Mark 14-16

Jesus Predicts His Disciples Will Abandon Him (Read Mark 14:27-31)

Similar to the prophesy about Judas a few verses before, Jesus makes another disturbing prophesy about the rest of
his disciples. What does he say they all will do?
How does Peter respond to Jesus’ statement?
Jesus makes it even more real for Peter, telling him he will deny Jesus not once, but three times. Peter still couldn’t
believe it and said he would even die for Christ. Even those closest to Jesus made mistakes. Later, we will see that we
don’t need to be perfect for Jesus to accept us.

Jesus Prays in the Garden (Read Mark 14:32-42)

Why do you think Jesus was so distressed?
Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to him. He knew how brutal his death would be. He also knew the sins
of the world would be upon him as he was the perfect sacrifice for sin. It was all very overwhelming.
Why do you think Jesus went ahead with all of this, even though it was so overwhelming?
What does that tell you about how valuable you are to Jesus?

Jesus arrested and put on trial (Read Mark 14:43-65)

The rest of chapter 14 and the beginning of 15 outline Jesus’ trial. It is obvious that there is no attempt at actual justice
or finding facts here. As we previously saw, the authorities were already looking for an excuse to kill Jesus ever since
he cleared out the temple (Mark 11:12-19). When the soldiers came and arrested Jesus, it all happened just like he
said it would and his disciples deserted him (14:50).
Through this whole story we see just how in control of things Jesus was. Jesus maintained his composure. He doesn’t
retaliate. He doesn’t blast them with the truth. He allows the mob to hand him over to the Romans for crucifixion
without a fight.
Why didn’t Jesus speak up or use his authority to his own advantage and avoid all the pain and suffering he knew he
would endure?
If you were the judge in this case, what would you do? What would your verdict be?

Jesus’ Shame and Suffering (Read Mark 15:9-41)

What are a few ways Jesus physically suffered?

Read John 3:16 & 1 John 3:16-18

God gave Jesus to the world because of God’s love for us. What does John say that means for us and how we are to treat
others?
What Jesus did on the cross for us set an example of the kind of selfless life God wants for us to live. It is amazing that
God could have just commanded from heaven that we live that way. Instead, he became a man and walked among us.
Not only that, Jesus was willing to suffer and die to show us the way to God and cleanse us of our sins.

Why did Jesus Have to Die?

One of the biggest questions about all of this is why did Jesus have to die? Couldn’t God have just proclaimed all sins
forgiven and opened up the doors of heaven to every single person and let us all in regardless?
Jesus had to die for three reasons:
1.  Sin requires sacrifice (Heb 9:22)
2.  We have all sinned and the penalty of sin is death (Rom 3:23-24, Rom 6:23) which means Jesus took our
place just as our Passover Lamb
3.  There is one more big reason we will get to in a moment.

Victory Over Death (Read Mark 16:1-20)

There is one thing that sets Christianity apart from every other religion of the world. Every other religion says you are
on your own and if you don’t do things just right you have no hope. Every other religion is about your ability to do
certain things to save yourself. That is not true of Christianity. In Christianity, God first took the initiative to offer his
Son for our sins so we could have eternal life. If we put our faith in Christ we can have eternal life.
The third reason Jesus had to die:- Jesus’ mission was to remove any obstacles that exist in the world between us
and having eternal lifewith God.
What is an obstacle that separates us from God?
The two biggest obstacles to life with God are sin(rebellion against God) and death(the result of sin). If we are to
have eternal life, which is what we are looking for in this study somehow sin and death have to be overcome.
Jesus lived in perfect obedience to God. Living that perfect life made him eligible to be the perfect, spotless sacrifice
for our sins. Jesus died for us on the cross. He died in our place. But Jesus did more than just die.
What happened to Jesus after he died that is different than anyone else who has ever lived?
Jesus predicted he would die in Jerusalem and on the third day he would rise again (Mark 10:33-34).
How does Jesus prophesying his own death and resurrection show that all of this was no accident, it was God’s plan?
Jesus didn’t accidentally die at the hands of the Romans. Jesus did all of this on purpose because he knew that if he
didn’t die for the sins of world that we would have no hope and that we would stand condemned before God.

