Search The Scriptures —Study 29 — Mark 14:1-25

Study 29 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 14:1-25

1.      Verses 1-9. What some said about the value of the ointment and the need of the poor was perfectly true. Why then did Jesus commend Mary for her extravagance? What does this incident teach us about right priorities in Christian service?

2.     Verses 10-21. What do these verses suggest was the motive which lay behind Judas’ act of betrayal? Is our own attitude one of condemnation, or are we prepared to share the solemn heart searching of verse 19?

3.     Verses 22-25. Consider use here of the words ‘bread’, ‘blood’, ‘my’, ‘gave’, ‘take’, ‘drank’, ‘covenant’. What light do they throw on the nature and method of salvation? Cf. 1 Pet. 1:18, 19.

Notes

1.      Verses 8-9. Note Jesus’ remarkable prediction of the future world-wide preaching of the ‘gospel’; Cf. 13:10. There was in the woman’s action a recognition both of the unique Person and of the impending work of Jesus; and these are both essential gospel truths.   

2.     Verse 22. The expression ‘This is my body’ corresponds to the Passover formula, ‘This is the bread of affliction which our fathers ate in the land of affliction’. It indicates a symbolical commemoration, not an actual ‘transubstantiation’.        

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Search The Scriptures —Study 28 — Mark 13:24-37

Study 28 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 13:24-37

1.      Among the many puzzling details of this passage concerning the coming of the Son of man, what are the facts about which we can be certain? What particular error do we need to avoid?

2.     If we are expecting Christ to return, what difference should this make to the way we live our lives and why?  Cf. 2 Pet. 3:10a, 11b, 14.

Notes

1.      Verses 24, 25.  The phraseology may, as in the Old Testament, symbolize national and international upheavals. Cf. Is. 13: 10; 34: 4; Ezk. 32:7, etc.

2.   Verses 33-37. ‘Watch: i.e., be wakeful and alert.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 27 — Mark 13:1-23

Study 27 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 13:1-23

1.      Verses 1-13.  Notice how Christ translates the abstract enquiry of His disciples into the personal and moral realm. How can we prepare ourselves to meet similar dangers?

2.     Verses 14-23. What is here foretold? How are Christ’s followers to act when it happens? To whom are they to look for deliverance? Of what are they to beware? What may we learn from such a passage concerning God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility?

Notes

1.      Verse 14. ‘The desolating sacrilege’: this is the sign of the impending destruction of the Temple for which the disciples had asked (verse 1-4).   It refers to the desecration of the holy place by Roman invaders. Cf. Dn. 11:31.

2.   Verses 15. ‘Him who is on the housetop’: the flat roofs of houses in Palestine were used for places of rest and social intercourse.  Cf. Acts 10:9.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 26 — Mark 12:28-44

Study 26 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 12:28-44

1.      Verses 28-34.  Jesus pronounced this scribe to be ‘not far from the kingdom of God’. What would he have needed to do to enter in?

2.     Verses 41-44. Jesus did not deny that the rich gave much, but merely stated that the widow had given more.  What does this teach us about the way God measures our giving?   How do we match up to this standard? Cf. 2 Cor. 8:12; 9:7.

3.   The Scribes undoubtedly had an intellectual mastery of Scripture and professed to accept its authority without question.  Why then did Christ condemn them and in what way is this a warning to us? Cf. Lk. 12:47, 48.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 25 — Mark 12:1-27

Study 25 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 12:1-27

1.      Verses 1-12.  How does this parable clarify Christ’s unique position in relation both to God and to the prophets? What does it teach us (a) about the character of the motives which lay behind His final rejection, and (b) about His own expectation of vindication and victory?

2.     Verses 13-17.  How does this incident reveal both the wisdom of Christ and the insincerity of His questioners? What important truth was Jesus trying to convey to them, and of what relevance is this to us?  Cf. Rom. 13:1, 2, 6, 7.

3.     Verses 18-27.  The Sadducees were obviously attempting to make spiritual truth look ridiculous by interpreting it with the grossest of literalness. How does Christ show them their mistake? On what grounds does He base the certainty of the resurrection?

