Week 1 of this devotional is designed to begin the day before Ash Wednesday and continue through Saturday. Week 2 begins on the first Sunday of Lent.

Welcome

Hi, my name is Barry Corey, and I’ve been honored to serve as Biola’s president for nearly nineteen years. Thank you for your interest in our 2026 Center for Christianity, Culture and the Arts’ Lent Project.

This year we’re reflecting on the Gospel of Mark: the fast-paced, action-packed narrative believed by most scholars to be the first of the Gospel accounts penned.

We have titled our devotional series “THE SERVANT KING WE LONG TO KNOW!”, because at the heart of this Gospel is an encounter with the person of Jesus. In the stories throughout Mark’s pages, we watch others interact with Jesus: perplexed, distressed, enamoured, mesmerized, moved, healed, rebuked, comforted and transformed by Jesus. If you have spent any time reading the Bible and in your relationship with Christ, I am sure you find yourself relating to some of these reactions. I have.

Maybe you find yourself deeply drawn to Jesus, moved by his voice of authority and healing. Maybe you find yourself angry at or confused by him, unsure what his teachings mean, afraid of the radical cost of his requests. Perhaps you have been convicted by his rebukes, or stunned by his power. The one reaction, however, that this striking narrative does not allow us is indifference.

This year I have been deeply impacted by Jesus’ revelation of how much he sees us, loves us and forgives us. I have written an entry to this Lent Project about Jesus who identifies us in the midst of the crowds, knows us by name and longs for us to put our faith in him. This is Jesus, the Son of God who died for our sins and generously forgives, with his grace upon grace upon grace. And he knows me, he knows you.

This Lent, I encourage you to turn toward Jesus, whether engaging with him feels like comfort or confrontation. Encounter him in his holiness as fully God and encounter him as incarnate, plainly revealed as fully man. Encounter him as powerful, the king conquering our most feared enemies of illness, disaster, violence, demons, sin and death. Encounter him as gentle, lowly and unexpected. Encounter him as the servant who submitted himself to death for our sakes, giving us new life, and encounter him as the risen, victorious King that he is, reigning gloriously, the one to whom every knee will one day bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus is Lord.

And as you do, I hope you decide for the first time or decide anew what you will do about Jesus. Walk this long road through the season of Lent to Easter and beyond with Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, the servant King we long to know.

Welcome to the 2026 Lent Project.

Sixth century miniature from the Rabbula Gospels, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, codex Plutei 1.56, Florence

Introduction to A Lenten Meditation on the Gospel of Mark: The Servant King We Long to Know

In 2023, the Lent Project featured meditations on the gospel of John. It was one of our most popular offerings. This year, we turn to another gospel writer, Mark, and his intriguing account of Christ’s mission and ministry. The gospel of Mark is both fast-paced and jam-packed with lots of dramatic action. Events happen in quick succession with a powerful sense of import. Using language and details that heighten Christ’s mighty deeds and words, Mark is on a mission to convince his readers that Jesus is indeed the victorious Servant Messiah. Much less focused on dialogue than the other gospels, Mark is able to graphically detail a series of miraculous episodes that are transformational not only for the original New Testament recipients but also for contemporary readers.

Most New Testament scholars agree that Mark was the first to write the good news of Christ (65–70 AD) and was heavily relied upon by both Matthew and Luke as they penned their own treatises. It is also the shortest of the four gospels. According to Christian tradition, Mark was written at the urgent request of persecuted Roman Christians, who wanted a hard copy of the apostle Peter’s teachings so that they could hear them again and again. New Testament theologian Dr. William L. Lane referred to Mark’s gospel as a “pamphlet for hard times.” In it, Jesus predicted His own suffering and death on three separate occasions. These prophecies culminate in Mark 10:45, which echoes Isaiah’s famous “Suffering Servant” passage (Isaiah 53). Mark’s healing gospel offered concrete examples of what it meant to be a follower of Christ, especially for those facing affliction, imprisonment, and martyrdom.

The evangelist Luke first mentioned the author, John Mark, in Acts 12. When Peter was miraculously rescued from a Jerusalem prison in the middle of the night, the startled apostle found his way to the home of Mary and her son, John Mark; they were a prominent early Christian family. Mark (his Roman name) accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey, but ended up leaving early. His abandonment caused a major rift between Paul and Barnabas (Acts 15: 36–41). Mark eventually became a mentee of St. Peter, assisting him in Rome, where John Mark transcribed the apostle’s teachings and firsthand accounts of the time Peter had spent with Christ. Early church father Justin Martyr referred to the gospel of Mark as "the memoirs of Peter.” Second-century Christian theologian Irenaeus wrote, “And after their [Peter and Paul’s] deaths, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, himself also handed down to us in writing the things preached by Peter.”

British actor Max McLean gives a blockbuster dramatic interpretation of the entire gospel of Mark in one uninterrupted performance. He periodically brings his vivid account of Christ’s earthly sojourn to life on stages around the world. You can find a recording of it on a number of media outlets. This is what McLean says about the production: “Our familiarity with the story goes away and the gospel becomes something new, fresh, powerful, and different. It’s almost as if you find yourself hearing the story for the first time. The true heroic nature of Jesus becomes almost overwhelming. . . .When we look at our own conversion, many of us first fell in love with Jesus because we discovered who he is through the Gospels and then we were motivated to follow him.” McLean is onto something profound. The genius of Mark’s writing style invites readers into the throes of the gospel as participants. Stepping into the story, we find ourselves walking with Christ and His disciples. The questions Christ’s followers have become ours: “Who is this man, Jesus, and what are we to do with him?” Join us over the next eight weeks as we meditate on and wonder at the one called Jesus Messiah—the Servant King!