SERMON DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
READ Mark 1:9-20
- Mark’s style is energetic and action-oriented: everything that happens in his gospel, happens immediately! Reading verses 9-20 in Mark’s account of Jesus’s very early ministry do you see an emerging theme here about who Jesus is? If it’s easier, list 3-5 adjectives that describe Him already.
- How do you think you would have responded if you had been part of the crowd watching what happened at Jesus’ baptism? If you were telling the story to Mark later on, what do you think would have made these particular things stand out?
- Someone has suggested that the whole Christian message could be summed up by what God says in verse 11. What does it say about Jesus? By extension, what does God say to you now as you are in Jesus because of Jesus?
- What happens next in verses 12-13 looks interesting to us: Jesus was tempted and then ministered to by angels. However, it is enormously significant given the history of the failures of Israel to keep God’s law. How does Jesus here live the life that we couldn’t live?
- The message is that Jesus has been called by God, tested by God, and is now proven by God, is qualified to proclaim the gospel of God in verses 14-15. “This is the time you’ve been waiting for,” Jesus essentially tells them, “repent and believe.” What does that practically mean?
- In verses 16-20 Mark tells us about the calling of the first disciples. The extraordinary command by Jesus to follow Him (considering that they had never laid eyes on Him before, we assume) is followed by the extraordinary response that the leave everything immediately to do just that. In other words, the response to Jesus is immediate and unconditional. True, we are not first century fishermen, but the call to us is from the same person and the call is to do the same thing. How has God’s call impacted your own life?
- Thank God that He didn’t send simply a message or even messengers but came Himself to show us the gospel and to put it into effect for us! Pray for yourself and your group that you would heed His present call to follow Him.