Sunday Talks

In his gospel account about Jesus, Mark is narrating the arrival of a king – a very different kind of king to those whose corronations we may have watched on TV. The question might be: what difference does he make? Do I need to do more than watch the proceedings?

The closest followers of Jesus experience a defining moment here. Mark is urging his readers too to understand who Jesus is and what it means to follow him while all the time pressing home the urgent need to listen to Jesus.

In this section of Mark’s gospel, we’ll see Jesus’ explanation of what following him demands of would-be followers. There are two requirements.

There’s a picture that Mark has been using throughout his book: blindness and the restoration of sight. As Mark puts together the evidence of who Jesus is and why he came – he’s also been showing us that it will take a miracle for people who are blind to see who Jesus is and why he came.

In the next part of his account, Mark points us directly to our need for rescue. What is your greatest problem?

Could you have failed to see who Jesus really is? And the main thing he came to do? As we look at Chapter 6, there really is a big picture being painted. Mark seems to be showing us something very important about Jesus. Something we need to be clear about. What is it?

We have a lot of choice in our lives, but there is one choice that will make all the difference, and it’s how we respond the Lord Jesus. Will you embrace His authority or will you reject it?

In both the desperate storm and with the desperate man, Mark helps us see that – amazingly - one man was strong enough to subdue nature and to subdue the most profoundly disturbing evil. Mark isn’t just telling us information… he’s putting the challenge to us: Can I trust him? Or will I simply ask him to leave?

As Mark continues his good news project, we know that on the one hand there has been some very loud opposition to Jesus. Others, however, are just quietly skeptical and content to pass under the radar. Are we really listening?

There are three incidents that go together in this section of Mark’s gospel and each one is quite surprising in its own way. Together they are designed to help us, the readers, work out why Jesus has come.