The Christian Community

 


A The Kingdom of God

A1. Key Passages

Sayings of the Kingdom 1: 14-15

Parables of the Kingdom 4: 1-34

Jesus and the children 10: 13-16

Entry into the Kingdom 10: 17-27

The Greatest Commandments 12: 28-34

A2. General Notes

Most Jews in Jesus’ time were looking forward to God’s rule - the Kingdom of God. The Jews had been ruled by foreign powers for many centuries. The people began to hope for a time when God would be in charge. God would save them from their enemies, just as long ago he had saved them from the Egyptians when Moses was their leader. Instead of just another human kingdom, the Kingdom of God would arrive. The Kingdom of God meant that God would be in charge. But different Jews had different ideas of the way in which God would rule.

The Zealots thought the kingdom of God meant that the Jews would rule their own country. Jewish rule was God’s rule, so a Jewish kingdom would also be a kingdom of God. Once he had defeated the Romans, the Messiah would be their king.

The Essenes thought it meant there would be a war against the powers of darkness. All evil powers and evil people would be destroyed. The paradise that followed would be the Kingdom of God.

Jesus’ teaching shows that he disagreed with both these views. He believed in the kingdom of God, but thought that only God could bring it about. Just as only God could make a seed grow, only he can make the kingdom come. The Kingdom would not involve a struggle against the Romans but it would involve a struggle against: sin, which Jesus forgives; illness, which Jesus heals; demons, which Jesus defeats by exorcising them.

A3. Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom

 

1.       The Kingdom would also be a new society. It was not just about God ruling over the people, but also people living by God’s laws.

2.       Also the kingdom was not just open to Jews, it was open to everybody. Sinners, outcasts and Gentiles could enter.

3.       The relationship with God in the Kingdom was not just for this life: after death people would be happy with God forever. The future with Jesus, which would continue after death, is the full and final arrival of the Kingdom.In some of Jesus’’ sayings about the Kingdom, he appears to expect it to arrive in the future. In others, he speaks as though it is already here.

A4. The Kingdom of God today

Some Christians see the kingdom to refer only to heaven, what happens after death, and when the world comes to an end.

Many Christians believe the Kingdom already exists – it is the fellowship of all those who believe in Christ, which partly exists now, but will fully exist in the life to come.

Catholics believe that the Kingdom is already found in the Church, and will be fully known after death and at the end of time.

All Christians understand the teaching about the Kingdom to challenge Christians to live in the way God wants and to make sure that there is justice on earth.

A5. Notes on the Passages

You need to understand the meaning of the passages about the kingdom of God in Mark.

Sayings of the Kingdom 1: 14-15

To be a part of the Kingdom you must repent and believe

The parables of the Kingdom 4: 1-34

These parables tell us about some aspect of the Kingdom:

Very simple meaning only!

Sower - How some people accept the word/ some don't

Lamp under a bowl - Stand up for your beliefs and faith

Growing seed - The Kingdom is not be obvious but is growing never-the-less

Mustard seed - The Kingdom will begin small but grow very big

Jesus and the children 10: 13-16

To be a part of the kingdom you must be humble

Entry into the Kingdom 10: 17-27

You must put God above all else

The greatest commandment 12: 28-34

To be a part of the kingdom you must love all people and love God most of all

B6. Summary

·          The Jewish people were looking forward to the Kingdom. Some saw it as mainly political, others as mainly spiritual.

·          Jesus’ teaching was about the Kingdom

·          For Jesus the Kingdom was a real thing, a struggle against evil, but people joined it through repentance, belief in God and following Jesus’ message.

B Faith and Prayer

B1. Key Passages

Jesus at prayer 6: 45-46

Jairus’ Daughter 5: 21-24, 35-43

Woman with a haemorrhage 5: 25-34

The epileptic boy 9: 14-29

B2. General Notes

Faith is not just believing in a set of teachings, although this is part of it. It is a belief in a person whose presence enters your life, the person of Jesus Christ. Faith involves accepting Christ and placing your trust in him.

Christians use prayer to strengthen them in their struggle against the evil which lies in themselves and in the world.  They turn to God for guidance in making the right decisions in life. They ask for help in taking the path in life that God wants of them. They turn to God for comfort in times of trouble. They ask God to forgive their sins. Yet they also simply wish to express their love for God and their gratitude to him for all he has done for them.

B3. Notes on the Passages

Jesus at prayer 6: 45-46

Jesus was often surrounded by crowds, but he also used to ‘get away from it all’, to spend time on his own in prayer. This shows Christians the importance of times of prayer, even in a busy and active life.
Jairus' daughter 5:21-24, 35-43

This miracle is often said to be a raising from the dead, but Jesus himself said that the girl was only sleeping. This might mean that she was in a coma, or that she was only clinically dead. Whatever the case, she was not dead in the final sense of the word.

In this story when Jesus told the bereaved parents to have faith he was saying "Trust me. I can do something about this." The meaning of the story is that trusting in Jesus is the way to bring his power to bear in your life.

The woman with a haemorrhage 5: 25-34

In this story we read of a woman who was considered unclean and, therefore, unfit to take part in public worship. She was unclean because of a flow of blood, and anyone who touched her became unclean as well for a short period.

She touched Jesus' cloak, possibly because she felt too embarrassed to ask for help, or because she felt that her uncleanness would have made a great rabbi despise her. She would have felt worthless: such illnesses were often thought of as punishment from God.

Her action shows great faith in Jesus. Jesus makes it clear that it is no kind of magic which healed her: ‘Your faith has healed you’, he says.

The epileptic boy 9: 14-29

In the time of Jesus this condition would have been interpreted as the result of possession by an evil spirit. Nowadays we know it as epilepsy, a disease caused by physical damage to the brain.

The words of the father are important ‘I have faith, help my lack of faith’ (there are different translations of these words). The father was asking Jesus to strengthen his faith. These words, and the failure of the disciples to heal the boy, remind Christians that sometimes faith is weak, and Jesus can help those who are weak in faith (an important idea when Christians are suffering or persecuted).

Jesus says this kind of illness can only be cast out by fasting and prayer. Fasting and prayer bring a person closer to God so God can work through a person in a more powerful way.

B5. Summary:

·          Jesus would spend time in prayer to support his work

·          Faith in Jesus and prayer were required for a miracle to occur

·          Christians may sometimes be weak in faith, but Jesus can strengthen them.

C. Discipleship

C1. Key Passages

The widow at the treasury 12: 41-44

Cost of Discipleship 8: 34-38

Rewards of discipleship 10: 28-31

C2. General Notes

Jesus made it clear that it was not easy to follow him, it would require a person to ‘...deny himself and take up his cross..’, but he also said that eventually a person would be rewarded if they did follow him - their motives must be genuine however.

C3. Notes on the Passsages

The widow at the treasury 12: 41-44

Although she gave little, what she did give was very valuable to her.

Cost of Discipleship 8: 34-38

Being a disciple of Jesus is not easy – it may involve great sacrifice and suffering.

Rewards of discipleship 10: 28-31

The hard road of discipleship leads to great rewards in heaven.

C4. Summary

Discipleship requires sacrifices, but there are also great rewards.

D. Leadership

D1. Key Passages

Call of the disciples 1: 16-20

Choosing the 12 3: 13-19

Mission of the 12 6: 7-13

Peter’s promise and denial 14: 26-31, 66-72

The commission 16: 14-18

D2. General Notes

Every organisation needs leadership, and Jesus organises his followers into leaders. They are told to be servants of others, to expect to make sacrifices, and not to expect glory and power. They are sometimes weak, and often in Mark’s Gospel they are shown to be slow to understand. They come from very different backgrounds, and their main task is to draw more people into the Kingdom.

D3. Notes on the Passages

Call of the disciples 1: 16-20

‘Disciples’ means ‘people who learn’. Other Jewish teachers had disciples. Jesus is unique in that he ‘calls’ his disciples. He does not wait for them to come to him, he seeks them out.. The four fishermen- Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John - follow Jesus straight away. This is how Mark thinks people should respond to Jesus’ call. They will no longer catch fish: their catch will be people. They will get others to follow Jesus- to draw them into the net of the ‘Kingdom’.

Choosing the Twelve 3: 13-19

Jesus’ disciples are ordinary people, not just educated men. They are from all kinds of different backgrounds. His message is for al. The number Twelve reminds us of the twelve tribes of Israel – Jesus is organising a new people of God. This is the very beginning of the Church.

Mission of the 12 6: 7-13

The main task of the disciples was to spread the good news. Christians today are also required to fulfil the same task. That is why Christian churches send out missionaries to bring the message of Jesus to others. Christians also live out the good news by helping and serving those in need.

Peter’s promise and denial 14: 26-31, 66-72

Peter was the most important of the apostles. He swore that he would never deny Jesus. This is precisely what he does, but what we (and Mark’s first readers) know is that Peter became the leader of the Church.

The commission 16: 14-18

Just as Jesus sent out the disciples in his lifetime, so after his resurrection he sends them to preach to the whole world.

D4. Summary

Christian leaders should not be proud. They have failings, but are called to their work by God.

 

Revision Activity

 

For each passage summarise, in three columns, (a) what happens or is said in the passage

(b) what the passage means (use these notes)

(c) what it means for Christians today.