Sermon and Worship Resources

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Mark 10:46-52, Mark 10:35-45, Mark 10:32-34

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Once more the disciples fail by seeking greatness rather than servanthood, and the right “path” is shown by Bartimaeus, who centers entirely on Jesus and “follows” him “along the road.” Jesus is central, and here he reveals that his way of suffering is redemptive, providing a “ransom for many,” and ends his public ministry with a call to discipleship. Understanding the Text This is the...

2. Caring for the Needy and Commissioning Apostles

Mark 3:7-12, Mark 3:13-19

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus again leaves the urban setting for a ministry at the Sea of Galilee, healing the sick and demonstrating authority over all powers. At the same time, we see the second stage of discipleship as Jesus elects and empowers twelve disciples/apostles, making them the restored new Israel. Understanding the Text This passage (3:7–12) begins a new section of ministry by the lake (3:7–6:6)....

3. Failing the Test and Spiritual Failure—Hardness of Heart

Mark 6:45-56

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: This episode illustrates the key contrast of this central section in Mark. Jesus has the power to take care of his followers, but the disciples fail to understand this because of their hardness of heart and spiritual failure. Understanding the Text God provides for the needy (6:30–44), and Christ heals all who come (6:53–56). True disciples place their trust in God and Christ, who watc...

4. Family in the New Kingdom Community

Mark 10:13-16, Mark 10:1-12

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The emphasis here is on family life in the new kingdom community. Jesus states that the easy-divorce policy advocated by many rabbis was not God’s will, and that divorce was allowed only because of their stubborn sin. He further teaches that children are models for kingdom living; to enter life with God, all must have a childlike faith. Understanding the Text There is both geographical...

5. Gentiles Exemplify True Discipleship

Mark 7:31-37, Mark 7:24-30

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Salvation and the kingdom blessings, heretofore experienced primarily by the Jews, are now extended to the Gentiles. A Gentile woman of Tyre shows remarkable faith and humility, and a deaf mute in the Decapolis experiences messianic healing. Understanding the Text Mark now turns to examples of faith, as the Syrophoenician woman is one of the “little people” in Mark, characters who appe...

6. God’s Miraculous Provision: Caring for the Needy

Mark 6:30-44

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The message of the feeding miracle is simple: God will provide. This is the primary miracle in which Jesus involved his disciples, and the question is whether they will put their trust in the God who provides for them in every situation. Understanding the Text Many think of this passage as another round of miracles by the lake. It is far more than that. Here Jesus’s authority is seen i...

7. Government and Marriage

Mark 12:18-27, Mark 12:13-17

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Two critical issues for all believers come out of the attempt of the leaders to entrap Jesus: (1) submission to government; and (2) the doctrine of resurrection, grounding our faith and hope in the reality of Christ’s resurrection and the certain afterlife that God’s people will enjoy. Understanding the Text David Daube has shown that the next four passages (12:13–37 = Matt. 22:15–46) ...

8. Jesus as Lord and as Archcriminal

Mark 2:23-3:6, Mark 2:18-22

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: In Jesus the new age has come, and this new reality cannot be immersed into the old ways. Jesus the Son of Man has authority over the Torah and is Lord over the Sabbath. Understanding the Text The opposition to Jesus intensifies with each of the episodes in this section. The central story among the five in 2:1–3:6 tells why the conflict is occurring (2:18–22): in Jesus a new era has ar...

9. Jesus Calling and Accepting the Outcasts

Mark 2:13-17

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus’s purpose is to bring sinners to forgiveness (2:1–12), and that includes inviting a tax collector to join his apostolic band. Levi uses the occasion to invite other social outcasts to meet Jesus, and that brings opposition from the religious leaders. Understanding the Text This section is all about forgiveness (2:1–12) that leads to discipleship (2:13–17), and this is set in cont...

10. Jesus Claims God-Given Authority to Condemn the Leaders

Mark 12:1-12, Mark 11:27-33

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: In 11:27–12:34 Jesus responds to a series of questions and challenges from the religious leaders. Jesus answers their first two challenges, concerning the source of his authority (11:27–33), and then he goes on the offensive, using an allegorical parable to accuse them of plotting to kill him (12:1–12). Understanding the Text The central event on Tuesday of passion week is a series of ...

11. Jesus Defines Himself as Lord in Contrast to the Leaders of Israel

Mark 12:41-44, Mark 12:35-40

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: In three final conflicts between Jesus and the leaders, he (1) reveals himself as more than the royal Messiah, (2) warns about the hypocritical scribes, and (3) contrasts them with the humble widow, who gives her all to God. Understanding the Text While verses 35–37 belong with the controversy stories of 11:27–12:37, they also are part of the final three narratives that conclude the se...

12. Jesus Inaugurates the Disciple Band and Conquers the Unclean Spirits

Mark 1:14-20, Mark 1:21-28

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus reacts to two types of people: (1) those who are willing to commit to him, like the first four disciples, and who are re-created by Jesus to “fish for people”; (2) those who remain outside him and thus will experience his authority to vanquish the powers of darkness. Understanding the Text Jesus’s Galilean ministry (1:16–10:52) begins here. Mark will start with two cycles of Jesus’...

