Mark 10: Bible Study

Our studies at the moment are exploring the Gospel of Mark – most probably dictated to Mark by the apostle Peter. Each week a chapter will be chosen as we systematically work our way through the gospel. The minister will take a section of that chapter to preach on but over 5 of the 7 days in that week you will have the opportunity to read that chapter for yourselves as we explore together the life of Jesus. If you have any questions as you study please do not hesitate to either email the minister or contact him by phone – he will be delighted to help.

Mark 10

Day 1 Read Mark chapter 10

This passage is packed with incident and thought-provoking teaching and words from Jesus - as we move towards the climax of the Gospel things are getting meatier. Jesus has a deep encounter with a seemingly sincere man about eternal life, predicts again his death, teaches about how essential it is to serve others and of course the wonderful healing of Bartimaeus. In a sense it is emphasising everything that is of supreme importance in life - how to live life, reaching out in compassion to people and being prepared for death as he is.

Day 2 Read Mark 10:1-16

Is there a connection? Here Jesus is directing people to protect the most vulnerable in life - women then had no right to divorce men but men could divorce women for any reason - Jesus supports the rights of women. He then does the same for children, who were poorly regarded in Jewish society.

• Who are the people that need protection in our society and what can we do to help them?

• How seriously ought we to take marriage according to Jesus and why might that too be important for the protection and development of children?

Day 3 Read Mark 10:17-31

Notice that we are not told that this man is rich until the end of the story. Here is an encounter between two people who have a great deal of respect for one another - this man is not trying to trap Jesus. He is obviously a very moral and religious man but he knows he is missing something - what is it? - see the latter half of verse 17. What is it that Jesus asks him to do in order to get eternal life- see v 21? He was being asked to give up his idol (ie his "god" - what gave most meaning in his life), do good with it, and follow Jesus. The disciples were astonished with this outcome because in their society it was believed that the rich were blessed by God. How does this passage challenge us?

Day 4 Read Mark 10:32-44

The imminence of Jesus' death is again mentioned to the disciples - he is preparing them for what is to come. Jesus is always realistic - for Him and for us there will always be times in life when things will be really hard and we are to strengthen our faith for these times. While Jesus focuses on the inevitable, the disciples display their shallowness by focussing on who is going to be the greatest among them - Jesus again reminds them that to serve others is what the life of faith is all about - we look for what we can get but Jesus asks us to consider what we might give.

Day 5 Read Mark 10:45-52

Here is a wonderful wee cameo story that inspired one of the Church's best known and loved hymns. The people around Jesus genuinely believed that Bartimaeus was a nuisance and he is chastised for bothering Jesus, but this blind man persists. Notice that Jesus hears his cry and immediately gives his time to respond - something we should remember when we pray- the moment we call out to Jesus we have his immediate and undivided attention! We then see this wonderful short conversation between Jesus and Bartimaeus - "What do you want?"-"I want to see" - You can now see. Wonderful.