Key Thought: Mark Chapters 2 and 3 contain stories that illustrate Jesus teachings in a topical parallel. Some focus on the nature of Jesus, His role as Messiah, and the nature of discipleship.
July 20, 2024

1. Have a volunteer read Mark 2:1-12.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point is in this passage.
2. What was the paralytic and his friends looking for, and what did he actually receive?
3. Personal Application: How can we avoid the same mindset being obsessed with the forms of religion so much that we forget what really matters in true religion? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your relatives states, “Why did Jesus tell the man his sins were forgiven at first when he and his friends seemed to be looking for a physical healing?” How would you respond to your relative?

2. Have a volunteer read Mark 2:23-28, Mark 3:1-6.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. How does Jesus counter the charge brought by the Pharisees?
3. Personal Application: What principles of Sabbath-keeping can we take away from these accounts and the challenges we face in keeping the Sabbath? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your friends states, “Wasn’t the Sabbath made for man? So doesn’t it make sense that we can choose what to do on it and when we celebrate it? If it is for us, we should be able to determine what it means and when to celebrate it.” How would you respond to your friend?

3. Have a volunteer read Mark 3:20-30.

1. Ask class members to share a short thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What connection do you see between the two stories intertwined in this passage?
3. Personal Application: How could people be blinded enough by hatred, tradition, and religion so that even miracles can’t open their minds to Christ? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: One of your neighbors states: “What is the unpardonable sin, and what does it mean? How do we know if we have committed the unpardonable sin or not?” How would you respond to your neighbor?

4. Have a volunteer read Mark 3:20,21; 31-35.

1. Ask class members to share a thought on what the most important point in this text is.
2. What experience led Jesus’ family to consider Him out of His mind?
3. Personal Application: What does Jesus’ family want and how does He respond? Share your thoughts.
4. Case Study: Think of one person who needs to hear a message from this week’s lesson. Tell the class what you plan to do this week to share with them

(Truth that is not lived, that is not imparted, loses its life-giving power, its healing virtue. Its blessings can be retained only as it is shared.”Ministry of Healing, p. 148).

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/3-controversies-teaching-plan/

Daily Lesson for Monday 15th of July 2024 

Tax collectors in Jesus’ day were civil servants under the local or Roman government. They were unpopular among the Jewish population in Judea because they often exacted more than required and became rich off their countrymen. A Jewish commentary on religious law, the Mishnah tractate Tohoroth says, “If taxgatherers entered a house [all that is within it] becomes unclean.”

Image © Kim Justinen from GoodSalt.com

Thus, it is not surprising that the scribes inquire disapprovingly, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

How did Jesus respond to their question? He doesn’t reject it. Instead, He turns it on its head, indicating that people who are sick, not who are healthy, need a doctor. He thereby claims the moniker of spiritual doctor, the One who can heal the sin-sick soul. And should not a doctor go where the sick are?

Mark 2:18-22 picks up a new theme. It is the central story of these five stories dealing with controversy. Where the previous section included a feast provided by Levi, this next story revolves around the question of fasting. It consists of a query as to why Jesus’ disciples do not fast when John the Baptist’s and the Pharisees’ do. Jesus responds with an illustration or parable in which He compares His presence to a wedding feast. It would be an extremely odd wedding if the guests all fasted. But Jesus does predict a day when the bridegroom will be taken away, an allusion to the Cross. There will be plenty of time for fasting then.

Jesus continues with two illustrations that highlight the contrast between His teaching and that of the religious leaders—unshrunk cloth on an old garment and new wine in old wineskins. What an interesting way to contrast the teaching of Christ and the religious leaders. It shows just how corrupted the ways of the teachers had become. Even true religion can be turned into darkness if people are not careful.

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Source: https://ssnet.org/blog/24c-03-calling-levi-and-the-question-of-fasting/