by Geoff Waugh
Published by the Joint Board of Christian Education, Melbourne, 1991.
Contents
Introduction
Part I The life and ministry of Jesus
Preparation: The coming of Jesus the Messiah
1. The coming of the Lord - Mark 13:3237
2. John the Baptist- Mark 1:18
3. The Messiah - John 1:68, 1928
4. Mary's Son - Luke 1:2638
5. Infancy and childhood of Jesus - Luke 2:2240
6. Reflections on the birth of Jesus - John 1:118
Commencement: The figure of Jesus the Messiah
7. The baptism of Jesus - Mark 1:411
8. The call of Andrew and his friend - John 1:3542
The mystery of the Son of God
9. The call of the first disciples - Mark 1:1420
10. A Sabbath day in Capernaum (1) - Mark 1:2128
11. A Sabbath day in Capernaum (2) - Mark 1:2939
12. The cure of a leper - Mark 1:4045
13. The cure of a paralytic - Mark 2:112
14. The question of fasting - Mark 2:1822
15. Violation of the Sabbath - Mark 2:233:6
16. Serious criticism of Jesus - Mark 3:2035
17. The parables of the kingdom - Mark 4:2634
18. The calming of the storm - Mark 4:3541
19. Jairus' daughter; a woman's faith - Mark 5:2143
20. Jesus rejected at Nazareth - Mark 6:16
21. The mission of the twelve - Mark 6:713
22. Compassion for the crowds - Mark 6:3034
Interlude:
23. The feeding of the five thousand - John 6:115
24. The bread of life (1) - John 6:2435
25. The bread of life (2) - John 6:35,4151
26. The bread of life (3) - John 6:5158
27. Incredulity and faith - John 6:5569
28. Jewish customs - Mark 7:123
29. The cure of a deaf mute - Mark 7:3137
The way of the Son of Man
30. Peter's confession - Mark 8:2738
31. Passion and resurrection prophesied - Mark 9:3037
32. Instructions for the disciples - Mark 9:3850
33. What God has joined together - Mark 10:216
34. The problem of wealth - Mark 10:173
35. The sons of Zebedee - Mark 10:3545
36. The cure of Bartimaeus - Mark 10:4652
37. The first commandment - Mark 12:2834
38. The scribes; the widow's mite - Mark 12:3844
39. The last things - Mark 13:2432
Conclusion: The fulfilment of the mystery
40. Christ the King - John 18:3337
Part II The death and resurrection of Jesus
Preparation for the Passion of Jesus
1. The transfiguration - Mark 9:29
2. The temptations - Mark 1:915
3. The meaning of the cross - Mark 8:3138
4. Teaching about the cross (1) - John 2:1322
5. Teaching about the cross (2) - John 3:1421
6. Teaching about the cross (3) - John 12:2033
7. Palm Sunday and the crucifixion - Mark 11:111; Mark 15:139
Resurrection Appareances of Jesus
8. The empty tomb - Mark 16:118
9. Easter evening - John 20:1931
10. Emmaus postscript - Luke 24:3548
Observations about Jesus
11. Jesus the Good Shepherd - John 10:1118
12. Jesus the true vine - John 15:18
13. Jesus present among his people - John 15:917
14. Jesus prays for his people - John 17:1119
The coming of the Holy Spirit
15. The day of Pentecost - John 15:2627; 16:415
Conclusion: The Godhead
16. The Trinity - John 3:117
Appendix 1: Studies arranged according to lectionary readings
Appendix 2: Studies arranged according to gospel readings
Introduction
Mark gives a vigorous, concise account of Jesus. The narrative moves swiftly. A brief prologue leads immediately into Jesus' ministry as he appears proclaiming and demonstrating the kingdom of God. Kingdom life fills the pages.
Central to that drama is the cross. Mark has been described as a passion narrative with an introduction. Jesus is introduced as the Son of God in the first verse. Chapters 18 reveal the mystery of the Son of God seen in Jesus' three year ministry based in Galilee.
Then the drama shifts in chapter 8 with Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah. Jesus immediately predicts his death and prepares his disciples for it (8:31; 9:3031; 10:3234). The Messiah must sacrifice his life. The way of the Son of Man is the way of the cross. Chapters 1116 describe that final week in Jerusalem.
This book follows the story of Jesus using lectionary readings from the year of Mark (Year B). The readings include passages from other gospels as well, especially John.
Relational Bible studies
These relational Bible studies help you explore and live kingdom life: to love God with your whole being and to love others. At best, our love for God and for one another is but a small reflection of God's love for us. These studies can help that love to grow. Choose the sections most suitable to you or your group.
You can use this book for both personal and group study:
Personal study, which may be in preparation for a group session or just for your own interest, will involve reading the Bible passages and thinking about the questions for yourself. You may want to keep a note book or journal of your insights or discoveries. If these readings are used in your church on Sundays you may want to reflect on the study after the Sunday and also read the next study in preparation for the following Sunday. You may have a friend, or friends, with whom you would like to discuss some of the issues, and these studies give you plenty of ideas for doing that as well.
Group study involves you with others. These studies invite you to relate together at the beginning, to respond to the Bible material in personal ways and to reflect on its meaning in your own lives and circumstances.
The studies help you share your ideas and discoveries as you study the Bible together. These relational studies invite you to interact at both a content and a personal level. You can share your pilgrimage with others. You journey together. You support and encourge one another.
The New International Version as well as the Revised Standard Version were used in writing these studies, so it will be helpful for group leaders to refer to those in preparing for each study. The Serendipity Bible (NIV) is another a very useful resource. Any versions of the Bible can be used with the studies, of course, and comparison of different translations and study notes often adds helpful insights.
Your group will be able to move more freely through each study if you all read the passages at home first. That will make you familiar with the Bible material so that you can then interact on it together in the group. The gospel reading is the focus. The other readings are referred to during the study and can be included that way.
A rough time guide for each study would be to allow about 15 minutes for the Relate section, about 30 minutes for the Respond section and another 15 minutes for the Reflect section. Sometimes you will go
longer than that, especially at the end. Allow adequate time to conclude in prayer together or in other appropriate ways.
If you have a group of more than five or six people, you will usually gain more from these studies by working in small subgroups of about three to five. This can be done in many ways. One good way is to begin in the whole group for the Relate section, read the scripture together in the whole group, and then move into small subgroups for the rest of the study.
Sometimes you may want to start in small subgroups of two or three, then study the Response section together in the whole group, and finish by folowing the Reflect section in smaller groups.
Using the lectionary
These group studies may be used following the lectionary dates or may be used independently, in full or in part, at any time. You could try one section to see if it suits your group or meets your needs, such as studies for Lent (see Appendix 1). Some groups may choose to select passages from Mark only and omit studies from other gospels used in the lectionary readings (see Appendix 2).
Appendix 1 gives you an outline of the lectionary year. For groups following the set dates of Sunday readings the studies from Part II on the death and resurrection of Jesus will fit into Part I at the Lent to Pentecost seasons.
Study 1, The Coming of the Lord, forms a bridge between the previous lectionary year (which concludes with Christ the King) and the new lectionary year. So the first study both looks toward the fulfilment of the coming of the Lord as King and introduces the advent of Jesus.
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(c) Geoff Waugh, 1990, The Joint Board of Christian Education.
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