April 18, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – The Formation of a Kingdom

 

The Formation of a Kingdom

Zechariah 9:9-12 - New International Version (NIV)

⁹ Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
    Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
    righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
    on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
¹⁰ I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
    and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
    and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
    His rule will extend from sea to sea
    and from the River to the ends of the earth.
¹¹ As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
    I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
¹² Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
    even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.

Why are “Daughter Zion” and “Daughter Jerusalem” to rejoice and shout (verse 9)?

Who was “lowly and riding on a donkey, or a colt, the foal of a donkey” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what does it mean to “take away the chariots from Ephraim and the warhorses from Jerusalem, and the battle bow will be broken” (verse 10)?

What will the King proclaim “to the nations” (verse 10)?

Why will the King “free your prisoners from the waterless pit” (verse 11)?

Who is to “return to your fortress” (verse 12)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Mark 11:1-11 - New International Version (NIV)

¹  As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here. ³ If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’”

⁴ They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, ⁵ some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” ⁶ They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. ⁷ When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. ⁸ Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. ⁹ Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

¹⁰ “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

¹¹ Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Where was Jesus when He sent the two disciples (verse 1)?

How is the colt that is tied in the village described (verse 2)?

How are the disciples to answer if anyone asks “why are you doing this” (verse 3)?

Where was the colt (verse 4)?

Who ask “what are you doing, untying that colt” (verse 5)?

What happened when the disciples “answered as Jesus had told them to” (verse 6)?

When did Jesus sit on the colt (verse 7)?

What did people spread on the road (verse 8)?

Who shouted “Hosanna” and “blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what were the people who shouted “Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David” (verse 10)?

Where did Jesus look “around at everything” (verse 11)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9-12 linked to the circumstance described in Mark 11:1-11?  What do you think the people who shouted “Hosanna” expected to happen next? 

Acts 2:1-13 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

⁵ Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. ⁶ When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. ⁷ Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? ⁹ Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome ¹¹ (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” ¹² Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”

¹³ Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”

When were “they all together in one place” (verse 1)?

What “filled the whole house where they were sitting” (verse 2)?

Where did “what seemed to be tongues of fire” come to rest (verse 3)?

How were they all filled (verse 4)?

Who was in Jerusalem (verse 5)? 

Why was the crowd bewildered (verse 6)?

In your opinion, why was the crowd “utterly amazed” that the Galileans could speak is a way that everyone heard their native language (verses 7 and 8)?

What did they ask each other (verse 12)?

What did the ones who made fun of them say (verse 13)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:1-13 a beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9-12 to break the battle bow and “proclaim peace to the nations” while extending His rule?

In your opinion, how is the “coming kingdom of our father David” that the people were shouting was “blessed” in Mark 11:1-11 related to the sound like the “blowing of a violent wind” and “what seemed like tongues of fire” in Acts 2:1-13?

1 Peter 1:1-2 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ² who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

How does Peter describe himself (verse 1)?

Where are “God’s elect” (verse 1)?

How have the elect been chosen (verse 2)?

What kind of work does the Spirit do (verse 2)?

In your opinion, why does Peter say the elect are to be both “obedient to Jesus Christ” and “sprinkled with his blood” (verse 2)?

What does Peter want the elect to have “in abundance” (verse 2)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how are the people “who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood” in 1 Peter 1:1-2 a part of the extending of “His rule” that is prophesied in Zechariah 9:9-12?

In your opinion, could those who shouted “Hosanna” (save) and spread the cloaks and branches in Mark 11:1-11 be some of those who are exiled “throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia” in 1 Peter 1:1-2?  Why would they need the “grace and peace” that Peter blesses them with? 

In your opinion, how could the events of Acts 2:1-13 have helped those who are exiled in 1 Peter 1:1-2 to understand that they have the unity of family or kingdom even though they might not be in the same location as others who are exiled?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Zechariah, Mark, Acts and 1 Peter teach us about who the citizens of the Kingdom of our Lord are?

In your opinion, how can we move from living as scared prisoners of a world that is doomed to being citizens of the Kingdom of God filled with an abundance of grace and peace today?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)