Jesus begins to teach in parables as a means of sifting the crowd. Who's really listening? And how is the message being received?
Jesus offers a sober warning to those who consistently harden their hearts to the evidence in front of their eyes about who Jesus is.
Before Jesus sends his apostles out to preach, he calls them to be with him. This word, 'with', summarises the whole Bible story.
Jesus begins to clash with the religious leaders, as he reinterprets their traditions in light of his own coming.
*Sound starts around 13 minutes in* Jesus isn't looking for perfect people, he makes a beeline for the broken, offering himself as the solution they need.
So far in Mark we've seen Jesus heal, but in this passage he addresses a deeper and more fundamental need first.
When Jesus announced the Kingdom of God was arriving in and through him, it was accompanied by power to change and transform reality.
Jesus came announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of God. One of the core signs of this new reality was the overthrow of evil powers.
The opening words to Mark's gospel account are loaded with clues that point us back to the beginning of a different story...
We kick of our series in the gospel of Mark with an overview of the book's main theme: revealing Jesus' true identity.