The Gospel of Mark: A Mosaic of Faith (week 2) At Home Study Questions

At Home Study Questions:

The Gospel of Mark: A Mosaic of Faith

(Week 2) Mark 1:9-20

 

Church Family -

 

Please use this study guide to further your knowledge of the Gospel of Mark.  Answers will be posted later in the week!  God bless you as you seek to grow in your walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.   

 

 

Week 2 Study Questions (Mark 1:9-20):

1) Why was John the Baptizer hesitant to baptize Jesus? (vs. 9-11) (See also Matthew 3:13-17)

John was hesitant to baptize Jesus for two reasons.  First, he had already made the confession before God and men that Christ was greater than he.  He was not worthy to untie even his sandals, much less baptize him with water (See John 1, Matthew 3, Mark 1). 

Second, John knew that he needed to be baptized of Jesus, not the other way around.  It was John who sought to submit to Christ and receive His righteousness by faith.  Nevertheless, John consented and baptized Jesus so that righteousness could be fulfilled (See Matthew 3:13-15)

2) From the testimonies of both John and Jesus, we see their faithfulness even in the faces of TEMPTATION and PERSECUTION.  (vs. 12-14a)

Temptation - Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by the devil (See Matthew 4, Mark 1).

Persecution - John the Baptizer arrested and killed by King Herod (See Mark 1:14a, Mark 6:14-29). 

3) What was the Good News message that Jesus proclaimed? (vs. 14b-15)

"The time has come and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent and believe in the gospel."

(Follow up question - How would you define the gospel?)  For example, Paul's definition is recorded in 1 Cor. 15:1-4; Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones' definition is this, "God did something.  What He did, He did through His Son.  What He does through His Son, He offers to you."  How do you define the Good News of Jesus?

4) In what way(s) does Jesus connect with Simon and Andrew in order to present His message to them? (vs. 16-18)

Jesus seeks to connect with them relevantly and genuinely.  In short, the carpenter becomes a fisherman for a day.  His charge to them is to drop their fishing nets and become fishers of men. 

Paul - 1 Cor. 9:16-23

Encounter: Has your heart been regenerated by the Lord?  In other words, has there been a time when God has awakened your heart to the things of God, including salvation, repentance, submission to His authority and will, and mindset for the things above and not the world?

Equip: To what has God called you?  If you are a follower of Jesus, then naturally you will also be a minister of the Gospel.  How are you doing in the areas of obedience and faithfulness?  in what areas do you need to repent and turn to the Lord?

Engage: Are you speaking the Gospel with your words?  Do you know how to present the Gospel to someone?  How did Martin Lloyd-Jones explain the gospel?

Charles Spurgeon - “It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed. We are to spend and to be spent, not to lay ourselves up in lavender and nurse our flesh.”