After feeding five thousand men and walking on water, Jesus has drawn even more attention to Himself.  The Scribes and the Pharisees decide to confront Him and shame Him, perhaps to lesson His growing fame and notoriety.  They challenge Him on an issue they consider important, eating with unwashed hands.  Yet Jesus rejects their traditions and instead insists that it is not what you eat that defiles you, but the sin inside of you.  It is sin, not food that makes you unclean.  Jesus travels to the region of Tire and Sidon where a Gentile woman approaches Him and begs Him to cast a demon out of her daughter.  What follows is perhaps the most shocking statement that Jesus has made yet, He calls the woman a dog (we will see the reason for this).  Yet she responds with faith and humility.  Seeing this Jesus grants her request and casts the demon out of the girl. 

The Disciples have come back from their great “mission trip” and now Jesus encourages them to take rest. Yet they are recognized and about five thousand flock to them. Jesus has compassion and teaches them. Yet when there is a need for food the Disciples are unable to feed them. Instead, Jesus multiplies fish and loaves and feeds everyone until they are content. The Disciples go ahead in the boat and Jesus spends some time in prayer. He then catches up to them while they are struggling to cross by walking on the water. The disciples didn’t understand or have faith, which is compared against those who come to Him for healing who do believe.

After His rejection at Nazareth Jesus anoints the Disciples and sends them out. He gives them authority over demons and demonic powers. They must trust God for their provisions, not taking money, food, extra clothing, or provisions. They are only allowed to carry a staff (weapon). If they are rejected on this mission they must shake off the dust from their feet which we will see had significant meaning in their culture. And so the Apostles did go out, calling everyone to repent. The people responded with faith and many were healed and demons were cast out. Lastly we see the memory of the death of John the Baptist.

After healing the demonized man, Jesus returns to His side of the lake, probably Capernaum.  On His way to heal a sick girl, a woman who had been bleeding for many years touched Him and was healed.  He continues on to heal the girl but she dies before He can get there.  Encouraging the father to have faith He ends up raising her from the dead.  After these great works He goes to Nazareth where He is met with only rejection and insults. 

Jesus comes across the sea and lands on the shore. He is immediately met by a man who is possessed with many demons. Even though He is in a gentile area, and this man is a gentile, Jesus takes action and casts the demons out. The demons enter some pigs that are nearby with Jesus’ permission. The pigs run into the sea and drown. This causes great fear in the locals, and they beg Him to leave. This is in direct opposition to the man He healed. This man begs that He might follow Jesus. Yet Jesus sends him to his home to spread the word about what Jesus had done.

Continuing on with the parables, Jesus teaches two more parables; the parable of the growing seed and the parable of the small seed. After this Jesus fell asleep in a boat as it was crossing the sea and a great storm arose. Jesus is woken up and rebukes the storm and it obeys Him. Of course the disciples are shocked by this and He asks them why they didn’t have faith. They respond with a question of their own, “who is this”. This story highlights the divinity of Jesus but also helps us to understand the kingdom of God.

Surrounded by a huge crowd, Jesus did not seek to impress them with His knowledge. He did not seek to gain more fame by explaining the mysteries of the Kingdom. Instead, he spoke to those who were walking in rebellion in a way that veiled the truth. Yet, He calls these same people to repent and believe in Him. After this they may come to Him and learn. This is the meaning behind parables and we will discuss this today.

Haven done great and mighty miracles, having cast out many demons, Jesus must now face His most painful attacks, those from His own family! Jesus is accused of being crazy by His own family! During this time some Scribes also come to Him and accuse Him of using the power of the Devil to perform these works.

God hides His truths from the wise but reveals them to the humble. Are you approaching God with childlike faith or intellectual pride? The religious experts of Jesus' day knew Scripture better than anyone, yet missed Him completely. Meanwhile, humble hearts received the kingdom. Which tree are you eating from - knowledge of good and evil, or the tree of life? Jesus offers rest for your weary soul, but it requires the humility to admit you need Him.

His life threatened by the Pharisees, Jesus does not back down but He does withdraw to another area and appoints the 12 Apostles to begin working with Him on His mission to restore and redeem Israel.

Driven by hunger, Jesus’ disciples walk through the grain fields and plucked grain on the Sabbath. The Pharisees object to this since it broke the law against harvesting on the Sabbath. Yet Jesus desired to show mercy. Jesus responded by making a comparison to David and reminds them that the Sabbath was made for people. People are not to be harmed by their observance of it. As the Son of Man Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath, He had the right to make this ruling. We get another instance on the Sabbath where the religious norms were challenged. Is it lawful to do good or harm, to save a life or to kill? The Pharisees demonstrated the hardness of their hearts and sought to trap Jesus. Yet it ended with Him healing the man and them plotting against Him with the Herodians on the very Sabbath they sought to protect.

After performing great miracles like healing the lame and a Leper, perhaps others would have moved to consolidate power with those who were in power (the Sadducees and Pharisees, etc). Yet Jesus did not do this. Instead, He immediately reached out to those who were broken and outsiders.

The ministry of Jesus begins to take off, this time with a leper approaching Him. After performing an extreme miracle that would be considered like raising the dead, Jesus seems to rest for some time. Then as He teaches He is approached by four men with a man who needed healing. When this man was brought to Jesus by his friends Jesus responds to their faith and forgives his sins and then heals him.

The next stage of Jesus’ ministry is filled with healings and exorcisms. He is seeking to bring the kingdom of God to the people in a very real way. He is not just preaching and teaching, He is meeting very real needs in people.

See the start of Jesus’ ministry and the calling of His disciples in Mark 1:14-20 with this in-depth Bible study and small group discussion guide.

Explore the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:9–11 with this in-depth Bible study and small group discussion guide. Discover why Jesus was baptized, what it means that the heavens were torn open, and how the Holy Spirit’s descent reveals His kingship and mission. Includes questions, life application, and historical insights.

Explore the baptism of Jesus in Mark 1:9–11 with this in-depth Bible study and small group discussion guide. Discover why Jesus was baptized, what it means that the heavens were torn open, and how the Holy Spirit’s descent reveals His kingship and mission. Includes questions, life application, and historical insights.