The Bible in a Year

New Testament

Mark 7 to 14
Read this coming week:
Jan 31 Ex 6‐7, Ps 28, Mark 7 Feb 1 Ex 8‐9, Ps 29, Mark 8 Feb 2 Ex 10‐11,
Ps 30, Mark 9 Feb 3 Ex 12, Ps 31, Mark 10 Feb 4 Ex 13‐14, Ps 32, Mark 11
Feb 5 Ex 15‐16, Ps 33, Mark 12 Feb 6 Ex 17‐19, Ps 34, Mark 13 Feb 7 Ex
20‐21, Ps 35, Mark 14

Reading Questions
For next week you’re reading Mark 7 to 14. Answer the
following:
• What is amazing about the Syrophoenician
woman?
• What are the disciples supposed to understand in
Mark 8:14-21?
• Which 2 Old Testament figures visit with Jesus
during the Transfiguration?
• Why does it seem that it is hard to follow Jesus in
Mark?
• What is the “lesson of the withered fig tree” in 11?
• How does Jesus interpret David’s psalm in 12?
• What are the signs of “the close of the age”?
 • You just read the Passion narrative of Jesus in
Matthew two weeks ago. What is different
between Matthew and Mark’s telling?

The Messianic Secret in Mark

One of the unique elements of Mark’s telling of the
Gospel is that Jesus constantly seems to be telling
people to keep quiet about His nature as the Messiah –
the savior of the world. One of the most notable of
Jesus’ commands for secrecy comes right after the
confession of Jesus as the Christ in Mark 8.

Several theories have been postulated as to why Mark’s

Gospel seems to focus on this “messianic secret”.
These theories range from those who believe that the
“messianic secret” passages are an addition to the
original sayings of Jesus, to those who believe that the
messianic secret passages were actually said by Jesus,
to those who believe in something of a mixture or use of
hyperbole.

Believing that the messianic secret passages in Mark

were actually uttered by Mark, we then have to come to
some explanation of why Jesus would have told people
not to reveal His identity. The structure and content of
Mark’s Gospel seem to point to an explanation.

The Gospel according to Mark seems to put Jesus into a

fast paced “race to the cross” as the word
“immediately” seems to jump Jesus from one scene to
the next. It is possible that the “race to the cross” and
the “messianic secret” both point to the idea that we
don’t really understand Jesus and Him as messiah until
we see Him on the cross and raised from the tomb.
Please don’t throw this away. If you’re not going to use it, leave it for
someone else to use.