Note.  Verses 1-12. Since the Lord was obviously using Isaiah 5:1-7 as an Old Testament back-cloth for this parable, His hearers would know that He was referring to Israel, and that this was yet another parable of judgment.

       

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Search The Scriptures —Study 24 — Mark 11:20-33

Study 24 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 11:20-33

1.      Verses 20-25.  What does Jesus say here are the essential conditions of effective prayer? What more does prayer involve apart from just asking for pleasant things we desire? Cf. Mk. 14:35, 36

2.     Why did Jesus refuse to answer the question put to Him by the Jewish leaders? What was the point of His question to them?  Was He trying to be evasive? What was the root of the trouble, and how is this a warning to us? Cf. Heb. 3:12

Note. Verse 25. ‘Unless we forgive our fellow men freely, it shows that we have no consciousness of the grace that we ourselves have received (Mt. 18:32, 33) and thus that we are expecting to the heard on our own merits.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 23 — Mark 11:1-19

Study 23 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 11:1-19

1.      What truths concerning our Lord’s Person are specially evident in the incidents here described?  Jesus had previously refrained from publicly declaring His Messiahship. See 3:11, 12; 8:30; 9:9.  Why then did He declare it now?

2.     Verses 1-6. When the two disciples were sent out by the Lord on this special errand, in what ways were they put to the test, and how would they benefit from the experience?  Do we display the same faith and boldness in our service for Christ?

3.     In what way does the fig three described here typify Israel as a nation? What was Jesus seeking to teach His disciples from this acted parable? Before passing judgment, ought we not first to search our own hearts? Cf. Rom. 11:20, 21.

Note. Verse 13. ‘It was not the season for figs’: it is fair to presume that the Lord was looking for the small early ripe figs that ripen with the leaves before the main crop.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 22 — Mark 10:32-52

Study 22 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 10:32-52

1.      Verses 32-34, 45. What new aspects of His sufferings does Jesus introduce here? Cf. 9:31. Why does He continue to stress this subject? Why were His disciples amazed and afraid, and what ought we to be?

2.     What motives do you think were behind the request of James and John, and what was the meaning of Christ’s reply to then? Do our own aims in life also reveal the same spiritual shallowness? What is the governing principle of true Christian greatness?

3.     What were the progressive steps which led Bartimaeus to the recovery of his sight?  What can we learn from this incident that will both guide and encourage us when trying to help those who are spiritually blind to find their way to Christ.

Note.  Verse 28. The terms ‘baptism’ and ‘cup’ are sometimes used symbolically in Scripture to denote suffering which has to be endured.  In this passage they are forceful reminders of the cost of following Christ.  Cf. Lk. 12:50; Mk. 14:36.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 21 — Mark 10: 17-31

Study 21 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 10:17-31

1.      What basic wrong assumption was made by this man about salvation and eternal life? Cf. Eph. 2:9.   Why did Jesus stress to him the demands of the law? What was the real hindrance that held him back?

2.     Why did Jesus say it would be hard for those with riches to enter the kingdom? Cf. Lk. 14:33. Are there any things in my life that are holding up spiritual progress?    

3.     What promises does Jesus make to those who are willing to renounce earthly wealth to follow Him without reservation? What is the meaning of the warning in verse 31? Cf. 1 Cor. 13:3.

Note. Verse 25.  ‘There does not seem to be good early evidence for the view that the eye of a needle is a postern-gate in the city wall’. The phrase is better understood as a vivid description of sheer impossibility.

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Search The Scriptures —Study 20 — Mark 10:1-16

Study 20 From the Book of Mark is: Mark 10:1-16

1.      Verses 1-12.  What is Christ’s teaching about divorce, and on what grounds does He base it?

2.     Verses 13-16. No doubt the disciples were trying to the thoughtful here by guarding their Lord from unnecessary intrusion; why then was Christ so indignant? In what ways am I also in danger of obscuring Christ from those who are seeking Him?

3.     Verse 15. What does it mean to ‘receive the kingdom of God like a child’, and why is this so essential? Cf. Mt. 18:2-4.

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