Lead in: Pilate was suspicious of this Jesus who he’d heard so much about. Like Pilate, we can be suspicious of people based on what we’ve heard about them.Prompt : Reflect on a time when you met someone who you were suspicious of based on what you had heard about...

Lead in: Jesus and his disciples have travelled from Galilee to Jerusalem. At this point in his ministry, Jesus knows his time is short. The hostility of religious authorities toward Jesus has grown to the point that his life is in danger. But for Jesus, there is no...

Lead in: When asked which is the first of all the commandments, Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6, “Love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” To love with all your heart, your soul, your strength, is to give it your...

Lead in: Scholar Peter Nixon makes a good point. With the political climate the way it was under the oppression of Rome, one wonders if the crowd following Jesus out of Jericho may have been expecting a “triumphant march on Jerusalem.” It’s no wonder that the crowd...

Lead in: In Mark 10:35, we hear how James and John came to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” Jesus replied, “What do you wish me to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and...

Lead in: In Mark 10, Jesus invites a young man to sellwhat he owns so he can follow as his disciple. But that’s the last thing the young man was expecting to hear. So, he went away sad for he was hanging on to things that he was not yet ready to let go of.Prompt: What...

Lead in: In Mark 10, the people bring children to Jesus hoping he might bless them.  The disciples try to shoo the children away.  But Jesus says, “Let the children come to me.”  As the child embraces those who care for them, so the Kingdom is for those who are humble...

Lead in: In Mark 9, Jesus’ disciples wanted Jesus to stop someone who was driving out demons in his name. Jesus’ response was, “Do not try to prevent him.” Jesus’ response challenges us be open to God working in our world in and through unlikely people.Prompt: Reflect...

Lead in: Whatever Jesus was preaching about, it seems the disciples were always slow to get it. In Mark 9, Jesus has just predicted his pending death, and what do the disciples do? They start arguing amongthemselves about who’s the greatest. Jesus intervenes, “What...

Lead in: “Who am I?”, Jesus asks in Mark 8. Peter gets it right, “You are the Messiah, the Christ.” But when he hears Jesus speak of how he will suffer and then be put to death, Peter falters. That’s not the kind of Messiah he wants to follow. So, Peter tries to...