Peter was so devoted, so outspoken, from the beginning. At once he left his fishing net to follow Jesus. And remember when he boldly suggested making some tents for Elijah and Moses at the Transfiguration? He declared that Jesus would never wash his feet, and when corrected he said, “Ok fine, not just my feet, but my whole body!” Whatever he did he did it wholeheartedly, and though he did some embarrassing things, he was never deterred from his passion. According to John’s gospel, Peter was the one who cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant with his sword when they came to arrest Jesus. By all accounts Peter was fiercely loyal.

So what happens today seems nearly impossible. This passage puts on display the chilling reality that all the passion and zeal in the world doesn’t necessarily translate into integrity when push comes to shove. As you listen to this passage, consider the ways that you can relate to Peter.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What word or phrase stood out to you in the passage?

2. Have you ever seen someone who seemed so devoted (either to a significant other, a cause, a church or something else) just walk away ? What effect did that action have on you or others around them?

3. After 3 denials, Peter breaks down and weeps. The words mean that he threw himself down and cried out. Have you ever felt like you failed Jesus? Consider this: Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him…. Yet he still went to the cross on his behalf. Jesus knows your failures… and he still chose to die for you.

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Mark 14:53-65 (NIV)

Remember back in Chapter 12, that teacher of the law to whom Jesus said, “You are not far from the kingdom”? That guy knew that the point of it all wasn’t earthly power or status but being deeply connected with God—loving God with your whole self and loving your neighbor as yourself. He was a teacher of the law... and yet the teachers of the law in this passage seem to be reading a different Torah. Violence, bribery, and ”bearing false witness against your neighbor” are all weapons of choice in their desperate attempt to secure power through an illegal trial held at night.

Jesus, for the first time in Mark’s gospel, directly claims to be the Messiah. Further, he pulls an image from the book of Daniel about the Son of Man, a Messianic character that devout Jews would automatically assign with God’s chosen ruler. He’s saying that what’s about to happen to him will actually be his enthronement as King.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What stood out to you in the passage?

2. Why do you think the Jewish leaders dismissed Jesus’ Messianic claims? Are there things about Jesus that would offend our religious leaders today?

3. Of all the people who should have gotten it, who should have been able to see when Messiah was here, it was this gathering of leaders. They were the most studied and influential leaders in all of Israel, the God incarnate is standing in front of them and they can’t see him for who he is? Is there anything that clouds your vision of Jesus?

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Mark 14:43-52 (NIV)

Back in chapter 8 of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus began to tell his disciples that the Son of Man would be handed over to the temple leaders and killed. Remember Peter rebuking Jesus? Peter and the rest of the disciples couldn’t understand how the Kingdom of God that they so desperately longed for could come through the death of that Kingdom’s King.

Through today’s passage we can witness the scene where Jesus is arrested, his non-violent revolution has entered its final phase. In our world, we can hardly imagine real change or justice being done without force, without inflicting damage on those who would stand in the way. Today’s passage challenges us to remember that we follow a Jesus who walked towards pain on behalf of others, beckoning all who might hope to follow him to join him.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this passage stands out to you the most?

2. Jesus arrested on behalf of the disciples who just abandoned him, and on behalf of the men who just arrested him, and the Romans who would crucify him. Do you find this comforting, challenging or both?

3. All of the disciples, who just got done fretting over whether or not they would betray Jesus, deserted him and fled. Are there moments in your life, when things get heated, that cause you to flee from Jesus for fear of being associated with him? Bring that to the LORD.

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Mark 14:27-42 (NIV)

Up to this point in the Gospel of Mark, we’ve seen the Disciples go back and forth in what their understanding seems to be of what Jesus is doing, and they still can’t quite see it. In today’s passage their inability to see what’s about to happen is brought into plain view.

Peter is thought to be Mark’s primary source for writing this account of Jesus' life, and so often Peter’s actions summarize where the disciples were at with everything. We’ve said it a lot, but he and the other disciples would have expected Jesus to confront Rome, and maybe even Herod and his corrupted kingdom, but they see Jesus going further than that, flipping tables in the temple courts, and challenging Israel as a whole.

What they didn’t understand is where they thought Jesus would come to fight God’s enemies, he was coming to die at their hand and on their behalf. And not just Rome... Israel herself had become an enemy…. And not just Israel… even the disciples would betray and abandon Jesus. In this passage we listen in as Jesus tells Peter that he will deny him, and as Jesus is troubled over what’s about to take place. All the while the disciples who can’t see what’s happening are sleeping because their eyes are heavy.

