope.  And you certainly can’t just go looking for him in the sky somewhere.

In the 1960s the Soviet Union put Yuri Gagarin into orbit, and afterward the first secretary of the Soviet Union, Nikita Khrushchev, made a speech where he said, “Why are you clinging to God? Gagarin flew into space and didn’t see God. We went up into heaven and didn’t see God. He must not exist.”

Later, in 1963, C. S. Lewis wrote about that, and he said that looking for God in the heavens is like looking for William Shakespeare in one of his plays. In Hamlet or Macbeth or Romeo and Juliet you don’t find William Shakespeare in them. He’s invisible, in a sense. And yet he’s the author behind it all. His fingerprints are all over everything.

Lewis goes on to say that to know God—the creator, the author behind all of this—you can’t go looking for him somewhere in this world any more than Romeo or Juliet could find William Shakespeare. The only way we can come to know God is if he were to write himself into our world. He has to come to us.

It’s just an analogy, and it’s not perfect, but can you see that’s what Christmas is about? God has come, written himself into this world. The Word became flesh.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages

1) THE GLORY

• Psalm 19:1 — Creation declares God’s glory 
• Psalm 139:14 — Wonderfully made 
• Romans 1:19-20 – Gods invisible attributes seen in creation 
• Romans 3:23 — All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God 
• Genesis 1–2 — Humanity created to reflect God’s glory 
• Genesis 12:1–3 — God’s promise to bless the world thru Abram 
• Exodus 33:18–23 — Moses asks to see God’s glory 
• Exodus 34:6 — The LORD… abounding in faithful love and truth 

 
2) THE TENT 

• Exodus 40:34–35 — God’s glory fills the tabernacle 
• Genesis 2 — God dwelling with humanity in the garden 
• Leviticus 26:11–12 — God dwelling among His people 
• Ezekiel 37:26–28 — God’s dwelling place with His people 
• Isaiah 7:14/Matthew 1:23 — “Immanuel” (God with us) 

 
3) THE LAW 

• Exodus 19–20 — The giving of the Law through Moses 
• Romans 3:20 — The law reveals sin, cannot justify 
• Psalm 19:7 — The law of the LORD is good 
• Galatians 3:24 — The law as a tutor leading to Christ 
• Matthew 5:17 — Jesus fulfills the Law 

 
4) THE REVELATION 

• John 14:9 — “The one who has seen Me has seen the Father” 
• Philippians 2:6–8 — Christ’s humility and incarnation 
• Isaiah 53 — The suffering servant bearing sin 
• Revelation 21:3–5 — God dwelling with people, all things new 
• Colossians 1:15–20 — Christ as the image of the invisible God 
• Hebrews 1:1–2 — God has spoken fully through His Son 
• 2 Corinth. 5:19 — God reconciling the world to Himself in Christ 

John 1:1-13

This Christmas season we come to John—John’s Gospel specifically, the first chapter—to look again at the birth of Christ, his first coming into the world in John chapter 1. And somebody might say at this point, “Hang on a second, Jared, I’ve read John. I’ve read John’s Gospel. It doesn’t have the Christmas story in it, right? There are no donkeys, there’s no manger or magi, or Mary and Joseph turned away by that cruel-hearted innkeeper, whoever that was. John doesn’t talk about when Jesus was born. It doesn’t have the Christmas story.”

Oh, but it does. It’s just that as John tells the story of Christ coming into the world, he tells it from a different perspective. It’s the story of the Word become flesh.

Let me add this. I like the way John writes. There’s a good reason why John’s Gospel is where many of us were told to start reading the Bible as new believers or even before we were believers. Start with the Gospel of John. We often recommend new believers or people who are interested in the Bible to start reading in John’s Gospel. It’s a great place to start. It’s a great introduction to Jesus.

But John’s Gospel can be hard to fully appreciate if you don’t have a background in the larger story of the Bible first.

I was thinking about it  like this. This time of year, or at least it was this way when I was a kid (we don’t have TV like we used to), when I was a kid, if you turned on the TV this time of year, it was almost guaranteed that you would see It’s a Wonderful Life. Why? I don’t know. But it was always on, right? Now, I know they made a colorized version of it later, but it was always black and white.

