Sep. 15, 2024

Last week we ended discussing where Jesus fed the 5000 and they picked up 12 baskets of leftovers. We pick up this week where they left the crowd got into a boat crossed over to the other side, and when Jesus went up in the mountains to pray, he sent the disciples in the boat to go back to the other side and he walks on the water…

Mark Lesson 10 Study Questions

1.    He departed to the mountain to pray: A long, difficult day spent ministering to the spiritual and physical needs of the multitude left Jesus exhausted. But that hard day drove Jesus to _______, not from _______.

2.    He went up into the boat to them: As Jesus got into the boat with them, miraculously the boat was ________ carried over to the other side (John 6:21). Jesus rescued His disciples from working in futility. This was a miracle meant to assure them that He was in fact in _____ and that He would always lovingly be there to help them fulfill what He commanded.

3.    There is reason – from history and subtle clues, not explicitly from the Scriptures – to believe that Peter was the main source for Mark’s gospel. If this was the case, Peter may have left out the story because he didn’t want to be ________ for walking on the water – or to be _________ for sinking.

4.    As many as touched Him were made well: With this description of the healing ministry of Jesus, Mark concludes a brief section where we see the power of Jesus over the laws of _______. Normally, five thousand are not fed by one small lunch. Normally, men don’t walk on water. Normally, the sick are not instantly healed. None of this is normal, except by the _______ of God.

5.    The concept of evaluating Jesus’ ministry was fine. In outward appearance, these men protected Israel from a potential false prophet or false messiah. But the way they actually evaluated Jesus was all wrong. First, they ________ made up their mind about Jesus. Second, they did not evaluate Jesus against the measure of God’s ______. They evaluated Him against the measure of their religious traditions.

6.    Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders: These washings were commanded by _________, not by ____________. The religious leaders knew this, yet they still criticized the disciples for not obeying these traditions.

7.    A really strict Jew would do this not only before the meal, but also between each course. And the rabbis were deadly _________ about this. They said that bread eaten with _________ hands was no better than excrement. 

8.    You hypocrites: Jesus spoke so strongly because these leaders were far too concerned with ________ matters like ritual washing. When they focused on these trivial traditions, they excluded everyone who didn’t keep the traditions, and so they __________ them from coming to God.

9.    This people honors Me with their lips: Yes, they honored God with their lips; but in fact, God said of them their heart is far from Me. It is possible to have the _______ of being religious or spiritual, but actually be ____ from God. This was exactly the case with these religious leaders.

10.    You reject the commandment of God: This is another pillar of legalism. It would be bad enough to add the commandments of ____ to the word of God. But almost without fail, the legalist or religious hypocrite goes the next step – to ______ the commandment of God and to keep your tradition.

11.    Making the word of God of no effect through your tradition: Through this, a son could completely ________ the command to honor your father or mother and do it while being ultra-religious. Jesus called this making the word of God of no ______ through your tradition.

12.    The things which come out of him, those are things that defile a man: The fundamental principle is simple. Eating with ________ hands or any other such thing that we put into us is not defiling. Rather, what comes out of us defiles and reveals that we have ______ (defiled) hearts.

13.    For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil: God is far more concerned with what comes ____ of us than what goes _____ us. This is especially true when it comes to foods and traditions and rituals.