Read Mark 16:7

Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope. They had all denied him once but Peter denied Jesus three times and yet Jesus calls
him by name and still accepts him even though he had failed. There is hope in Jesus because he is graceful with our
mistakes as long as we continue to accept his graceful invitation back into his presence.
Have you ever experienced grace by someone who had authority over you? What was that like?
What does it mean to you that God loves you and extends his grace to cover times in your life that weren’t living like God
wanted you to live?
What do you believe about Jesus so far?
How relevant do you see his death and resurrection being to you and your life?

What is God Looking for?

Now that you have finished reading Mark you may be asking yourself, “what kind of response is God looking for from
me?”
When people get to this point, most people realize that we all have things in our life that God doesn’t approve of.
What do you do if your life and the way God wants you to live are not the same?
The Bible actually answers that question for us. The first place we find the answer is in Acts.

Read Acts 2:36-37

In Acts 2, Peter had just preached about Jesus. How did his listeners respond to the message of Christ?
Their question is our question. If all these things are true, our hearts are cut and we are left asking, “What should we
do?”
Christians today try to answer this question in many different ways. Some say the answer to that question is to just
believe. Others say you are to pray a prayer asking Jesus into your heart. How did the inspired apostle Peter, one of Jesus’
closest friends, answer our question?

Read Acts 2:38-39

Repentance is a word used to describe our realizing that some of our actions are wrong and that we want to change
our behaviors, attitudes, and actions to be more Christ-like.
Baptism is a word that literally means to be immersed in something, in this case to be immersed in water. Baptism is
something we submit to in order to start our walk with Christ. Baptism is something that is done to us and through
which God works some pretty amazing things.

Baptism Connects Us with Christ:

Read Romans 6:3-7

What two things does Paul tell us baptism connects us with?
Baptism is a beautiful connection point between us and the death and resurrection of Christ. Just as Christ died and
was put down in the grave, we are put down into the water. Just as Christ was raised alive again we are raised from
the water. Jesus is calling us to a new kind of life, the same life He lived. Here is what that means…every single
one of us will die some day. It is not a question of if but of when. The only hope we have for eternal life is that we
are resurrected from that grave to live with God forever. God is telling us exactly how to make that connection, that
through faith we submit to baptism so that our sins will be forgiven (Acts 2:38) and that we can be connected with
Jesus death and resurrection.

Counting the Cost:

But before we do that, we must realize what we are getting into - Read Luke 9:23-26
Jesus says discipleship starts with self-denial. Most of the trouble we get ourselves into in life, including sin, comes
from putting our self first. Jesus says if you recognize that he is Lord/Master of your life then you can no longer call the
shots. He does and we follow.
The cross is a symbol of death. Jesus makes clear in the next verse that if we want true life we have to lose life as we
have known it in order to take on a new life in Christ. This process of submission to Christ starts in our baptism but it
doesn’t stop there. We continue to live in submission to the will of God every single day after. We won’t do that perfect
but God wants that to be the way we live our lives.
What do you think Jesus means by taking up your cross daily?
Deciding to follow Jesus isn’t a decision to consider lightly. It changes so much about how we live. Before anyone
considers following Jesus they must first count the cost. Read: Luke 14:28-33. Jesus actually predicts that some
will say they want to follow, but wont have what it takes to continue to follow him in their everyday life. Some may
have a lot of time left on this earth and others may have only have a little time left.
Whether you have 1 day or another 70 years: Do you have the dedication to live every day for God?
When Jesus is talking about the man who is building the tower that man carefully counts the cost because he doesn’t
want to appear foolish to those around him. If he does start to build and isn’t able to finish Jesus says this man will
be ridiculed. If we start living the Christian life and are not able to finish, then we not only make ourselves subject to
ridicule, but we may also cause others to ridicule God and Christianity. That is why before anyone takes their first step
as a new Christian they must determine if they have the commitment to live each day for Christ.
Jesus says in Luke 14:33 “In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my
disciples.”

Questions to Consider

Have you counted the cost?
Do you think you can put God first (above all other things), and give up the things you must to follow him?
After reading about Jesus what do you think of him at this point?
Are you willing to follow Jesus as your Lord?
If you haven’t been baptized, is that something you are willing to do?
What will you have to give up in order to become his follower?
What things might prohibit you from living every day as a Christian?