You can watch It’s a Wonderful Life in black and white and truly appreciate the story. But I’ve since learned Jimmy Stewart lived in color. Did you know that—they lived in color? Okay, it’s maybe not the best analogy, but hopefully you can see the point.

A new believer—you can open John and immediately understand the story: Jesus Christ has come into the world, lived the life we were made to live but couldn’t. He lived out the glorious goodness of God as a man. But he not only lived that way; he gave his life for us. He gave his life to us. He gave us his life, his record of goodness, so that anyone who looks to him can be made right with God. Anyone who puts their faith in him—they are made children of God.

You can see that if you just read John. The truth—it’s in black and white.

But there’s color here too. There is. When we come to John having learned the sweep of Scripture, from the “in the beginning” in Genesis to the promises of the prophets to the story of Israel’s people and their longing for a Redeemer. When you read John with the whole of Scripture in mind, you see more. It’s the same story—Christ entering the world—but you can see deeper significance when you look at the whole story surrounding it.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages

1) THE WORD

• Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning…” 
• Psalm 33:6 – “The heavens made by the word of the LORD…” 
• Proverbs 8:22–23, 30 – Wisdom personified, involved in creation 
• Proverbs 8:35 – “The one who finds me finds life…” 
• Colossians 1:15–17 – All things created through Christ 
• Hebrews 1:1–3 – The Son as God’s ultimate revelation 
• Revelation 19:13 – “His name is the Word of God.” 
• 1 Corinthians 1:24,30 – Christ as the wisdom of God 

 
2) THE LIGHT 

• Isaiah 9:2 – “A great light has shone…” 
• Isaiah 60:1–3 – Nations coming to God’s light 
• John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world.” 

 
3) THE WITNESS 

• Genesis 12:1–3 – Abraham blessed so all nations may be blessed 
• Isaiah 49:6 – “a light for the nations” 
• Luke 1:76–79 – John the Baptist’s role 

 
4) THE REJECTION 

• John 3:19–20 – People rejected light because they love darkness 
• Isaiah 53:3 – “He was despised and rejected by men.” 
• Psalm 118:22 – “The stone the builders rejected…” 
• Romans 1:18–21 – People suppressing the truth 

 
5) THE CHILDREN 

• John 3:3–8 – Born again by the Spirit 
• Galatians 3:26 – “You are all sons of God through faith” 
• Galatians 4:4–7 – Adoption through the Son 
• Ephesians 1:5 – Predestined for adoption 
• 1 John 3:1–2 – “See what kind of love the Father has given us…” 

Mark 4:35-5:20

Jesus hasn't just come on behalf of creator God. He has come as creator God. Here's the truth that underpins this story. It's the unspoken answer to the disciples’ question: Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him. Jesus is Lord, right? Not just that he's a Lord—Jesus is the Lord. The capital L-O-R-D Lord, as in the Lord in Psalm 107, as in the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land, the Lord God that Jonah introduced the pagan sailors to in the midst of that storm.

Jesus is Lord over the storm. Jesus is Lord in the storm. Jesus is Lord.

And that is so simple, isn't it? It's very simple. We nod our heads. Maybe we don't even note that down, because for believers that’s not a barn burner of a sermon point. It's so simple, so obvious, and yet so important.

Important for the first readers of Mark, because remember­ this gospel was very likely written in Rome during a storm of sorts, during intense persecution under Nero. These people were facing terrible danger. They needed reminding in the midst of all of that: This Jesus you are following—he is Lord. He is Lord. Lord over the storm. Lord in the storm. If all creation obeys Jesus's voice—to the believers then and to believers today—if all creation obeys Jesus’s voice, no situation is outside his control.

For the believers then, for the early church facing terrible threats, they needed this. We need this. I need this. Life gets chaotic, right? I can very quickly start to feel like everything depends on me. I can assume the worst. I can forget who is actually in charge in the real world. Mark wants us to settle this question deep in our hearts: Who then is this, who even the wind and the waves obey? Jesus is Lord over the storm.

And that means if creation obeys Jesus’s voice, your situation, whatever it is (and I don't know what you're looking at), it’s not beyond his reach. Take hope. Take hope.

