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The Studies Stream offers easy access to all the existing Growing Disciples video resources. This stream also features new ‘Deep Dive’ studies on selected books and important themes of the Bible. Frequently Asked Questions will also be answered in written articles. New resources will be added each month.
The title of Mark’s gospel makes clear that it’s all about Jesus, who is the Messiah, the Son of God. Mark presents this message in an economical and direct manner that will be useful for the persecuted 1st century Christians of Rome. Mark’s economic use of language should never be thought simplistic. Instead, he invites the reader’s inquiry into Jesus’ claim to be the kind of suffering servant saviour Messiah described in the latter writings of the prophet Messiah.
The tomb was empty. The angel explained this saying, �He has risen, just as he said.� Human history turns on this one event. Imagine trying take it all in!
So is it possible to be a �secret disciple� of Jesus? It seems the answer is, �Yes, but not for very long.� Joseph and Nicodemus show us that ultimately the belief that Jesus is Lord means that we must step outside of the world�s ways.
All the details recorded in John�s account of Jesus� crucifixion serve as verification. The truth is reinforced and tested by the details. This is the work of an eye-witness. Meditation and reflection on the details allow us to enter into the text and its meaning in new ways, and so draw near to God in response.
At the end of a series of sham trials and interrogations, Jesus was condemned to die by torture; that is, by crucifixion. John's gospel record of this event is quite economically told. Apparently small details are collected together, and together they do the job of telling the whole story. And so our attention fixes on the details in order to grasp a full picture.
Finished! Done and complete. Jesus' work is finished in his death.
Jesus experiences absolute abandonment on the cross, the kind of abandonment envisaged by Psalm 22.
