Mark-Lesson 12...Continued from page 4

DAY FIVE:  Who Will You Live For?

Please carefully read Mark 8:34-38 and answer the following questions.

1.  After Jesus’ response to this, He addressed an important issue with His followers to help them understand the significance of what He told them.  What did He first say (v. 34, 35)?

2. How does this tie in with what is ultimately important in one’s life (v. 36, 37)?

3.  The nlt translates verses 34, 35:  “If any of you wants to be my follower,” he told them, “you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will find true life.”  The Greek word for deny, “aparneomai,” means to forget, lose sight of one’s self and one’s own interests, to have no acquaintance with it.  To take up your cross meant you were on the way to execution, and there is nothing wiser to do with ourselves in view of what Jesus has done for us.  The word follow is “akoloutheo,” to take the same road as another.  These are not suggestions in Greek either, but are commands in a form that means to obey it at once and is to be a permanent attitude and practice on our part.  A classic chapter we refer to often is Romans 12, but it sums up well the thought here.  Read Romans 12:1-5 in light of what Jesus said here, and record what this means for both our relationship with God and with others in the body of Christ.

4.  How did Jesus close His statement to those with Him (v. 34)?  How does Matthew 10:32, 33 add to this as well?

Scripture Memory:  Can you write out this week’s passage by memory here below?  Give it a try, and keep reviewing the passage several times throughout the day.

Mark 8:34b-35: