Mark 10:32-52 Is light a particle or a wave? Answer: both. It’s both-and, not either-or. Is Jesus’ sacrifice a unique ransom for us, or is it an example for us to follow? It’s both-and. True Christianity holds tightly to both, and this passage will help us do just that.
Mark 10:1-31 Perhaps we think of a disciple as a follower, but in the first place to be a disciple is to be a learner with Jesus as our Teacher. He is the Teacher sent from heaven. If Jesus is not my Teacher, then I am not his disciple.
Mark 9:30-50 What does true discipleship look like? What’s the difference between someone who just says they’re a Christian and a true disciple of Jesus? That is what Jesus starts to unpack in this section as he heads to Jerusalem.
Mark 9:1-29 ‘If you’re lucky, you’ll be shot. If you’re unlucky, you’ll be sent to a political prison camp’. To follow Christ in North Korea, you need to be convinced it’s worth it eternally. But even in our much easier context, there is a cost to true discipleship, and so we need to be convinced too. We need proof of future life. And that is what the Transfiguration is all about.
Mark 8:31-38 The cross is a symbol of barbaric oppression, torture, execution. Isn’t it time for the church to have a rebrand and to change its logo to something more…
Mark 8:10-30 Imagine a global pandemic not of a virus but of blindness – and everyone went blind. That, the Bible tells us, is the true state of humanity. We are spiritually blind; groping around in the dark. The good news is that Jesus can give us sight – but he’s the only one who can.
1 Peter 1:3 Many during the pandemic have felt an increasing sense of hopelessness. But even before then there has been a growing crisis of hope in society, with people no longer believing in a better world for their children – because of tribalism and division, climate change, the rise of religious extremism. Where can we find hope? To have hope for the future we need to turn to the past – to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, through which we are born again to a living hope.
Mark 7:24-8:10 A sense of entitlement can easily creep into we relate to God. We easily start to feel not just that society owes but that God does too – but nothing could be further from the truth. The three true stories in this passage highlight how undeserving we really are, and how thankful we should be.
Mark 7:1-23 Hands, face, space. Such measures are effective in stopping the spread of a virus, but useless when in stopping the spread of sin. Much religion though operates on this basis. It assumes that the problem is out there in the world and we need to protect ourselves from infection and wash ourselves clean. But true worship recognizes the problem is not outside of us but in us. And a much deeper solution is needed.
