June 20, 2021 - Mark’s Good News about Jesus – Eternal Words

Eternal Words

Isaiah 40:3-11 - New International Version (NIV)

³ A voice of one calling:
“In the wilderness prepare
    the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert
    a highway for our God.
⁴ Every valley shall be raised up,
    every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
    the rugged places a plain.
⁵ And the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
    and all people will see it together.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

⁶ A voice says, “Cry out.”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”

“All people are like grass,
    and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
⁷ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    because the breath of the Lord blows on them.
    Surely the people are grass.
⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
    but the word of our God endures forever.”

⁹ You who bring good news to Zion,
    go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
    lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
    say to the towns of Judah,
    “Here is your God!”
¹⁰ See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power,
    and he rules with a mighty arm.
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.
¹¹ He tends his flock like a shepherd:
    He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
    he gently leads those that have young.

What does the voice call for (verse 3)?

What will happen to “every mountain and hill” (verse 4)?

Who will see the “glory of the Lord” together (verse 5)?

What did Isaiah say when he heard the voice say, “cry out” (verse 6)?

Why does “the grass withers and the flowers fall” (verse 7)?

In your opinion, how can words, which seem much less substantial than grass or flowers, endure forever (verse 8)?

What is the good news that is to be shouted to Jerusalem (verse 9)?

How does “the Sovereign Lord” come (verse 10)?

How does He carry His lambs (verse 11)?

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

Mark 13:24-31 - New International Version (NIV)

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

What will “those days” be proceeded by (verse 24)?

How will the sun be affected (verse 24)?

What will be shaken (verse 25)?

How will people “see the Son of Man coming” (verse 26)?

What will He send His angels to do (verse 27)?

In your opinion, why do we know that summer is near when the fig trees “twigs get tender and its leaves come out” (verse 28)?

What can we know when we “see these things happening” (verse 29)?

In your opinion, who is “this generation” (verse 30)?

What will never pass away (verse 31)?

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

In your opinion, why is it significant that Isaiah in his prophecy about the “the glory of the Lord” being revealed to all people in Isaiah 40:3-11 states that the “word of our God endures forever” and Jesus as He describes people seeing the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory” in Mark 13:24-31 says that “my words will never pass away”?      

Acts 2:29-35 – New International Version (NIV)

²⁹ “Fellow Israelites, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day. ³⁰ But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. ³¹ Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. ³² God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. ³³ Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. ³⁴ For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said,

“‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
³⁵ until I make your enemies
    a footstool for your feet.”’

What can Peter tell the Israelites “confidently” about David (verse 29)?

How did David know that God would place “one of his descendants on his throne” (verse 30)?

What did David say about “the resurrection of the Messiah” (verse 31)? [for more information see Psalm 16:10)

What did Peter say God has done (verses 32)?

Who did Peter say were witnesses (verse 32)?

What has Jesus poured out (verse 33)?

What did the Lord say to “my Lord” (verses 34 and 35)?

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

In your opinion, how are what Isaiah cried out in Isaiah 40:3-11 and what Peter confidently told in Acts 2:29-35 similar messages?

In your opinion, what does what Peter told the people of Jerusalem in Acts 2:29-35 help us understand if we remember the lesson from the fig tree that Jesus told the disciples in Mark 13:24-31? 

1 John 1:1-4 – New International Version (NIV)

¹ That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write this to make our joy complete.

What does John say that he is proclaiming “concerning the Word of Life” (verse 1)?

Where was the “eternal life” that John is proclaiming (verse 2)?

Why does John proclaim “what we have seen and heard” (verse 3)?

Why does John write (verse 4)?

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

In your opinion, how the message of John in 1 John 1:1-4 like what Isaiah commanded the messenger to “say to the towns of Judah” in Isaiah 40:3-11?

In your opinion, why, in a world where words are not highly valued, does Jesus end the Mark 13:24-31 message with the statement “my words will never pass away” and John say in 1 John 1:1-4 that he is proclaiming “concerning the Word of life”? 

In your opinion, why does Peter stress that he was a witness to God raising Jesus to life in Acts 2:29-35 and John proclaim “the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us”? 

In your opinion, what do these passages from Isaiah, Mark, Acts and 1 John teach us about what is fragile and what is permanent in the world? 

In your opinion, what can we do today to “make our joy complete”?

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