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Does a particular question or verse stand out to you? Feel free to comment responses to any and all questions you think are particularly interesting or challenging! Also, if you have additional questions you think other’s would benefit from, feel free to add them in the comments.
Day 1: Mark 16:1-5
- Who were the women who went to the tomb?
- Why did they have to wait to anoint Jesus’ body?
- Mark writes that the women went to tomb at sunrise. Some see this as a contradiction with John 20:1. What do you think? Can these two verses be harmonized or is it a contradiction that challenges the truth of the Resurrection?
- What were they worried about on the way there?
- Did they need to worry about this?
- Who was in the tomb?
- What reason do we have for thinking this is not an ordinary man, but a supernatural being?
- Could one ordinary man have moved the stone?
- Do angels always look like supernatural beings? (Hebrews 13:2)
Research Questions:
- Was the testimony of women trusted in this day?
- Why is this such a significant detail to the reliability of the account?
- Why would Mark include the women as the sole witnesses?
- Compare with Matthew 28:3, Luke 24:4 and John 20:12. Are there contradiction or can they be harmonized?
Day 2: Mark 16:6-8
- What is the first thing this man says them?
- Where is Jesus? Is his body there or gone?
- Does this point to a simply spiritual resurrection or a bodily resurrection?
- Why is that important?
- Who specifically does the man tell them to speak with?
- Why is that important? (Remember the Inclusio discussed in the Introduction)
- Where will Jesus meet them? (Mark 14:27-28)
- Did the women speak to anyone?
- Does this mean as they ran, terrified back to the disciples or ever?
- What reason do we have to believe that they did tell the disciples?
Research Question:
- Some Progressive Christians and offshoots of Christianity, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses, believe that Jesus rose spiritually, but not physically.
- What are the different theological and historical implications of a spiritual resurrection vs a physical one?
- Compare the Scriptural evidence from the resurrection accounts in the Gospels and look for indications of a physical or spiritual resurrection.
Day 3: Mark 16:8b-20
Note: This section is generally known to have been added later to the text of Mark, likely by someone who thought that the ending of Mark was rather abrupt in verse 8a. Some manuscripts have an extended verse 8, while others add 9-20. The earliest and best manuscripts end after 8a.
Most of the text in this section seems to be taking from the other Gospels.Verse 9 (John 20:11-17 and Luke 8:2)
- Verse 10 (John 20:18)
- Verse 11 and 13 (Luke 24:11 and 41)
- Verse 12-13 (Luke 24:13-35)
- Verse 14 (Luke 24:36-49 and John 20:19-23)
- Verse 14b (John 20:24-29)
- Verse 15 (Matthew 28:19 and Luke 24:47)
- Verse 19 (Luke 24:51)
- What verses are not found in other Gospels?
- What problematic things are included in those verses?
- How should we treat this section of scripture?
- Is it authoritative?
- Should we teach from it?
- Does this section of Scripture mean we cannot trust the Bible to have been reliably transmitted or does the fact that we know it is not original point to the reliability of Scripture?
Research Question: How do we know that the Bible we have is reliable?
Dig into how the Bible has been transmitted, the manuscript evidence, the total number of variations and the total number of variations that could both change the meaning of the text and could have been present in the originals. For more information on this, visit www.notatheologian.blog, and search under Apologetics.
Day 4: Mark 1-5
- Do you notice anything new that you didn’t see before?
- Does any section carry more meaning or weight after studying the whole book so intently?
- What passage from this section means the most to you?
- What passages do you want to dig into more to understand better?
- If you walked through this section of Mark with a new believer, what you would most want them to take away from it?
- Is there anything in this section that you believed differently about before this study?
Day 5: Mark 6-10
- Do you notice anything new that you didn’t see before?
- Does any section carry more meaning or weight after studying the whole book so intently?
- What passage from this section means the most to you?
- What passages do you want to dig into more to understand better?
- If you walked through this section of Mark with a new believer, what you would most want them to take away from it?
- Is there anything in this section that you believed differently about before this study?
Day 6: Mark 11-16
- Do you notice anything new that you didn’t see before?
- Does any section carry more meaning or weight after studying the whole book so intently?
- What passage from this section means the most to you?
- What passages do you want to dig into more to understand better?
- If you walked through this section of Mark with a new believer, what you would most want them to take away from it?
- Is there anything in this section that you believed differently about before this study?
Day 7: Reflection
- What are the three most significant things you will take from this inductive and in-depth study of Mark?
- Looking back on what you read, what was your biggest “aha” moment?
- Will this study affect how you read other parts of the Bible?
- How?
- If you could summarize this study in one word, what would it be?
- Would you recommend this study to another?
- Do you feel like you better understand Jesus and his time on earth as truly man and truly God?
- Do you feel better equipped to discuss differences in beliefs with other Christians and non-Christians?
- Will you?
- If you could summarize the Gospel of Mark in one sentence, what would it be?
Final Words:
If this study has been helpful for you, please feel free to share it. Below is the link to the entire PDF of the study. You are welcome to use this document in your own Bible Studies and church groups free of charge.
There is no cost to the materials as long as the study is accredited to this blog and my name so readers could find other materials if they so choose. I would recommend having the study printed and bound at your local print shops for ease of use.
If you have enjoyed this study or you have any comments/questions, I would love to hear them. Please email me at the follow address:
notatheologianblog AT gmail.com
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All glory, honor and praise be to the One who saves.
In Christ,
Kayla Clyde
Not a Theologian 