The last couple of weeks we’ve been working at the inductive method in the Jesus Class. Observe. Interpret. Apply. We spent an hour or so looking at Mark chapter 6. Give it a read if you have a minute – here’s a link to the text:

Mark 6:1-32 Jesus rejected in his hometown. The Twelve sent out in mission. Flashback to John the Baptist’s execution!

The class did a great job coming up with questions that drew out the application issues from this text. What do we make of people being rejected for directly obeying Jesus? Was John the Baptist’s example of costly obedience relevant for our faith today? Here are a few samples of the kind of questions we collected from class:

1. Why do we insist on doing so many thing in isolation as Christians when Jesus set such a strategic pattern for us of sending people in pairs?
2. How could everything we do be improved by working in teams and pairs?
3. Has Jesus really empowered me to actually heal sick people today? Why or why not?
4. Am I actually more like the people in Jesus hometown than I want to admit? In what ways does familiarity with Jesus dull my belief in him?
5. How does my lack of faith affect God’s ability to work in my life and in the life of those around me?
6. Why do I struggle so much to be available to Jesus when he looks for someone to “send on assignment”?
7. What are the actual fears and excuses that prevent us from obeying?
8. Could I persevere in the face of actual persecution for my faith or would it shut me down? Explain.
9. Where am I putting my security other than in Jesus?
10. What would I be willing to give up in order to obey God?
11. What is Jesus asking you to sacrifice in order to spread the Gospel?
12. Why do I have such a hard time trusting what Jesus tells me?
13. Why is it that the people you grow up with are the ones most skeptical and hardest to connect with?
14. What might be preventing Jesus from doing miracles in my life?
15. Am I willing to do without creature comforts for the sake of the cause of Christ?
16. How can God’s path or plan for us coincide with the free will he gave us? Why does it ultimately matter whether or not we pray?
17. What would I do if people close to me reject me for trying to share my faith with them? How can I talk about my faith without unnecessarily offending?
18. Does worrying mean I have no faith?
19. What do I do if Christians around me aren’t helping me follow Jesus with my choices?
20. Would I be willing to risk everything in order to follow Jesus?
21. Is my view of Jesus too small?
22. What habits do I have that stand in the way of trusting Jesus?
23. How great would by life be if I really did hand it over to Jesus’ control?
24. What does it mean to be truly teachable?
25. Jesus told us to scatter the seed everywhere – why am I so afraid of throwing it out there to the “hard soil” people?
26. Who are you more comfortable sharing the Gospel with – close family and friends or mere acquaintances?
27. Can I trust Jesus with my financial issues?
28. Are there parts of my life Jesus can’t touch because of my total lack of faith?
29. Who do I identify with more: Herod – powerful, comfortable yet compromised by status; or John the Baptist – humble, pennyless yet boldly pointing people to Jesus and living right before God? Explain.

So what kind of questions are important to ask when you’re trying to figure Jesus out? If you’re going to get anything out of the bible, your mind learns how to ask three distinct kinds of questions.

Facts. Our minds first take things in at a basic level of content. What are the words saying? This gets at the speaker or writer’s choice of ideas, turn of phrase, illustrations etc. In communication theory we refer to it as locution. What in fact is the person saying. Great fact questions include things like:

• The typical reporter questions – who, what, where, when and how?
• Who is the writers audience? In narrative writing, who is the main character and who is listening or interacting?
• What action is taking place? What is causing it and what are the results?
• Key words. Words I don’t understand. Words that might mean something different in the passage than they do today?

Meaning. If locution is a matter of the words themselves, illocution gets at the intended meaning of those words. What is the author or speaker or actor intending to convey by what he says or does? When we speak we use our words (locution) to get what we mean from our mind into the mind of our audience. Questions that get at the meaning of what is being said are essential at this level of reading:

• What did Jesus mean when he said, “If anyone doesn’t welcome you shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them?”
• What is the context in which words or actions are to be understood? What has been happening immediately before and after the part of the text in question?
• How do others in the narrative understand what is being said or done based on their reaction?
• What meaning do we see in the text? How might our desires or assumptions play into what we think a text means?
• What is the simplest explanation that accounts for what is being said or done?

Application. Once we’ve clearly seen what is in the text (locution) and arrived at the best interpretation of what the author means to say by it (illuction), we have to ask the most troubling of all questions: How are we to respond. This is what we call application. Communication theorists call it Perlocution: what response or reaction is the author calling for by what he’s written. Great application questions include things like:

• Does the text make it explicit what we are to do? “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
• If the text doesn’t make it quite that easy for us, what is it the passage implies believers should do – an action to follow-through on, an attitude to follow, an example to avoid, etc?
• What truth about God is being taught that our world needs to know today?
• How does the text challenge God’s people today? What can/should Christians do differently?
• How does what the author says challenge the broader culture of our day?

Last week in Jesus Class we were served yet another Mark Sandwich… Yum! (see the Jan 28th blog-post on Sandwiches) In chapter 6, Jesus is first rejected at Nazareth. He then sends out the 12 Disciples on a mission. Mark next inserts the flashback of John the Baptist being executed for confronting Herod’s illicit marriage to his brother’s wife. Finally, Mark records the return of the 12 after their mission. Message? The mission of the kingdom is costly – it might bring even painful rejection!

It’s a riveting chapter, but how do you apply its message to your own life? What difference would it make to the church today if we lived in fearless abandon to the mission of Jesus? What do things like “Shake off the dust” mean in a world where we have a hard time just being heard in the first place?

Here’s what the class came up with for personal application points. Actually this is only a fraction of what people submitted. Usually the class teacher is the one putting the bold personal application questions up on the board, but this week we flipped the script and had the students brainstorm.

Here are the best out of a list of over 40 reflection questions. I think they did pretty good!

#28) Who in my life do I need to hold accountable for their actions? Am I willing to take the risks that confronting them might involve? Why not?

#38) Jesus couldn’t perform the miracles he really wanted to in Nazareth because people lacked faith. How is your level of faith affecting Jesus’ ability to work in your life?

#33) Has the fear of acceptance ever held you back? How do you overcome it?

#45) Jesus sent the disciples out in pairs. How can I bring others into my ministry so I’m not alone in my efforts? What are the advantages of always having someone else in partnership with me?

#14) What would you do if you had the power Herod did? a) Use it for selfish gain, caving-in to evil influences? b) Stand up for what is right even if you had to retract something you previously said? c) Avoid the situation and just let things play out? Why?

#12) Is there a Herodias in my life? How can I be prepared to stand up to someone of such power and negative influence?

#11) What would I do if Jesus asked me to go out in mission like the 12 – with little resources or specific directions? Would I obey? What would I stand to learn through such an experience?

#9) What capabilities of mine are actually hindered by lack of faith in those around me? How can I handle myself in a situation where the people surrounding me don’t operate from a base of trust?

Sometime this week, grab your bible, give Mark 6 a look and let the Jesus Class point you toward some penetrating reflection questions as you study.

Way to go Jesus Class!

A great note here from one of the participants in the Jesus Class. Keep the comments coming, class! Last week we launched with a total of 121 participants!

Hi Tim,

I have to say I have been enjoying this so much. I sit down and start getting involved and the time flies by and I am just absorbed with the material. Your suggestions and helpful hints with the study guide have been very helpful for me. I am truly enjoying the dissecting and what is being spoken to me. I am learning a whole new way of how to read scripture and it is exciting since it has been difficult to understand for me as I am fairly new reading and studying the bible so this great for me and I know I have a lot to learn but I also know that the Holy Spirit will guide me and show me what it is that I am to hear )

Thank you and see you Sunday.

Kathy