He is Lord over what you can see and what you can't; over the things that make sense and the things that absolutely don't; the things around you and the things that are beyond you. And there’s a lot that's beyond us. Jesus is Lord over the storm. Take hope.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 8:23–34, Luke 8:22–39 
 
1) LORD OVER THE CHAOS OUTSIDE 

• Psalm 24:1–2 – The earth belongs to the Lord 
• Psalm 46:1–3 – God is refuge and strength, even in storms 
• Psalm 65:7 – God restrains the roaring of the seas 
• Psalm 89:9 – God rules over the surging sea 
• Psalm 107:23–31 – God’s power over the sea and storms 
• Job 38:8–11 – God sets the bounds of the seas 
• Isaiah 40:12–31 – God’s greatness over creation and chaos 
• Romans 8:38–39 – Nothing can separate us from the love of God 
• John 16:33 – In the world you will have trouble, but Jesus gives peace 
• Proverbs 3:5–6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart 

 
2) LORD OVER THE CHAOS INSIDE 

• Colossians 2:15 – Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities 
• Ephesians 6:12 – Our struggle is against spiritual forces of evil 
• James 4:7 – Submit to God, resist the devil 
• Luke 4:36 – People amazed at Jesus’ authority over unclean spirits 
• Hebrews 2:14–15 – Jesus shared in our humanity to defeat death and the devil 

Mark 4:21-34

As we've been working through Mark, there's a puzzle. There's a mystery, a really deep question that the disciples were wrestling with then and that we wrestle with today. It is what we could call the hiddenness of Jesus.

In the beginning of chapter four. We read that Jesus's public ministry is all given in parables. And he explains what the parables mean to his followers. But everyone else, they only get the parable. This is confusing to the disciples and so, they ask why - why not be more obvious, Jesus? Why the hiddenness?

The hiddeness. It isn't only Jesus's teaching. Jesus tells unclean spirits to be silent about him, which we kind of understand because, contrary to popular opinion, not all publicity is good publicity. But it's not just the unclean spirits. He told the man he cleansed of leprosy not to tell anybody about it. In chapter five he raises a girl from the dead, in chapter seven he heals the man who was deaf and mute, and in chapter eight he heals the blind man. And each time he tells them the same thing - Don't tell anyone.  And Jesus tells his disciples to be quiet about him too. When the penny finally drops and they realize he is the Messiah he says to them, "Don't tell anybody." Same thing.

And in chapter nine, Jesus slips away from the crowd at times. And not just once or twice but over, and over again.

What's with the hiddenness of Jesus? What's with the secrecy?

We can wonder about this same thing today. Why doesn't God do more and bigger miracles? Why doesn't Jesus speak more plainly? Why doesn't God just make it more obvious about who he is and what's going on?

Well, Jesus is explaining this to his disciples then and if we'll listen, if we'll hear him, he's explaining it to us today.

GOING DEEPER
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 13:31–35, Luke 8:16–18, 13:18-19 
 
THE “HIDDENNESS” OF JESUS IN MARK 

• Demons silenced: 1:25; 1:34; 3:11 
• Miracles silenced: leper (1:44); dead girl (5:43); deaf-mute (7:36); blind man (8:26) 
• Disciples silenced: 8:30; 9:9 
• Withdrawals for secrecy: 7:24; 9:30 
• Parables conceal truth from outsiders, revealed only to insiders: 4:10–12 
• Private teaching: on inner corruption (7:17–23); messianic suffering (8:31; 9:31; 10:33); second coming (13:24–27) 
• Selective revelation of divine Sonship: 4:10–20; 8:27–9:13 

 
HEART CONDITION 

• John 3:19–20 – People loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 
• John 10:24–26 – “Tell us plainly…” / “You do not believe because you are not My sheep.” 
• Luke 16:31 – “If they don’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.” 
• Romans 1:18–23 – Suppressing the truth through unrighteousness (related to heart condition and rejecting evidence). 

