LENTEN GOSPEL STUDIES Mark 8:31-38

TEXT  Mark 8:31-38  Then Jesus began to teach his disciples that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."  He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."

ARTISTIC INTERPRETATIONS

COMMENTARIES

THE EERDMAN’S BIBLE COMMENTARY,  31, Then Jesus began…The disciples were obviously staggered by this revelation, and  32, Peter, probably after some deliberation on the matter drew the Lord aside and “began to rebuke him.”  33, Through Peter’s lips Jesus recognized a voice he had heard before. It is a solemn reflection that a well-meaning but unspiritual disciple can become the tool of Satan. The goal of true discipleship is complete conformity to the divine mind, as revealed in Jesus.  34, The first mention in Mark of the cross is here and with its familiar Roman associations the word must have fallen upon apostolic ears far more startingly than it does upon ours…He will accept the last consequences of obedience and take the last risk.  35,36, Paradoxically such surrender and submission it’s the surest and most abiding gain; whereas the self-realization and self-expression so dear to the modern mind is to lose one’s own soul.  37,38 And once lost, what has a man to give in return to redeem it?

OXFORD STUDY BIBLE  31, This is the first of three predictions of the suffering of the Son of Man. The predictions probably reflect the way in which the cross and resurrection were preached by early missionaries, so that their present form may have been influenced by that preaching. From this point the story of Mark moves forward with the cross clearly in view.  32, Suffering and death were not a part of the popular program for the Messiah.  33, the devil or Satan is properly defined in v. 3 as the tempter, who is a personification of the evil force which opposes God.  34, the expression, to take up a cross, is more than a metaphor for burden-bearing or even “sacrificial living”; the possibility of actually dying must be among the terms of discipleship.

COMMENTS USING MUTUAL INVITATION  In order to ensure that everyone who wants to share has the opportunity to speak, we will proceed in the following way:  The leader or designated person will share first. After that person has spoken, he or she then invites another to share. Whom you invite does not need to be the person next to you. After the next person has spoken, that person is given the privilege to invite another to share. If you don't want to say anything, simply say "pass" and proceed to invite another to share. We will do this until everyone has been invited. After all have had the opportunity to answer the question, additional input from others may commence.

TRANSITION

KALEIDOSCOPE BIBLE STUDY  Read the Respectful Communication Guidelines and invite members of the group to affirm them for their time together.  Inform participants that the Bible passage will be read 3 times. After each reading, participants will be invited to share their reflections.  Invite participants to capture a word, a phrase or image when listening to the passage the first time.  Invite someone to read the passage.  A moment of silence to capture a word, a phrase or image that stood out from the passage for them.  Using Mutual Invitation, invite each person to share his or her word, phrase or image briefly. (This should take no more than 5 minutes.)  Invite participants to consider the reflection question appointed for this passage. Invite someone to read the passage a second time.  A moment of silence to reflect on the question.

KALEIDOSCOPE BIBLE STUDY  Using Mutual Invitation, invite each person to share his or her reflection.  Invite participants to consider the following question while listening to the passage again.  “What does God invite you to do, be or change through this passage?”  Invite someone to read the passage a third time.  A moment of silence to reflect on the question.  Using Mutual Invitation, invite each person to share his or her reflection.  End the session with a prayer circle:  Invite participants to join hands in a circle. Invite each person to mentally complete the sentences:  I thank God today...  I ask God today...  The leader will begin by sharing his or her prayers. After he or she has shared, the leader then squeezes the hand of the person to the right. That will be the signal for the next person to share his or her prayers. If the person does not want to share, he or she can simply pass the pulse to the next person. When the pulse comes back to the leader, he or she can begin the Lord’s Prayer and invite everyone to join in.

NEXT WEEK: JOHN 2:13-22: WHERE CAN GOD BE FOUND?