Mark 1:14–20. Kingdom Calling

The entire gospel is the story of the kingdom of God coming from heaven into every square inch of the universe.

Mark 1:14–15. The Kingdom of God

The good news is not a story of God abandoning the universe and retreating to heaven with a few special people.

Mark 1:16–20. Fishing for People

For these disciples to follow Jesus, they have to allow their identity, status, and worth to be determined in relation to Jesus rather than to their occupation and possessions.

Mark 1:21–28. Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

The Sabbath consecrates a portion of time free from the demands of work.

Mark 1:29–39. Rhythms of Work and Rest

Jesus’ healing in this episode occurs through personal touch.

Mark 1:40–45. Jesus Heals a Leper

Jesus’s power to cleanse and heal overcomes the physical, emotional, and social disabilities that exclude people from full participation in the community.

The Paralytic Man (Mark 2:1-12)

Work as Prayerful Relationships: Mark 5 (Click Here to Read) This sermon from The High Calling discusses another healing miracle of Jesus in Mark (5:1-20) where Jesus brings healing to both a wayward...

The Calling of Levi (Mark 2:13-17)

The calling of Levi is another incident that occurs as Jesus is moving (Mark 2:13-14). The passage stresses the public nature of...

The Twelve Disciples (Mark 3:13-19)

In addition to the accounts of the calling of specific disciples, there is also the account of the appointing of the apostles...

Discipleship in Process (Mark 4:35-41; 6:45-52; 8:14-21)

The Gospel of Mark, more than the other Gospels, highlights the ignorance, weakness, and selfishness of the disciples. This comes despite the...

Rhythms of Work, Rest, and Worship (Mark 1-4, 6, 13)

The Lord of the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-3:6)

The Sabbath principle allows us time to focus on God in a different way than the working week allows.

Parables at Work (Mark 4:26-29 and 13:32-37)

Mark contains only two parables that are not also found in the other Gospels. Both of them concern work, and both are...

Economic Issues (Mark 10-12)

The Rich Young Man and Attitudes to Wealth and Status (Mark 10:17-31)

Wealth (Mark 10:17-22)

Jesus’ encounter with a rich man who asks “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” constitutes one of the few passages in Mark that speaks directly to economic activity. The man’s question...

Status (Mark 10:13-16, 22)

A distinctive aspect to Mark’s rendering of the story is its juxtaposition with the account of the little children being brought to Jesus, and the subsequent statement that the kingdom is to be...

The Grace of God (Mark 10:23-31)

The subsequent words of Jesus (Mark 10:23-25) elaborate the significance of the encounter, as Jesus stresses the difficulty faced by the wealthy in entering the kingdom. The young man’s reaction illustrates the attachment...

The Temple Incident (Mark 11:15-18)

The incident where Jesus drives out the vendors and money changers from the temple has mercantile overtones. There is a debate over...

Taxes and Caesar (Mark 12:13-17)

The issue of taxation has arisen obliquely already, in terms of the call narrative of Levi (Mark 2:13-17, see above). This section treats the matter a little more directly, although the meaning of...