Chapter 4

Christians call Jesus by the Divine Name, “Lord.” They believe him to be “God.” He shares the very nature of God; yet he is also human. How could this be? We’re now going to follow this story through the experience of the first disciples, who were all Jews. Considering their Jewish background, they were the least predisposed to come to the conclusion that Jesus, their teacher and friend, was God. The four Gospels tell the story of how—and why—they came to this radical, unthinkable and unimaginable conclusion. The Bible study will focus on this theme. How could a human being—especially this human being, Jesus of Nazareth—turn out to be God? The disciples certainly didn’t expect it. Yet this is the claim they eventually made! What do you learn about Jesus in this series of biblical texts from the Gospel of Mark?

Mark 1:1-20; 1:21-2:12; 2:13-3:6; 4:1-32; 6:7-44; 8:27-33; 10:32-45; 14:53-15:39; 16:1-8

What if Jesus had come into your world instead of that first-century Roman and Jewish world? Whom would he call as disciples? Whom would he reach out to and care for? How would he live? What would he say to you? How would he call you to live? At this point it is easy to become excessively radical, as if the only option is to live like St. Francis of Assisi. But Jesus had well-to-do friends, too, like Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Is it possible to be a serious follower of Jesus as a middle-class person? What might that mean for you? Identify three practical ideas and try to live them out over the next two weeks.

What did you learn about Jesus as you read the chapter and sections from the Gospel of Mark? How did Jesus surprise everyone? If Jesus is the human face of God, what does that say about God? What would it mean for you to believe in Jesus and follow Jesus?

Mark 10:45