Jesus in the Gospel of Mark

THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF JESUS

In the book of Mark, in chapter 8, Jesus is speaking with his friends, his disciples, and in this conversation he asks them a simple but important question: "Who do people say I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." Jesus then follows this up with an even more important question:

"But who do you say that I am?"

You can read the whole conversation in Mark 8, but the interesting thing about this question is that people have been asking themselves similar questions about who Jesus is ever since then right up to today. Different people come up with different answers, including the following: a great teacher, a prophet, a good moral role model, a social activist, a religious figure, some even conclude that the whole Jesus story is a hoax! One way or another, everyone has to come to their own conclusion when answering that question about Jesus.

The Bible, primarily through the words and actions of Jesus himself, provides its own answer to that question. And interestingly enough, it spends a lot of time answering that question simply by telling us the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. The Gospel of Mark, for instance, begins by stating that Jesus is the Son of God. So what does that mean, and more specifically, what difference does that make in our lives?

This is the question we will be looking at during our Sunday teachings for the next few weeks as we explore a number of stories from the Gospel of Mark that demonstrate what he meant when Jesus declared himself to be the Son of God, and what that means for us in our lives today. Please feel free to join us, as always you are more than welcome!

Blessings,
Caleb