Can you see it?

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this passage did you find most moving?

2. Peter can’t imagine himself denying Jesus. have you ever been in that place? “Surely” you say, “I would never do this… or that….”” only to find yourself full of regret?

3. Jesus asks the Father to take this cup from him, praying “not my will but your will.” This cup that he speaks of is a reference to the long predicted cup of wrath that was again and again poured out by being given into the hands of foriegn armies when Israel rebelled against God. It's the act of God lifting his hand and allowing the acts of rebellion to produce their inevitable consequences. This next cup will indeed be poured out for Israel's failure, through the hands of foreign soldiers, but this time Jesus will step in. Take a moment to reflect on this.

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When I was a child, one of my favorite holidays was the 4th of July. The whole family would gather and walk to downtown Orlando to watch the fireworks. Like most kids I loved the fireworks and the bbq, but there was something different about his day compared to say thanksgiving or labor day. There was a seriousness that came over the adults in my family. Later I realized it was in part because of the history of my family.

My Grand-mother was a refugee from Latvia after WW2. And she was naturalized as a US citizen in the mid 70’s. The 4th of July represented all that she’d come through, all that she'd endured. Regardless of the complicated history of the United States, that day reminded her of what she escaped.

Today’s passage features a secret gathering for the sacred passover meal. This was Israel’s independence day commemoration, eaten every year throughout every generation to remember God’s rescue from Egypt. Except this year Jewish people found themselves again holding this meal under Roman occupation, and the false Kingship of Herod. Some wanted a revolution, some wanted appeasement. Jesus was calling people to a different way altogether. And he stands up on this night of nights, at this meal of meals, as hearts and minds are reflecting on the God’s liberation from Pharaoh, Jesus tells his disciples that there will indeed be a new passover, but he places himself as the lamb that will be slain.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What word or phase struck you from this passage?

2. How does this passage connect to the greater narrative of scripture?

3. How does this passage, in light of the whole context of Mark so far, expand or deepen your understanding of what Jesus accomplished on the cross?

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Mark 14:1-11 (NIV)

The last 2 chapters in Mark had us listening to Jesus rebuke the Temple leaders and then describe in terrifying imagery the destruction of the Temple itself. If that’s all we knew about Jesus, he’d come off as a pretty harsh prophet. But what’s he been doing up to this point? He’s been travelling around Judea, healing people, feeding people, casting out demons, teaching with authority and even forgiving sins. He’s been doing Temple stuff, but out in the world.

In today’s passage in chapter 14 we see Jesus turn towards the cross, which he’s been predicting for a while, but now we have more of an idea of what he was up to. The same fate that he forecast for the temple, is exactly what’s about to happen to him. This is a part of how we can understand Jesus’ work on the cross. The failure of the system is being wrought on him as well, except he will come out the other side with something new to offer.

In this passage, we listen in as a woman anoints Jesus with costly perfume in preparation of his burial. She knows that he’s the true King and that in order to assume his throne he must die and be risen. And whether she knows it or not, she does the right thing, but the disciples get angry.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What image stood out to you from this passage?

2. This woman is uninhibited in her expression of honor and love towards Jesus, pouring every last drop of costly perfume out of her broken jar. Have you ever felt free enough to worship Jesus in this way? If you have, have you ever been criticized for it?

3. This perfume cost about a year's wages! Now honestly, if you were there, how would you have responded? How does this passage challenge you?

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Mark 13:31-37 (NIV)

So, this isn’t a podcast where we assert theology or too much heavy handed biblical interpretation. We really want to help clear the way and make space for people to reflect on the central truths of the passage as they stand within the context of the narrative and the culture. But we all bring a set of assumptions and prior conceptions with us. And today’s passage is a perfect example of where that kind of thing can create a significant barrier.

I’d bet that most groups that read today's passage and discuss it usually find themselves talking about the rapture. If you're not familiar with that idea, it’s basically a moment when God is supposed to come and remove all the believers ahead of, during, or after a time of great tribulation. There is a ton of debate about when that might be or if the basis for that kind of thing is even found in scripture in the first place. Regardless, I think all of that misses the point of today's passage and has left scores of believers more focused on calculations than they are on faithfulness to Jesus.