 
 1) THE HIDDEN LIGHT WILL BE REVEALED

• Psalm 119:105 – “Your word is a lamp for my feet...” 
• 2 Samuel 22:29 – “LORD, You are my lamp…” 
• John 1:1–9 – “The light shines in the darkness…” 
• John 3:16–21 – God sent His Son not to condemn but to save… 
• John 8:12 – “I am the light of the world.” 
• 1 John 3:1–2 – “When He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 
• Revelation 21:23–24 – The Lamb is the lamp of the city. 

 
2) THE HIDDEN WORK OF GOD WILL NOT FAIL 

• Isaiah 55:8–11 – God’s Word will accomplish what He desires. 
• Joel 3:13 – “Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.” 
• 1 Corinthians 3:5–9 – “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.” 
• Colossians 1:6 – The gospel is “bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world.” 

 
3) THE HIDDEN SEED WILL BECOME GREAT 

• Ezekiel 17:22–24 – God plants a tender sprig that becomes a great tree; birds find shelter in it. 
• Daniel 4:10–12, 20–22 – Tree imagery for great kingdoms and nations nesting in its branches. 
• Genesis 12:1–3 – God’s promise to make Abram into a great nation. 
• 1 Samuel 16:6–13 – David, the overlooked youngest son, chosen by God. 
• Judges 6:11–16 – Gideon, “the least,” called to save Israel. 
• Philippians 2:5–11 – Christ’s humble beginning and exaltation. 

Mark 4:1-20

What is a parable? Why did Jesus teach in parables? To know and understand why, we need to not just listen to Jesus's teaching.  We need to hear.  

Thirteen times in this section, from verse 1 on into verse 34, the key word is listen.  Jesus gives us incredible wisdom if we're willing to listen, to hear, to lean in and pay attention to him, and not just let the words pass over us but to be planted in our hearts. He's brought truth, a seed that when it grows it changes your life completely. It changes the world.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages 
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 13:1–23, Luke 8:4–15 
 
1) WHAT ARE PARABLES? 

• Mark 4:33–34 — “He did not speak to them without a parable…” 
• Psalm 78:1–2 — “I will open my mouth in a parable…” (quoted in Matthew 13:35) 
• John 16:25 — Jesus explaining figurative speech becoming clear later 

 
2) WHY JESUS TAUGHT IN PARABLES 

• Isaiah 6:8–10 — Quoted by Jesus: “They may indeed listen, yet not understand…” 
• Psalm 115:4–8 — “Those who make idols are just like them…” 
• Romans 9 — God’s mercy and hardening in Israel’s story 
• John 10:9 — “I am the door; if anyone enters by me…” 
• John 14:26; 16:13 — The Holy Spirit guiding believers into truth 

 
3) THE LESSON OF JESUS’S PARABLES 

• Acts 5:40–41 — The apostles rejoicing to suffer for Jesus 
• James 1:2–4, 12 — Growth through trials 
• Mark 10:17–27 — The Rich Young Ruler 
• 1 Timothy 6:9–10, 17–19 — Warnings about wealth 
• Matt. 16:15–23 — “Peter confesses Christ, then rebukes Him” 
• Mark 14:27 — “All of you will fall away…” 
• John 4:1–26 — The woman at the well and “living water” 
• Romans 10:17 — “Faith comes from hearing…” 
• John 15:1–8 — Bearing fruit by abiding in Christ 
• Galatians 5:22–23 — The fruit of the Spirit 
• Philippians 3:7–8 — Counting all as loss for Christ 
• 1 Peter 1:23 – 2:3 — Born again through the living Word; “desire the pure milk…” 
• Isaiah 55:10–11 — God’s Word will not return empty 
• Colossians 1:5–6 — The gospel bearing fruit and growing 

Mark 3:7-35

Who is Jesus?  That's the question Mark presses readers on again and again. And the answer to who is Jesus is the most important question you will ever ask. Because apart from Jesus, the real Jesus, apart from him we cannot be saved. Apart from him we won't grow, we won't change. Apart from him we lose hope in this life.

At the end of chapter 3, Mark gives us a vivid picture of the different ways people were responding to that question, who is Jesus? And there were different ways people were answering that question. And the truth is that those same response still show up today. There's some deep, even troubling verses in this passage, because how you answer that question carries eternal weight.

