Instagram Jesus Week 1: Devotional Day 2

Instagram Jesus Week 1: Devotional Day 2

DAY 2 – Tuesday

Daily devotional

• Read

Mark 1:1-8

• Ask

How about the opening few verses of Mark help you to see Mark as a gospel of action? 

• Reflect

Let’s do a little comparison exercise here. Look at the opening verses of the other three Gospels, Matthew, Luke and John. How is Mark different?

You’ll see that Mark gives you three verses to let you know that he is continuing the story of Jesus from the Old Testament. (We’ll talk about those tomorrow.) Then he goes straight into action with Mark 1:4, “John appeared, baptizing… and proclaiming…”

Imagine verses 1:4-8 as the opening scene of a movie. Who is playing John? For some reason, I picture a scrawny Tom Hanks at the end of Castaway. He’s in a river. His camel’s hair tunic is wet from the waist down. His beard is sticky from honey. Yet he’s magnetic, people are drawn to him. You can’t tear your eyes away.

When you meet as a LifeGroup, ask for casting ideas for John the Baptist and Jesus. Ask if anyone can paint a picture with words of what these verses looked like. If you’ve been to the Jordan River, bring pictures so your group can see this.

What is standing out to you? If these were the only eight verses you had of who Jesus is, what would you be intrigued by? Would you want to stick around for more?