Cost Of Discipleship In Mark's Gospel

While both books of Mark and Matthew portray Peter as one of the most important followers of Jesus, Mark seems to emphasize Jesus' spiritual career unlike the broad, more in-depth pursuit of Jesus' life that Matthew embellishes on. As both Jesus' student and friend, Peter is the one disciple most commonly referred to in the stories. Yet the two passages seem to draw different pictures of Jesus' distinguished disciple. In Matthew, Peter seems to play a larger role in Jesus' teachings and seems more significant to Jesus throughout the book. In Mark, he is still important, but to a lesser extent in the eyes of the author. Mark leaves Peter out of a few of the stories altogether and only touches

The first sermon Marks of a True Conversion was spoken by George Whitefield. The sermon’s title promises an answer but WAS there an answer. This raised many questions: How could the disciples be “in some degree converted”? Why could they give so little evidence of “belonging to the kingdom” ? How did Jesus’ words apply justly to both “saints and sinners”? Am I a saint or a sinner? I believe I am a sinner, I think everyone is a sinner. To be a saint you have to be sinless, which is impossible.

Discipleship is about engaging in the Word, following and obeying Jesus and going out to make disciples. An essential element in being a disciple is to be open to learning, to be teachable. It is a mindset to be continuously adopted and cultivated. For us to disciple others, we must be a better disciple ourselves. When making disciples, we are instructing others to be willing to be a discoverer. It applies to both spiritual growth as well as personal development, openness to new techniques, ideas and methods in all aspects of life. Our spiritual learning comes from delving into His

The Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus visiting his hometown. He visited a synagogue and begins to teach the people around him, but the people were offended. People questioned him as only the carpenter, the son of Mary. The implied meaning is that he was worthless teaching, and he could only heal a few people. Jesus was the son of God and many skeptical people in his time did not believe it. Jesus went through many different times of not being socially accepted, like how Rucker was socially rejected for remarrying. In their times, peers made choices of what others would think or would not accept what they did not know. It was considered ‘unacceptable’ to make these decisions for the reason that

The Gospel according to Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. The story explains how the Messiah, Jesus, was refused by Israel and finally sent the disciples to preach the gospel around the whole world. As Matthew wrote for his fellow Jews, he wrote his Gospel in the language Jesus spoke, Aramaic, which led early Church Fathers to believe Matthew’s was the first Gospel. On the other hand, the Gospel of Mark teaches that Jesus is the Son of God who assumed human nature. Mark wrote the gospel in Greek for a Gentile-Christian audience, which was undergoing persecution, perhaps in Rome. A central theme is that following Jesus often means that a Christian must suffer like Jesus did. Mark’s Gospel points out that Jesus accepted this important title, but that he was reluctant to let people know his identity. (Matthew 26:26-30 and Mark 14:22-26 )

Jesus then goes from speaking to His disciples specifically, to calling out to the whole crowd, in which He goes from speaking plainly to once again speaking in metaphors and riddles. Within this passage Mark uses the words of Jesus to reveal the true cost of discipleship. He tells the crowd that if anyone chooses to come after Him then the condition of that decision is that they must take up their cross and follow Him. So one must ask: What does it mean to deny yourself? What does it mean to take up your cross? And when you follow Him where are you going? So then one must put this into context by looking at what has not yet happened in Mark. When Jesus denies Himself, He is essentially denying the human instinct to self preserve through a fight or flight response. When Jesus picked up His cross, He was deciding to be rejected, tortured, mocked and falsely accused on His way to Calvary where He died for the sins of all. Therefore, if you want to go after Jesus, you must be willing to commit to sharing the gospel with others at all costs, you must be willing to tortured, mocked, and falsely accused and you must also be willing to die, not necessarily for anything that you have done, but so that others can reach salvation. Historically, during this time period, the cross was a well known style of execution in Rome, and so although one reading this might see this as simply a metaphor, it is actually a foreshadowing of reality, which can be seen in the fact that all the

Jesus told the disciples that if they call him Lord they must do what he commands (Matthew 7:22). To be a disciple of Christ, we must submit to Jesus and trust that He is our Lord and Savior. We must have faith in Him and look to Him as our guide. Disciples of Christ should obey Jesus because God is not a man, but a sovereign God who has every right to command His disciples. Christ is not just a sovereign God, but also a saving God who suffered on a cross so that humans could receive salvation. Disciples of Christ who are saved by grace are not their own, but bought with a price that Jesus paid on the cross. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: The disciples are called blessed because they have obeyed the call of Jesus.2 To be a disciple of Christ, we must

But in Matthew, and most of all Mark, the Disciples are, in Dr. Rick Beaton’s words, “dumb as boards.” … So when you read through the Gospels, especially Mark, and if you have any ounce of irreverence in you, you can’t help but agree with Holden. The Disciples really don’t get it. They’re pretty useless. And it’s pretty surprising that Jesus spent all his energy with them. … My favorite example of the Disciples’ stupidity is in Mark 8, right after Jesus fed the 4,000. And I mean literally right after they fed the people, Jesus and the Twelve got on a boat, and this happened: … Now the disciples had forgotten to bring any bread; and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out—beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.” They said to one another, “It is because we have no bread.” (Mark 8:14-16, NRSV) … And the Disciples, filled with anything but wisdom, assumed that Jesus was making some obscure reference to the lack of bread in the boat. Not, “Hey, guys, I’m using this as an opportunity to teach you a lesson about life.” But rather, the Disciples yet again think that their present circumstances are all that matter. They have forgotten

The Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus visiting his hometown. He visited a synagogue and begins to teach the people around him, but the people were offended. People questioned him as only the carpenter, the son of Mary, which implied is that he was worthless teaching, and he could only heal a few people. Jesus was the son of God and many skeptical people in his time did not believe it. Jesus went through many different times of not being socially accepted, like how Rucker was socially rejected for remarrying. In their times, peers made choices of what others would think or would not accept what they did not know. It was considered ‘unacceptable’ to make these decisions for the reason that no one else in the

The theme of this text seems to be centered on the cost of following Christ. God wants everybody; but with regards to discipleship, He wants only those willing and able. Jesus knows the hearts of those following Him and it is not the number of people He is concerned with, but the volume of their hearts. ?The audience has shifted from the Pharisees and dinner guests of 14:1-24 to the large crowds of people who were traveling with Jesus. Apparently Jesus has resumed his journey toward Jerusalem (9:51) and now will address the crowds? (Evans 228). He is on His final walk, a journey that will lead Him to a cross. This crowd is not ready. It is one thing to be part of a group,

And yes, the disciples did heal, they did preach and they did cast out evil. "The apostles returned and met with Jesus, and told him all they had done and taught" (Mark 6:30) and "They went out and preached that people should turn away from their sins. They drove out many demons, and rubbed olive oil on many sick people and healed them" (Mark 6:12-13). Both of these quotes show us that the disciples followed instructions and did them well.

The concept of ‘seeing’ the ways of Jesus and that He is the Messiah, is to truly understand the message being portrayed throughout the Gospel, and not the surface meaning that is being represented literally. This concept was very significant to Jesus and his followers as to interpret the meaning without being said, most parables being related to the Kingdom of God and Jesus’ miracle stories. Times were harsh and difficult to spread and teach the words of Jesus, as Mark’s community would face persecution. The disciples of Jesus could ‘see’ more than other believers could perceive, from being apart of Jesus’ life with close relationships, as they were taught the fundamentals from Jesus himself to understand his teachings in much more depth and fluency than others. There were many similarities among Jesus’ twelve disciples and Mark’s community, as both groups share the strong faith in Jesus and God’s power by spreading the good news to others as well as experiencing hardships caused by arrogant hierarchy and society. According to Mark, Jesus was known for his parables and

Mark: The Gospel of Mark tells the story of Jesus Christ’s life from when he was baptized by John the Baptist until the days of his death, and his resurrection. Mark was the second of four Gospels although some Scholars argue and insist Mark was the first Gospel written 1. Mark was written by John Mark in AD 65, with a target audience of Roman Christian beleivers 2. Mark was written in a unique manner in regards to literary genre, as it contains figures of speech, and portray life situations in a passionate story like setting that can make the reader feel as if he is there 3. The Gospel of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, however it is written in a manner that emphasizes more so on Jesus’s works than Jesus’s words 4. The key theme in Mark is to portray the life of Jesus Christ as the son of God 5, and the purpose was to show the human qualities and emotions that Jesus displayed from anger (Mark 3:5), and compassion (Mark 1:41). Some of the key events of Jesus Christ’s life in the Gospel Mark include his miracles, his entrance into Jerusalem, the last supper, his arrest and trial, his crucifixion, his resurrection, and his ascension 6. The Gospel of Mark ends with his instruction to the eleven Apostles “And he said unto them “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:16), and his ascension into Heaven (Mark 16:19).

In all three gospels Jesus asks his disciples what the people think of Jesus and who he is. They reply with characters like John the Baptist, Elijah, or just another prophet. Then Jesus asks his disciples who they think he is. Peter replies with a varying statement of, “Christ, Son of the living God.” Jesus then tells his disciples to go and not speak to anyone about what they have learned. Jesus then continues to say that he must be rejected by the elders, he must be killed, and then he will rise again on the third day. Peter then rebukes Jesus as he is afraid for Jesus’ life. Jesus responds with, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are to on the side of God but of men.”

1. In the Gospel of Mark, there are many important features that define Jesus. One point to make notice is his caring character. There are multiple instances where Jesus feeds an abundant amount of people. He was thankful that people were there to see him, so he did not want them to go home hungry. With seven loaves of bread and a few fish, Jesus fed four thousand people. He also did this again with 5 loaves and 2 fish, and he was able to feed five thousand people because he was compassionate towards them. These situations show that Jesus cared for his people and did not want them to suffer.