Interpretation Questions:

1. We know how the Gospel ends, and early audiences would have known, too. Does Mark succeed at building suspense, even if we already know the end?
2. How does Mark’s Jesus characterize the Kingdom of God? Does the title “kingdom” add a different connotation today than it did in Jesus’ time?

Application Questions:

1. Jesus teaches in parables throughout this section. If you were to tell a parable that helped others understand God’s relationship with the world, what might you say?
2. In the Parable of the Sower (4:1-9), do you identify with the sower or the soils? If you are the sower, what does the parable say to you? If the soil, can you imagine the soil improving itself?
3. Jesus expands his definition of family to everyone who does the will of God (3:31-35), but he dismisses his mother and siblings in the mean time. What is Jesus teaching us about the nature of family?