GOING DEEPER  
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages
Parallel Accounts: Matt. 12:15–50, Luke 6:12-16; 8:19-21; 11:14-23  
 
1) THE CROWD

• Mark 7:24–30 – Gentiles coming to Jesus 
• John 6:26 – Following Jesus for what He provides 

 
2) HIS FAMILY

• John 7:5 – Even His brothers did not believe  

 
3) THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS

• Isaiah 49:24–25 – The Strong Man’s house; God rescues the captives  
• Isaiah 5:20 – Calling good evil and evil good 
• 1 Timothy 1:13–15 – Paul’s transformation 

 
4) HIS FOLLOWERS

• Luke 9:54 – “Lord, do you want us to call down fire on them?” (Sons of Thunder)  
• Matthew 10:24–25 – If they called the head Beelzebul 

Mark 2:23 - 3:6

When I go to a restaurant with my wife and the menu is put in front of us, I can look at it through my own eyes, or I can look at it through my wife's eyes. And I almost always know what she's going to order.

If she had to leave the table for a moment and the waiter comes to take our order, I know I could order something she would like. I'm almost sure I can nail exactly what she would want. It’s not because we have some telepathic connection, or because I keep a little spreadsheet or notebook tracking a list of dos and don'ts for ordering off the menu. It's because I know my wife. We've been married for almost 25 years, eaten a lot of meals together, and I paid attention. I'm not good at everything, but on this front, I paid attention. You get to know somebody to that point.

This isn't a perfect analogy by any stretch, but if you're a follower of Christ, the value of digging into the Gospels, like digging into Mark, is this: learning who Jesus is, learning his heart. What we're doing is watching Jesus order off the menu. Every text, every encounter as we work our way through Mark is another look at who Jesus is. Pay attention. See what he's after. What is he like? What does he want? Learn his heart.

GOING DEEPER  
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 12:1–14, Luke 6:1–11
 
1) THE LAW OF THE SABBATH

• Exodus 20:8–10 Keep the Sabbath holy. 
• Deuteronomy 23:25 Picking grain while passing through a neighbor’s field. 
• Colossians 2:20–23 Warning against man-made rules; “appearance of wisdom.” 
• Matthew 15:1–9 Traditions nullifying God’s Word. 
• Galatians 3:24-25, 5:1 Law leads us to Christ, now free in Him 
• 1 Timothy 4:1-5 Warning about demanding obedience to harsh rules 

 
2) THE HEART OF THE SABBATH

• 1 Samuel 21:1–6 David ate the bread of the Presence; human need comes first. 
• Exodus 5 Pharaoh’s oppressive labor vs. God’s blessing of rest. 
• Exodus 16:22-24 God provides for His people on the Sabbath. 
• Genesis 2:2–3 God rested on the seventh day and blessed it. 
• Hebrews 4:9–10 A Sabbath rest remains for God’s people. 

 
3) THE LORD OF THE SABBATH

• Romans 13:8–10 Love fulfills the Law. 
• Galatians 5:14 Law fulfilled in loving your neighbor. 
• Matthew 11:28–30 Jesus offers rest for the weary and burdened. 
• Colossians 2:16–17 The Sabbath is a shadow; Christ is the substance. 
• Romans 14:5 Freedom to observe certain days; respect personal convictions. 
• Hebrews 4:3–4 God’s rest is realized in Christ. 

Mark 2:13-22

If you read God's word, and if you've lived very long, you know this is true - knowing what is right doesn't give you the ability to do what is right. Knowing all the rules doesn't necessarily give you the ability to keep all the rules. Never has.

Lesson one of the Bible—Adam and Eve. How many rules did they have? One. Just one. And they didn’t obey it.

The people of Israel had God’s perfect law throughout their history, and on the whole they didn’t obey. Because you can’t be made holy from the outside in— by trying to live according to the perfect list of dos and don’ts. Even when you make up your own list of dos and don’ts we don’t keep that. It’ll never work.

Real holiness, true obedience, it’s impossible if your heart isn’t in it. And so, God’s people were going to need new hearts. Real obedience, real holiness had to come from the inside out. People need a new heart, a new way of thinking, a new set of desires.

