Study questions

Life-Study of Mark

1. A Word of Introduction (1)

  1. What do we see in the gospel of Mark that cannot be found in other three gospels of John, Matthew, or Luke?
  2. Use what Mark includes and not include in his writings to describe the features of his gospel.

2. A Word of Introduction (2)

  1. Using verses from Isaiah, show how these prophecies can help us understand more fully the gospel of Mark concerning the Lord as a Slave.
  2. Using Philippians 2:5-11, explain what it means for Christ Jesus to take the “form of a slave.”

3. The Beginning of the Gospel and the Initiation of the Slave-Savior (1)

  1. What is the content of the gospel? How is it related to the Old Testament dispensations?
  2. Expound on how the three words promise, law, and prophesy express the contents of the Old Testament and the gospel.

4. The Beginning of the Gospel and the Initiation of the Slave-Savior (2)

  1. What was the gospel that John the baptist preached? Use the verses in John 1 to show that this preaching was the beginning of the gospel of grace.
  2. Why did Jesus, who was without sin, need to be baptized?

5. The Contents of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (1)

  1. How does preaching the gospel depend on teaching? How can we develop the skill to teach the gospel?
  2. How is the gospel related to the kingdom?

6. The Contents of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (2)

  1. What are the five matters that comprised the Slave-Savior's gospel service?
  2. How do each of these five matters apply to our gospel service today?

7. The Ways the Slave-Savior Carried Out His Gospel Service (1)

  1. What are the five incidents from Mark 2:1 through Mark 3:6 that show us the Lord's way in carrying out this rich gospel?
  2. In carrying out the gospel service, what is the first thing that must be done to help people? How can we do this?

8. The Ways the Slave-Savior Carried Out His Gospel Service (2)

  1. What is the very best way to carry out the gospel service according to what we see in Luke 2:1-17?
  2. What are the three cases of sickness in the Gospel of Mark an how do they reveal the way the Slave-Savior serves us, the sick ones?

9. The Ways the Slave-Savior Carried Out His Gospel Service (3)

  1. What five key words summarize the ways the Slave-Savior carries out His gospel service? How does their historical sequence follow our experience thus confirming the Bible is God's word?
  2. How are Christ being our Physician, Bridegroom, new cloth, new wine and fresh wineskin related in our experience?

10. The Ways the Slave-Savior Carried Out His Gospel Service (4)

  1. How does the Lord's being the Real David and the Lord of the Sabbath justify Him in caring for the hunger of His disciples on the Sabbath?
  2. How do we see the Lord's move on two Sabbaths?

11. The Slave-Savior's Auxiliary Acts for the Gospel Service (1)

  1. What is the difference between pressing upon the Lord and touching Him?
  2. What does the Lord’s appointing the apostles teach us about learning to raise up others in the work and in the church?

12. The Slave-Savior's Auxiliary Acts for the Gospel Service (2)

  1. How did the Lord Jesus plunder Satan’s house? How should this view govern our concept of gospel preaching?
  2. Why must we not remain in the relationship of the natural life but remain in that of the spiritual life?

13. The Parables of the Kingdom (1)

  1. What is the kingdom of God? Why should that be our goal in our gospel service?
  2. Use the Scriptures to prove the kingdom of God is not suspended today but is found in the church.

14. The Parables of the Kingdom (2)

  1. According to Mark 4, in what way is the kingdom of God both the first issue and end result of gospel?
  2. Use the comparison of human genes producing human life to illustrate the kingdom seed in us producing the divine kingdom of God. Use three Bible references showing the entire Triune God is in us.

15. The Parables of the Kingdom (3)

  1. How is the kingdom of God produced? What is the intrinsic teaching of the New Testament?
  2. In the New Testament, where do we see the sowing, spreading, growth, development and harvest of the kingdom seed?

16. The Church and the Kingdom

  1. Where in the New Testament do we see that the church and the kingdom are interchangeable terms?
  2. How can the illustration of a garden portray the relationship between the church and the reality of the kingdom?

17. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (1)

  1. Why do the first two actions of the Lord's move from the end of chapter 4 follow the parables of the kingdom? How do they relate?
  2. How have you experienced the Lord's healing of the same conditions as those the Lord healed in Mark 5? Who else do you know who needs the same healing?

18. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (2)

  1. Compare your self to the parties in Mark 6. Which do you value and seek more, position, title or Christ? If you spoke the gospel and were rejected, what would your reaction be?
  2. How is presenting the truth of the Word today the way to cast out demons?

19. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (3)

  1. How do we see a portrait of the church life in Mark 4—6?
  2. How do the two miracles in Mark 6—the Lord's feeding of the five thousand and His walking on the sea—show His ability to provide for His followers' need and carry them through hardships?

20. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (4)

  1. Why did the Lord rebuke the Pharisees and scribes in Mark 7?
  2. Based on Mark 7, what are the things that defile a person?

21. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (5)

  1. Based on chapter 7 of Mark, what is man’s actual inner condition? What has the Lord shown you concerning the condition of your heart?
  2. How does the tradition of man cover up man's real condition?

22. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (6)

  1. How does the case of the Syrophoenician woman show us the inner significance of the Lord's gospel service?
  2. How can we take the proper position and standing to receive the Lord?

23. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (7)

  1. According to Mark 7, why do we have problems speaking in meetings and what is the way to have something to speak?
  2. What kind of healing requires a more intimate touch with the Lord? Where does this healing happen?

24. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (8)

  1. According to the significance of the previous events and the place, what is necessary to see a vision of Jesus as the Christ?
  2. Using verses from the epistles of Paul, give the meaning of the Lord’s words in 8:33-37.

25. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (9)

  1. What does it mean to take up our cross?
  2. What does the Father’s response to Peter’s absurd proposal teach us concerning God’s New Testament economy?

26. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (10)

  1. What is the highlight of the Gospel of Mark?
  2. What do we mean by Christ being our "all-inclusive replacement" and how can Christ become our replacement?

27. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (11)

  1. Explain why the word “prayer” in Mark 9:29 actually indicates “no longer I, but Christ."
  2. Explain how the Lord’s teaching concerning humility was a way for the disciples to practice their vision concerning Christ as their replacement.

28. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (12)

  1. What is the vision we need to see in order to understand Mark 9:38-50?
  2. How can we be guarded from stumbling ourselves and others and what is the way to enter into the coming kingdom?

29. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (13)

  1. What is to "have salt in yourselves" in Mark 9:50 and how does it relate to the vision in Mark 8?
  2. How does Mark 9:40 not conflict with Matthew 12:30? What does being general regarding practice produce?

30. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (14)

  1. What is the proper way to study the stories in Mark 10? What should the warnings here encourage us to do?
  2. What is the difference between receiving the kingdom and entering into the kingdom in Mark 10:15? What are the coming age and eternal life in Mark 10:30?

31. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (15)

  1. What are three matters in Mark 10 that frustrate our entering into the kingdom?
  2. What is the best way to handle marriage, oldness, and money to enter the kingdom?

32. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (16)

  1. What is the meaning of the Lord being "on the way to Jerusalem"?
  2. What does it mean for us to be included in the Lord's death?

33. The Move of the Slave-Savior's Gospel Service (17)

  1. What is indicated by the “cup” and “baptism” in Mark 10:38? Why did the Lord Jesus respond to the disciples request for position in this way?
  2. Why were the account of James and John asking for position put together with the story of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus?

34. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (1)

  1. Why was it necessary for the Lord’s disciples to be brought into His death and resurrection?
  2. How did the Lord prepare for His redemptive service?

35. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (2)

  1. What was the significance of the Lord’s cursing the fig tree and cleansing the temple?
  2. Why did the Lord’s tone change in Mark 11, from being meek and gentle in Mark 10?

36. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (3)

  1. How can one say that, though they did not die, the disciples passed through the Lord’s testing, death, and resurrection?
  2. Using the Lord’s answers, expound how His divine wisdom and human dignity were manifested over the hypocrisy and scheming of religtionists and politicians.

37. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (4)

  1. How was the Lord Jesus qualified to be the passover lamb?
  2. What was the question of questions asked by Jesus and its answer?

38. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (5)

  1. How did Jesus’s question to His questioners expose their lack?
  2. How can we see a contrast between vanity and reality in the Lord's warning concerning the scribes and His appraisal concerning the widow?

39. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (6)

  1. How did the Lord Jesus prepare His disciples for HIs death?
  2. Using Mark 13, describe the things the Lord spoke to the disciples that would take place after His resurrection until His coming back.

40. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (7)

  1. What are the prophecies concerning the things to come in Mark 13? What is the purpose of understanding these prophecies?
  2. How should we respond to these prophecies?

41. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (8)

  1. What does the term "birth pangs" from Mark 13:8 imply? What is being born and what should be expected until then?
  2. What is the central point of God’s economy?

42. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (9)

  1. How is the woman pouring out the ointment more than a mere charge to love the Lord, but indicates union with His death and resurrection?
  2. According to the picture in Mark 14 in the house at Bethany, what should our church life today be like?

43. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (10)

  1. How do we remember the Lord at His table?
  2. How are the blood, the covenant, and the cup related?

44. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (11)

  1. How is it possible for the Triune God to be our life and blessing?
  2. What is the deep significance of eating the bread and drinking the cup at the Lord's table?

45. The Preparation of the Slave-Savior for His Redemptive Service (12)

  1. How did the Lord’s exposure of His disciples bring them into His death?
  2. How did the Lord make the disciples His reproduction?

46. The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God's Redemption (1)

  1. What specifically is God’s will that Christ prayed for in Mark 14:36? Explain this in light of Hebrews 10.
  2. How did Christ's being crucified fulfill the Old Testament prophecies?