If you read the whole of Mark 12 and 13 as a cohesive unit, that is, in the way is was written to be read, you’ll see Jesus calling people out for worrying about the who and the what and the how Messiah will come, rather than being the kind of people that can follow him when he does show up. The same is true here. The disciples ask questions about when they’ll know and how they’ll know this stuff, and Jesus is telling them to focus more on being the kinds of people who are ready whenever it happens.

And as a note, the image here is more like waiting for a bridegroom to appear in the distance and come in to commence the wedding that everyone has been waiting for rather than some kind of cosmic vacuum switch that sucks all the Christians out. Jesus will indeed return, and those who are ready will run to the gates and usher him into the world to reunite heaven and earth and to set everything right. What a day it will be.

----------REFLECT----------

1.  What word of phrase stood out to you?

2. Can you remember a time when you eagerly awaited something? What was it like to look for it coming? What did it mean for you to wait well or wait poorly?

3. One way to anticipate the arrival of a bridegroom and the beginning of the wedding is to invite people to the feast. Who in your life today needs the hope that only Jesus can offer? Pray for them now.

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Mark 13:14-30 (NIV)

How do you describe the indescribable?

Today’s passage tries to do just that. Jesus is talking with his disciples about the destruction of the temple and they’ve just asked him how they can know when that’s going to take place.

With hindsight we can see that this actually did take place 40 years after Jesus’ words. The Roman army laid siege to Jerusalem and people starved, they turned on each other and began doing heinous things to survive. Jesus is clear that he wants them out and not to try to stay to defend Jerusalem.

And as he reminds them of the fig tree, the previous chapter falls into place. Jesus' critique of the Temple includes a warning. This is the road that they are headed down if they do not turn back. It’s going to get them destroyed. And 40 years later they saw what when human societies and institutions set themselves up against the gospel and its standards, producing arrogant and dehumanizing structures, deep injustices and radical oppression. Jesus wasn’t pleased with it then and he isn’t pleased with it now.

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Mark 13:1-13 (NIV)

Today’s passage is one of those passages whose interpretation has been argued over for a long time. The two dominant views take this passage to be referring to the end times on one hand, and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem on the other. We tend towards the view that Jesus is referring to the destruction of the temple that ended up taking place about 40 years after he spoke these words.

Our reasoning for this is based on four things: 1. the continuity of the context of Jesus’ challenge of the temple system throughout chapter 12; 2. the common use of apocalyptic language to describe something as unimaginable to the Jewish mind as the temple being destroyed; 3. Jesus saying within the passage that these things will happen, but the end is still to come (meaning in the future); and 4. that the temple was indeed destroyed within some of the disciples’ lifetime.

We might be wrong, but either way, the point in this passage is the resilient hope that Jesus is calling his disciples to in the face of their world being turned upside down.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What image stood out to you the most in this passage?

2. Have you ever experienced something in your life, that was at the center of your life, being destroyed? What was or is that experience like for you?

3. Jesus tells the disciples that they will face harsh persecution, and calls them to trust the Holy Spirit. How has your faith cost you? In what ways do you need help from the Holy Spirit?

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Mark 12:35-44 (NIV)

For the past few days, we’ve listened to Jesus’ teaching in the temple courts. All of the different kinds of Jewish religious leaders have tried, in vain, to trip him up, to trick him into saying something worth getting arrested for. They want him out of the way because he’s not, after all, the kind of Messiah they’re looking for.

Today’s passage brings us back into the temple,  the crowd’s still listening to Jesus, to his clever, wise and authoritative words, but then the

moment suddenly gets serious. The puzzles are over; it’s not a game. Loving the Lord with heart, mind, soul and strength isn’t a joke. And in the same way that the Messiah doesn’t look like what’s been expected, obedience and faithfulness to God may not look like what you think either. Open your eyes. Can you see it? Open your ears. Can you hear the truth?

Listen now to Mark 12:35-44.

----------REFLECT----------

1. Can you imagine how the teachers of the law might have felt when hearing Jesus warn the crowd against them?

2. It’s hard to hear Jesus’ rebuke of the religious leaders and not think of certain Christian leaders in our own Western context. When you think of your pastor or the leaders of your Christian community, do they remind you more of the teachers of the law? Or the widow?

3. What about you? As you’re trying to follow Jesus, here in the age of social media and the internet influencer, do you feel tempted to seek the attention of others as you live out your faith? And would you say your heart closer to that of the widow, giving all that she had? Or the rich, giving a small portion out of their abundance?

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