You first have to be made right with God, and then you can set about living that out. something new—not an external law to obey externally. And that’s exactly what God said He would do. The prophets—people like Moses and Jeremiah and Ezekiel—all wrote about a day when God would give His people a new heart under a new covenant. And through it, God would deal with their sins and fill them with incredible joy.

In Mark 2 we see a growing conflict. In this growing conflict with the Pharisees, Jesus explains it by beginning to show us that He is bringing exactly what God promised—something new.

And Mark reveals this by giving us two pictures of who Jesus is: Jesus, the doctor to sinners, and the bridegroom of joy.

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages

1) THE DOCTOR TO SINNERS
Parallel Accounts: Matthew 9:9–13, Luke 5:27–32

• Leviticus 19:2 – “Be holy, because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” 
• Luke 19:10 – “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” 
• 1 Timothy 1:15 – “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 
• Ezekiel 34:15–16 – “I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bind up the injured…” 
• Luke 18:9–14 – The Pharisee and the Tax Collector. 
• Psalm 51:17 – “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” 
• James 4:6 – “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 
• Ephesians 2:8–9 – “By grace you have been saved through faith…” 
• Romans 5:8 – “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 

 
2) THE BRIDEGROOM OF JOY
Parallel Account: Luke 5:33–39

• John 3:29 – “The friend of the bridegroom rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice.” 
• Revelation 19:7–9 – “The marriage of the Lamb has come.” 
• Jeremiah 31:31–34 – “I will make a new covenant… I will forgive their iniquity.” 
• Ezekiel 36:26–27 – “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit.” 
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 – “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” 
• Romans 7:6 – “We serve in the new way of the Spirit, not the old way of the written code.” 
• Hebrews 8:6–13 – “Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant.” 
• Galatians 2:21 – “If righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” 
• Romans 11:6 – “If it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.” 

Mark 2:1-12

What do you think is your greatest need right now?

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages

1)  TO PRESS THROUGH THE CROWD

• Mark 1:15 – “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe in the good news!” 
• Matthew 11:20–24 – Jesus denounces Capernaum for rejecting Him despite miracles. 

 
2) TO BE FORGIVEN OF SIN 

• Genesis 39:1-9 – “How could I… sin against God?” 
• Psalm 51:2–4 – “Against you, you only, have I sinned…” 
• Romans 3:23 – All have sinned and fall short 
• Romans 5:12 – Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin. 
• Romans 6:23 – The wages of sin is death. 
• Luke 5:17–26, Matthew 9:1-8 – Parallel accounts of the paralytic healed/forgiven. 

 
3) TO TRUST JESUS FOR WHO HE IS 

• John 5:19–27 – The Son has authority to give life and execute judgment. 
• Matthew 28:18 – “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” 

 
CLOSING (The Cross and Atonement) 

• Exodus 34:6–7 – God merciful and forgiving, but “will by no means clear the guilty.” 
• Hebrews 9:22 – Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 
• Hebrews 10:4, 10-14 – It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.  Christ’s sacrifice once for all. 
• Romans 3:21–26 – God just and justifier through Christ’s sacrifice. 
• Colossians 2:13–14 – Forgiveness through the cross, debt canceled. 

Mark 1:35-45

We need to know Jesus as he is and not just a dictionary definition of who he is. We need to know Jesus as he is because without the real Jesus, you have no way to be made right with God.  Without the real Jesus, there's no way to be saved. You need to know him as he is, who he is - the way, the truth, the life. And without knowing the real Jesus, you won't grow.

GOING DEEPER 

Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages

1. MAN OF PRAYER 

• Luke 5:16 – Jesus often withdrew to deserted places to pray. 
• Matthew 6:9-13 – The Lord’s Prayer: a model of dependence on God as Father. 
• John 5:19 – Jesus did nothing on His own but only what He saw the Father doing. 
• John 6:38 – Jesus came not to do His own will, but the will of the One who sent Him. 
• John 8:28 – Jesus spoke only what the Father taught Him. 

 

2. MAN OF PURPOSE 

 
Re: Leprosy 

• Leviticus 13:45-46 – Lepers were isolated, a picture of spiritual defilement. 
• Numbers 12 – Miriam was cleansed of leprosy through prayer. 
• 2 Kings 5:1 – Naaman the Syrian was healed of leprosy by God’s prophet Elisha. 

