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Reading the Gospels - Mark in 2Q10

A vibrant Christian life flows out of a clear and compelling vision of who God is and what His Kingdom is like.  This is much more important than the visions we have for a particular church or ministry.  Since Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of God (Col 1:15-20, Heb 1:1-4), it is good for us to regularly focus our attention on Him.

During the first quarter we encouraged people to read through Matthew's gospel and numbers of people left observations and reflections on our Reading the Gospels page.

We have now started a new quarter and so it is time to switch our attention to Mark's gospel.  We would encourage you to read it in two ways:
  • read a small portion regularly,
  • read a large section (even the whole gospel) in an extended sitting.  Reading a whole gospel takes between 1 and 2 hours if you don't pause at the details and it gives you a great overview.
We would also love you to share your insights and thoughts that you get from reading, so please contribute them to the forums.


Similarities and Differences:
Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because they have a lot in common.  However there are interesting differences.  As we switch from Matthew to Mark, you might like to spend a short time reading some parallel passages and comparing them to each other.  For example:
  • Matthew 17:1-18:14
  • Mark 9
  • Luke 9:28-50
Maybe the argument about who was the greatest was connected to who could have or should have cast out the demon from the boy?

You might like to leave some comments about these parallel passages in the comments below.

David Wanstall, 06/04/2010