All Scriptures are from The Message Version
It is helpful to use this blog as a discussion starter for two or more people but it will also stimulate some thoughts if used by one reader. The material is used by a Sunday Study Group at Hamilton Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri. Commentaries for these scriptures can be found on Textweek.com through this link http://www.textweek.com/mkjnacts/mark1g.htm
This story come from early in Jesus’ ministry as he travels through Galilee, begins to establish the nature of his work and immediately finds that people are most responsive to his ability to heal their broken bodies:
Mark 1: 32-34 That evening, after the sun was down, they brought sick and evil-afflicted people to him, the whole city lined up at his door! He cured their sick bodies and tormented spirits. Because the demons knew his true identity, he didn't let them say a word.
35-37 While it was still night, way before dawn, he got up and went out to a secluded spot and prayed. Simon and those with him went looking for him. They found him and said, "Everybody's looking for you."
38-39Jesus said, "Let's go to the rest of the villages so I can preach there also. This is why I've come." He went to their meeting places all through Galilee, preaching and throwing out the demons.
• Can you imagine the scene as all of the sick and afflicted were brought to Jesus? What would the sights, sounds and odors have been? What would the behavior of the people have been as they sought Jesus’ presence? How long must it have gone on? Do you think that he was able to heal everyone?
• Are you or have you dealt with a serious physical or mental problem or have you been around someone who has? How strong was the desire for a cure and what amount of effort went into finding one? Would travel, discomfort, long waits, scrambling for attention from the cure have been a problem?
• Do you believe that we can be physically and mentally healed through our relationship with God? How does one go about being healed and are there limitations and conditions associated with the degree of healing that takes place? What priority does this approach to healing have for you?
• We see here one of the many cautions Mark’s Gospel records that Jesus gave to those he healed to keep quiet about his true identity. This has been a subject of conjecture down through the ages but what might be some reasons that Jesus would want to hide his identity at this point?
• What do verses 35-37 establish as of the bedrocks of Jesus’ ministry? If Jesus is God incarnate, the son of God, why does he need to pray? What do you think that he prayed about that night? What does this tell us about the importance of prayer on our faith journey?
• When and how does he pray? What conditions are most meaningful for your prayer time?
• What do verses 38-39 tell us are the reasons Jesus came among us? What role does healing play in his ability to be effective in his preaching? What is the dilemma that it brings?
Mark's Gospel continues with another healing story:
40 A leper came to him, begging on his knees, "If you want to, you can cleanse me."
41-45 Deeply moved, Jesus put out his hand, touched him, and said, "I want to. Be clean." Then and there the leprosy was gone, his skin smooth and healthy. Jesus dismissed him with strict orders: "Say nothing to anyone. Take the offering for cleansing that Moses prescribed and present yourself to the priest. This will validate your healing to the people." But as soon as the man was out of earshot, he told everyone he met what had happened, spreading the news all over town. So Jesus kept to out-of-the-way places, no longer able to move freely in and out of the city. But people found him, and came from all over.
• How do you visualize the appearance, voice, and attitude of the leper as he approaches Jesus? What do his words to Jesus tell us about him, what is the only reason he would not be healed? How would you address Jesus if you were seeking healing?
• What do you learn about Jesus from his interaction with the leper? How does he respond to the lepers, “If you want to…”? Might Jesus have ignored him or told him, “I do not want to”?
• One of the biggest questions people of faith have concerns prayer and certainly the leper’s words to Jesus were a form of prayer. How have you come to deal with what seems to be unanswered prayer during your faith journey? Have you formed any thoughts on why some seem to be healed and others not? Is it because God picks and chooses or is something else going on? Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13 – is this what it comes to?
12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
• Jesus tells the man to use the cleansing process for those cured of leprosy as dictated by the Jewish law (Leviticus 13) so that the source of his healing is hidden. But what does the man do? Is this surprising? Don’t you think that the others who had been healed also excitedly pointed toward Jesus? And what happens here?
• What do you think that people are missing if they focus so much on his acts of physical healing? What do they need to hear from him that might be more important? Are there some really big things that form a basis for the totality of your faith life?
• What is your take away from this scripture? What have you learned about Jesus and yourself? Might our closing litany be the feelings we should have about the blessings of our faith life?
Closing Litany
God, my God, I yelled for help and you put me together.
God, you pulled me out of the grave,
gave me another chance at life
when I was down-and-out.
I can'tkeep quiet about you.
God, my God,
I can't thank you enough.
Amen
From Psalm 30
Next Week’s Lectionary Scriptures: Isaiah 43:18-25, Psalm 41, 2 Corinthians 1:18-22, Mark 2:1-12
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