 

• 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 – Trusting God when prayers seem unanswered. 
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 – He became sin for us so we could become righteous in Him. 
• 1 Peter 2:24 – He bore our sins in His body on the cross. 

 
Questions for Reflection 
 

• Where are you most tempted to act independently instead of relying on God? 

 

• How does Jesus’ commitment to prayer challenge your daily habits? 

 

• In what ways can you make prayer non-negotiable in your schedule? 

 

• How can you help others see that their deepest need is for God, not just solutions to life’s physical problems? 

 

• How can I make sure my testimony points to Jesus, not just His gifts? 

 

• How can someone learn to trust God and His purposes even when their prayers aren’t answered the way they hoped? 

Mark 1:14-20

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages

1. The Kingdom

• Genesis 1 – Humanity made to rule under God. 
• Daniel 7:13–14 – The Son of Man given dominion. 
• Revelation 22 – God dwelling with His people, restored creation. 
• Isaiah 9:6–7 – The government on His shoulders, His kingdom without end. 

 
2. The Good News 

• Romans 1:16 – The gospel is the power of God for salvation. 
• 1 Corinthians 15:1–4 – The gospel: Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. 

 
3. The Call 

• John 15:16 – “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” 
• John 15:4 – Abide in Christ to bear fruit. 
• Philippians 1:6 – God will finish the work He began in you. 
• Ephesians 2:10 – We are God’s workmanship, created for good works. 
• Jeremiah 16:16–18 – Fishing imagery of judgment, now reimagined as salvation.  (also Ezek. 29:4, Amos 4:2, Hab. 1:14-17) 

Mark 1:21-34

GOING DEEPER
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages

1. JESUS IS ONE WITH UNMATCHED AUTHORITY
Characteristics of the Teaching of the Religious Leaders

• Based on Human Tradition 
  • Mark 7:5–9, Matthew 15:2–9 
• Focus on the Letter, Not the Spirit 
  • Matthew 23:23–24, Luke 11:46, 52 
• Hypocrisy and Inconsistency 
  • Matthew 23:2–3, Mark 12:38–40, Matthew 23:5–7 

 
2. WHY DO WE NEED HIM TO BE OUR AUTHORITY 

• John 14:6 – “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life…” 
• Romans (Law as thermometer analogy) – cf. Romans 3:20, Romans 7:7–13 
• Hebrews 2:14–15 – Jesus destroys the one holding the power of death 
• Colossians 2:15 – On the cross, Jesus disarmed the rulers and authorities, triumphing over them. 
• Revelation 12:10–11 – Satan is cast down, conquered by the blood of the Lamb. 

 
3. WHY WOULD YOU WANT JESUS TO BE YOUR FINAL AUTHORITY 

• John 14:6 – Exclusive way to the Father 
• Philippians 2:6–8 – His humility, authority expressed through sacrifice 
• John 10:11 – The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep 

Mark 1:1-13

GOING DEEPER 
Parallel, Related and Referenced Passages

1. The Promised One

• 2 Kings 1:8 – John like Elijah, camel-hair garment and diet 
• Isaiah 40:3 – Voice crying in the wilderness 
• Isaiah 61:1–3 – Spirit empowers servant to bring good news, bind brokenhearted 
• Malachi 3 – Lord coming as refiner and purifier 
• Romans 10:13–14 – Call on the Lord for salvation 
• Luke 7:28 – John the Baptist, greatest born of women 

 
2. The Beloved Son 

• Genesis 1:2 – Spirit over the waters at creation 
• John 1:1–3, 14 – The Word with God, became flesh 
• Colossians 1:15–17 – Jesus image of God, creator of all 
• Hebrews 1:1–3 – God spoke by Son, Creator 
• 2 Peter 1:3–9 – Divine power provides life and godliness; grow in grace and knowledge 

 
3. The New Adam 

• 1 Peter 1:6–9 – Rejoicing in trials, salvation of souls 
• Hebrews 4:15 – Jesus tempted in every way, yet without sin