10.16.22 - Mark 10: What Kind of a King? (Kenny Camacho)

Revolution Church Annapolis

SCRIPTURE: Mark 10

“What kind of a king is King Jesus? He’s a King who gives us His whole self, so we can have the courage to give up our whole selves, too. Truly, what’s stopping us? What legalism, what cynicism, what self-righteousness keeps us in fear? Do we believe God’s love is enough to hold us and shelter us? Are we willing to step into His Kingdom by living with radical compassion, radical generosity, radical hope? We are invited to.”

REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. This series covers the second half of Mark’s Gospel (Ch. 10-16), and it begins immediately after the Transfiguration event in Ch. 9. Go back and read through that story: how does it answer the question that dominates the first half of the gospel (i.e. - who is Jesus?)? How does it anticipate the question that will dominate the second half of the gospel (i.e. - what kind of King will Jesus be?)?

2. In the Transfiguration story, the disciples talk about setting up tents for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah (v. 5). This connects to the Tabernacle tradition of the Old Testament, where God “dwells among the people.” But Jesus does not stay in the tent! What do we make of that? What is it teaching us?

3. There are 4 main episodes in Ch. 10. The first has to do with a question the Pharisees ask Jesus about the Mosaic laws for divorce. What does Jesus’s answer reveal about the kind of King he will be?

4. The second episode involves the disciples’ rebuke of children seeking blessing. What does this episode reveal about Jesus’s Kingship?

5. The third involves the encounter with the “rich young ruler.” What does it reveal? Why do you think the man walks away from Jesus’s Kingdom?

6. Why do we walk away? What connects these stories? What do they illuminate, together, about how Jesus will reign?

7. We didn’t talk about the 4th episode: the healing of Bartimaeus (v. 46-52). Read that story together and put it in conversation with the sermon. Why does Jesus say he can be healed? How can that challenge us, too?