BibleProject | One Story That Leads to JesusSample

Who is this Jesus fellow? Why does he sound insane when he talks about God’s Kingdom? Those questions drive every story in today’s reading.

Jesus heals a man’s hand on the Sabbath, infuriating religious leaders. They immediately start plotting to kill him and soon after call him a “blasphemer.” But whenever Jesus drives out demons, the demons bow and holler, “Son of God!” Later, religious leaders say Jesus is demon-possessed, and Jesus famously calls their posture unforgivable, an “eternal sin.” That escalated quickly!

Note: In context, this “eternal sin” is a complex logical idea about first misjudging God’s work as evil and thereby rejecting God’s forgiveness. It’s not about a simple sin someone can commit that God categorically refuses to forgive. In all of this, Mark shows Jesus’ presence in religious systems and demonic strongholds. Things blow up to the point that religious experts call him demonic, while demons call him God.

Maybe knowing his parents and siblings will validate who he is? No, Jesus says, because my true family is anyone who does the will of God (Mark 3:35). That redefinition of God’s Kingdom family was shocking to Jesus’ first hearers. It still shocks us today. God’s family members are those who prefer not their will but God’s be done.

So Jesus tells a series of parables to invite expansive imagination with small pictures that envision the kingdom through tangible symbols like farmers and seeds. Watch today’s video to gain some insight about Jesus’ use of parables and how to read them.

Jesus leaves his listeners with this image to ponder: How can something so small and seemingly insignificant have any real impact? In a world where swords and warhorses make peace through strength, how could Jesus’ way of tiny, simple acts of generosity, forgiveness, or love really do much?

Think afresh, Jesus says. Imagine the evil-destroying, unstoppable Kingdom of God is “like” a teeny little mustard grain, so small it can’t possibly matter. But somehow, over time and with divine power, it cannot stop growing into the biggest blessing possible.

Reflection Questions

• Jesus provokes a group of religious leaders by healing a man on the Sabbath. What does this episode tell us about God’s priorities with the laws in the Hebrew Bible?
• Meditate on the parable of the sprouting seed in Mark 4:26-29. What does this story make you think about regarding God’s Kingdom?