At this point in the gospel of Mark, Jesus has been traveling and announcing the Kingdom of God. And as he’s been teaching, performing signs and wonders and casting out demons, he’s been calling people to follow him. But he’s alluded to this motif in Israels prophets about having ears to hear or eyes to see…. And Mark situated todays passage between to stirrings about seeing and blindness.
This passages engages us with similar questions of how able we are to see Jesus for who he is and to take account of our willingness to follow him.
----------REFLECT----------
1. Just as Jesus asked his disciples, think about your own answer to the question. Who do you say Jesus is?
2. In our world of self-promotion, Jesus’ call to “deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me” is about the most counter-cultural thing we can imagine. However, seeing ourselves as God’s beautiful, well-made creations and loving ourselves is essential to our ability to love others. How then, should we read and understand this command from Jesus? How do you deal with the tension between self denial and your sense of dignity?
3. When you think about your life, what kind of sacrifices might Jesus be calling you to make in order to follow him today?
----------Connect----------
