Will the Real Jesus Please Rise Up

The Secret of Jesus’ Identity

For Openers:

• What was the hardest secret you ever had to keep?
• If you could be someone else for a day, who would you want to be?
• Something most people don’t know about me is that...

For Your Information:

A) Read Mark 1.32-34 and 3.11-12. In both these passages, what did Jesus prohibit the demons and unclean spirits from doing? Why? (1.34 and 3.12)

B) Read Mark 1.40-45. What did Jesus "sternly warn" (the Greek word is quite severe) the leper to do? (By the way, what does the leper do? - 1.45)

C) Read Mark 4.10-12. What is the purpose of Jesus’ parables?

D) Read Mark 5.35-43. This picks up the final part of the story about Jairus’ daughter whom Jesus has been summoned to heal. What are the people to do in 5.43?

E) Read Mark 7.24. What does this verse say Jesus’ wanted to do?

F) Read Mark 7.32-36. Where does Jesus perform the healing? (7.33) What did Jesus order the man to do? (By the way, what did the man do? - 7.36)

G) Read Mark 8.22-26. What was the blind man to do after Jesus healed him?

H) Read Mark 9.2-10. After having seen Jesus transfigured, what were the disciples to do? (9.9) (By the way, what did they do? - 9.10)

• Nowhere in Mark, as in 9.9, does Jesus ever explicitly say that he is the "Son of Man."

I) Read Mark 9.30-32. What was Jesus’ wish? (9.30) (By the way, what was the disciples’ response? - 9.32)

J) Read Mark 8.27-33. Note what people are saying about who Jesus is.

• John the Baptist: Remember that Jesus’ ministry picked up where John’s left off. In antiquity, there was also a belief that the ability to do miracles was possible because of a sort of necromancy, i.e., calling upon the spirit of someone who had died, especially someone who had died violently, for example, being beheaded. (See Mark 6.14-16.)
• Elijah was expected to appear before the day of the Lord. (See Malachi 3.1; 4.5-6 and Mark 9.11-13.) We are meant to understand that John the Baptist played Elijah’s role.
• Jesus did not entirely reject the role of prophet. See Mark 6.4. Also see Deuteronomy 18.15 for information on the important role a prophet like Moses would play in the end times.
• The same Greek word is used in 8.30 when Jesus "sternly orders" the disciples not to tell anyone about him and in 8.32 when Peter rebukes him.

K) Read Mark 14.55-65. In 14.62 is the only time in Mark that Jesus openly makes an explicit statement about himself, but after saying, "I am," note that he again refers to the "Son of Man" in the third person.

L) Read Mark 15.1-5. How did Jesus respond to Pilate?

M) Read Mark 15.26. What ultimately was the charge against Jesus which caused him to be crucified?

N) What titles are mockingly given to Jesus while he is on the cross in Mark 15.32 and 39?

O) Read Mark 4.21-23. What is the promise made here? (If Jesus’ identity is a secret, what is the assurance giv

For Your Consideration:

1. Do you find it a bit odd that Jesus’ needs to silence the demons lest they reveal to people who he is? Are demons reliable witnesses to Jesus’ identity?
2. Do you think the truth can be made known through something that is evil? Why?
3. In commanding some of the people that he healed to be silent, do you think Jesus was using reverse psychology so that they actually would go out and tell?
4. Have you ever tried to use reverse psychology to achieve something? What is the nature of the relationship between the two parties in such instances? Did reverse psychology work for you?
5. As Jesus’ fame grew, what were his experiences? Do you think you would like to be famous? What would be some advantages and disadvantages?
6. Is your faith a personal or a public matter? To put it another way, is being a Christian like being an ‘insider’ in a club which ‘outsiders’ just don’t understand?
7. The disciples in the story keep failing to understand who Jesus is or what he is about. How are you like the disciples? How are you different?
8. By telling people to keep silent about his miracles, do you think Jesus is trying to downplay this aspect of his ministry? Why would he want to do that? What would have happened if Jesus had spoken openly about his identity from the very beginning of his ministry?
9. There is the saying, "You can’t judge a book by its cover." Do you think this is true? Is this saying true with respect to Jesus during his ministry?
10. How would people judge you from your "cover"? What would they discover if they read the whole "book" of your life?
11. Why is Jesus so secretive about his identity in Mark’s gospel?

a) Jesus never publicly claimed to be the Messiah during his life and wasn’t confessed as Messiah until after his death. To resolve this contradiction, early Christians supposed that Jesus must have claimed to be the Messiah in secret.

b) Jesus was seeking to avoid the popular conception of the Messiah as a mighty, glorious, political figure.

c) Jesus needed to keep quiet about his Messiahship to avoid getting arrested too soon.

d) No one can really know Jesus as the Messiah until after they have experienced his death and resurrection.

e) Jesus was a shy and humble Scandinavian who didn’t like to brag or draw attention to himself.

f) Jesus knew that his Messiahship would only be realized in the future when the Kingdom of God came.

g) It explains why Jesus’ Messiahship had not been universally recognized during his ministry.

h) It is just a literary device to maintain suspense in the story.

i) Jesus was crucified as the Messiah despite the fact that he never made an express messianic claim.

12. Read 4.21-23 (M) again. Do you hear these verses as good news or as a warning? What things in your life have you unsuccessfully tried to keep hidden or secret?
13. Is it important that we be able to prove who Jesus is? What is the relationship between facts about Jesus and our faith in Jesus?
14. Who do you say that Jesus is?

For Later:

• Speak the Apostles’ Creed, especially remembering what we say about Jesus in this confession of faith.
• Tell someone about your faith in Jesus. (Parents: Tell your children what faith in Jesus means to you!)
• Make a daily remembrance of your own Baptism by making the sign of the cross when you awake. Remember, you have been marked for life!