Mark Study

We had one exciting Mark Study tonight. After going through the first part of the passage, Steve wrote this on the board:

What is the secret of the Kingdom of God?

It refers to this passage in Mark:

And he said to them, “To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but forthose outside everything is in parables: so that they may indeed see but not perceive, and may indeed hear but not understand; lest they should turn again, and be forgiven.”

We spent the next hour and 10 minutes discussing the question, analyzing the text, picking apart the context. I emerged as almost the leader of the group because I started writing ideas and options on the chalkboard. Elizabeth and Dan also added a lot of input. I listened carefully to what everyone said, and tried to get everyone’s ideas incorporated.

We ended up concluding that the secret of the KOG is the received by having a willingness/desire to understand which leads to the ability to understand Jesus’s message (not just parables). However, Steve came in and asked us a few questions; and we turned it around such that the willingness and esire to undetand is the secret, which leads to the ability. The secret has been given, meaning that we already have it. We originally decided against this because willingness and desire are choices, not things that are given to you. Still, the meaning fits. I like it.

By the way, I successfully made it to The Da Vinci Code reading group this morning at 8 am at Century Apartments. I got there just in time and had an apartment-cooked breakfast.

To keep track of how I’m feeling, I noticed my arm hurt today. I vaguely remember something causing it, but I can’t quite remember exactly what. Also, my jaw hurts, but that might be related to the sore I have. My jaw seems to have started unhinging when I open it wide. I hope that goes away.

I scheduled my INROADS interview for tomorrow. Pray it goes well!