47. The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God's Redemption (2)

  1. What was the significance of the Lord's suffering on the cross from the "third hour" until the "ninth hour"? How was He treated before and during the crucifixion?
  2. Describe the burial of the Lord. How was He treated in His burial?

48. The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God's Redemption (3)

  1. How and why did God forsake the crucified Christ? Did God leave Christ?
  2. What are the two aspects of the Trinity revealed in Matthew chapter 1 and Matthew chapter 3?

49. The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God's Redemption (4)

  1. Why is the matter of Christ being a God-man on the cross, not merely a perfect man whom God forsook, a central matter of the Christian faith?
  2. List the seven negative things dealt with through Christ's death, and the one positive thing. Use a reference for each. Find a hymn in our hymnal on one or more of these aspects

50. The Death and Resurrection of the Slave-Savior for the Accomplishment of God's Redemption (5)

  1. Using Peter’s preaching on the Lord’s resurrection and ascension in Acts 2—5, prove that resurrection and ascension are for not only our salvation but also Gods building.
  2. What does it mean to be “regenerated unto a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3)?

51. The Resurrection and Ascension of the Slave-Savior and His Universal Spreading of the Gospel Through His Disciples

  1. Why does believing need to be matched with baptism?
  2. How can we experience the ascended Christ?

52. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (1)

  1. What are seventeen aspects of the Lord's living, moving and working by the Holy Spirit?
  2. How does the Gospel of Mark reveal a life that is fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy?

53. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (2)

  1. What are the two kinds of lives revealed in the Gospel of Mark and in the epistle of James?
  2. What is the proper way to measure the epistle of James? Why did Paul rebuke Peter in Galatians chapter 2?

54. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (3)

  1. What are some of the kingdoms we can live in? What kind of kingdom do you live in today?
  2. Contrast the life that James lived and the life that the Lord Jesus lived. Which living expresses God's desire?

55. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (4)

  1. How does “the beginning of the gospel” in Mark 1:1, and indeed its position in the Bible, imply the termination of all the old things?
  2. Give two illustrations of the difference between human ethics and Christian virtues produced from God’s life and nature.

56. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (5)

  1. Why was the Lord Jesus baptized?
  2. What was the difference between Jesus' life and work, and why is that so?

57. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (6)

  1. How does the Lord's word in Mark 4 explain what He was doing in chapters 1—3?
  2. What is the kingdom of God revealed in Mark 4?

58. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (7)

  1. What is God’s New Testament economy based on what is revealed in Mark 4?
  2. How should seeing God’s New Testament economy in Mark 4 change the focus of our living?

59. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (8)

  1. What are the four cases of general healing mentioned in chapters one through three of Mark? How do these healings apply to us?
  2. What particular organs need to be healed so we can have a proper relationship with God?

60. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (9)

  1. What is the meaning of the title “the Christ” in Mark 8:29? What is the purpose of the Lord’s being the Christ?
  2. What was the disciples' eventual understanding of the events recorded in Mark? What was the difference before and after the Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection?

61. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (10)

  1. Using verses from New Testament books other than Mark, prove that we were included in the death and resurrection of Christ.
  2. Why does God not want us to pursue the good things of culture, religion, ethics, morality, philosophy, the improvement of character, and try to be spiritual, scriptural, holy, and victorious?

62. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (11)

  1. What was terminated at the baptism of Jesus?
  2. What one action uniquely characterizes a life fully according to God's New Testament economy? Can we do the same?

63. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (12)

  1. How did the Lord live a life of sowing the Triune God into people?
  2. What is the basis for saying that Christ is our entire universal replacement?

64. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (13)

  1. What was the Lord’s way of preaching the gospel?
  2. What is the development of the kingdom seed?

65. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (14)

  1. What is the soil that God uses to grow Christ into the kingdom of God? What was the condition of this soil?
  2. How can this soil be healed? What does it mean to grow weeds in this soil?

66. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (15)

  1. What does it mean for the Lord Jesus Christ as the seed to be transfigured in us?
  2. According to Mark 10, why is it difficult for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of God?

67. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (16)

  1. What are the two aspects of the Holy Spirit, and when did the Lord give each to the disciples?
  2. When did you receive the Holy Spirit essentially and economically? What is necessary for you to experience this?

68. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (17)

  1. Using verses and the illustration of a seed, elaborate on how the Spirit of Jesus is still Jesus.
  2. What should we do after seeing that Jesus Christ is not gone but is in us as the Spirit?

69. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (18)

  1. What is the first section of God's New Testament economy as its initiation in the four gospels?
  2. What is the second section of God's New Testament economy as its development in Acts through Jude?

70. A Life According to and for God's New Testament Economy (19)

  1. Describe the two primary issues of God’s New Testament economy in the book of Revelation?
  2. How may we live a life fully according to and for God’s New Testament economy?