13. Jesus Interprets the Passover Seder of Himself

Mark 14:12-26

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The theological motif that unites the Last Supper narrative is Jesus’s sovereign awareness of and control over all that transpires. In its preparation and execution, Jesus redefines the paschal meal as fulfilled in his own sacrificial death. Understanding the Text The woman’s act of worship in anointing Jesus for burial leads to the Last Supper scene, which explains the significance of...

14. Jesus Is Crucified

Mark 15:21-32

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The central purpose of Jesus’s incarnation is his death on the cross (Phil. 2:6–8). All takes place in accordance with God’s will and plan, so divine sovereignty, not Jewish hatred or Roman might, controls the action. Jesus dies as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Understanding the Text There are four parts to the crucifixion narrative in an A-B-A-B pattern: the mockery by the soldi...

15. Jesus Is Tested in Gethsemane

Mark 14:32-42

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: At Gethsemane Jesus battles with the disciples as they desert him, within himself over the “cup” of his passion, and with his enemies at his arrest. He wins the internal battle regarding his willingness to endure the passion and its suffering, surrendering to the will of his Father. Understanding the Text Chapter 14 follows a natural chronological progression, from the Wednesday event ...

16. Jesus Proclaims Judgment on the Temple and the Nation

Mark 13:1-31

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: God’s judgment will soon fall on the temple and the land and bring devastation. However, God’s people must not be carried away by false teaching and false rumors but rather should endure patiently in the midst of the persecution. Understanding the Text The extensive discourse of chapter 13, known as the Olivet Discourse, develops the basic theme in passion week thus far: the fruitlessn...

17. Jesus Turns to His New Family

Mark 3:31-35, Mark 3:20-30

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Opposition to Jesus takes a new turn as his family thinks that he is insane and the religious leaders accuse him of being demon possessed. Jesus’s response is twofold: he cannot be under the control of Satan because he has already bound Satan, and his true family consists of those who have joined him in the household of God. Understanding the Text Jesus’s ministry to sinners and his ca...

18. Jesus’s Authority to Forgive and Heal Sinners

Mark 2:1-12

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: In contrast to the crowds, the leaders begin to oppose Jesus’s ministry because he ignores the requirements of their oral tradition. Jesus, however, conducts his ministry not to satisfy rules but to bring sinners to forgiveness. His authority to forgive sins is proof of his divine sonship. Understanding the Text Jesus’s authority continues from Mark 1, but now with a polar opposite rea...

19. Jesus’s Entry as the Messiah Who Triumphs through Suffering

Mark 11:1-11

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus begins passion week with a deliberate prophetic symbolic action, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey in fulfillment of Zechariah 9:9. In so doing, he reverses the messianic secret, yet at the same time shows himself as the humble Messiah. Understanding the Text The journey to Jerusalem has been the focus for some time (8:27–10:52), and Jesus now enters the final week of his life on...

20. Jesus’s Glory and Majesty Disclosed

Mark 9:2-13

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The two primary thrusts in this passage are Christology and discipleship. First, this is an epiphany story in which God reveals the preexistent glory of his Son as the majestic Lord and eschatological Moses. Second, the disciples continue to struggle and yet begin to experience a dawning comprehension. Understanding the Text This event is intimately connected with what has preceded. Mo...

21. Jesus’s Identity as Messiah and Son of God Established

Mark 1:1-8

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The good news centers on Jesus the Messiah, who shows himself to be the Son of God by inaugurating God’s kingdom age. He is declared as such first by Old Testament prophecy and then by the wilderness voice, his forerunner John the Baptist. Understanding the Text This passage is the “prologue” to Mark (cf. John 1:1–18), and the purpose is to inform the reader about the primary truths in...

22. Jesus’s Ministry and Popularity Continue to Grow

Mark 1:40-45, Mark 1:35-39, Mark 1:29-34

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Jesus’s ministry of power and authority is universal. He helps every person who comes, and his popularity with the crowds grows in phenomenal ways. However, his desire is not for the plaudits of the people but to proclaim the kingdom truths to everyone. Understanding the Text Mark 1:21–38 describes one twenty-four-hour period (from Sabbath morn to Sunday morn). All of this material (in...

23. Mission and Rejection in Galilee

Mark 6:14-29, Mark 6:7-13

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: All followers of Jesus are called to mission. Yet when the kingdom news of the gospel is presented, there is both authority from God and inevitable opposition to it when people reject the good news, sometimes even costing the lives of those sent to speak for God. Understanding the Text This begins the fourth section of the Galilean ministry in Mark (after 1:16–3:6; 3:7–35; 4:1–6:30) an...

24. More Parables of the Kingdom

Mark 4:30-34, Mark 4:26-29, Mark 4:21-25

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: The kingdom is guaranteed by God to grow exponentially, and its concealed realities are soon to be brought to light; so now is the time to open our hearts and minds to its truths. Understanding the Text The basic theme for the parables in this chapter has already been established in 4:1–20: hearing and obeying the word of God by making certain that we are receptive to the kingdom truth...

25. On the Cross Jesus Is Mocked and Dies

Mark 15:33-41

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Grant R. Osborne

Big Idea: Every detail—mocking, hitting, scourging, death—fulfills messianic prophecy (the righteous martyr of Pss. 22 and 69; the Suffering Servant of Isa. 52–53). Jesus completes God’s plan of salvation via his vicarious sacrifice on the cross. Understanding the Text In fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy regarding the vicarious sacrifice of the Servant of Yahweh (Isa. 52–53; cf. Pss. 22; 69...

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