Mark 1:14-20

Go Deep

(Mark 1:14-20)

Read Mark 1:14-20. What captures your attention? What questions does it raise?

Why do you think Jesus waited until John was put in prison before he began preaching?

In verse 14, Jesus is proclaiming the “good news of God” (“the gospel”). What is the good news of God? State it as clearly as you can.

What did Jesus mean by saying, “…the time has come”? The time for what?

What is the kingdom of God? Is it part of the good news? In what sense had it come near?

Does the nearness of the kingdom of God have anything to do with Jesus’s instruction to repent? If so, what?

If people were to repent per Jesus’s instructions, what exactly would they be doing?

Why is repentance necessary? Can we get along without it? Can we enter the kingdom of God unrepentant?

How does believing “the good news” (the gospel) fit into all this?

Read verses 16-18. Does anything in the text suggest that Simon and Andrew were interested in the coming of God’s kingdom? If so, what?

What is included in the call to “follow” Jesus? Can people follow Jesus today, now that he is in heaven? If so, how so?

Read verses 19-20. What strikes you about the call of Zebedee’s sons?

In both verses 18 and 20, the word “left” is used. Must everyone who follows Jesus leave something behind?

How does Jesus’s appearance on the world stage and his proclamation of the kingdom of God fit into the big picture of the Bible?

What can this passage help us understand or how can it help us live today?