Out of Exile, Into the Gospel (Eyewitnesses #1)
Session 1: Out of Exile, Into the Gospel
Introduction & The Gospel of Mark
When you flip from Malachi to Matthew, you just skipped 400 years. Four centuries of silence. Four centuries of political upheaval, cultural pressure, and spiritual longing. By the time Jesus arrives on the scene, four distinct groups have emerged — Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots — each with their own way of answering the question, “How should God’s people live under foreign rule?”
That background matters, because it’s the world Jesus stepped into and the world that shaped the Gospel writers. In our first session of Eyewitnesses, we traced the story from exile and rebuilding in the Old Testament, through the rise of Greek and Roman power, all the way to the first century. We watched how history set the stage for Jesus, then turned to the very first Gospel ever written: Mark.
Mark doesn’t waste words. His favorite is “immediately.” He rushes us into the ministry of Jesus with urgency and clarity, confronting us with the central question: Who is this man? The first half of Mark builds toward Peter’s confession — “You are the Messiah”— but like a blind man who sees only in part, the disciples don’t yet understand. The second half answers the real question: What kind of Messiah is He?
The shocking answer? Jesus is the King revealed not by the conqueror’s crown, but by the servant’s cross.
This session challenged us to ask:
- How did the intertestamental period shape the world Jesus entered?
- What do the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Zealots reveal about the options on the table in Jesus’ day?
- And when Mark shows us the disciples half-seeing, half-understanding, do we recognize ourselves?
Mark leaves us with a decision: will we be ignorant insiders who miss Him, or observant outsiders who finally see Him for who He is?
Session #1 Pre-Work
Please complete the following assignments and be prepared to discuss your answers to these questions before viewing session 1.
Watch:
BibleProject – New Testament Overview (links will be emailed to you, or you can look it up on YouTube)
BibleProject – Gospel of Mark Overview - What is the significance in the Gospel of Mark of Jesus being referred to as the “Son of God?”
Textbook Reading:
The NT in Seven Sentences – Intro + Chapter 1 (pp. 1–22)
How was Israel still “in exile” during Jesus’s life?
What was the basic idea of “Messiah” in the first century?
Scripture Reading:
Mark 1:1-45 - Why do you think Jesus wanted to keep His identity as the Messiah a secret?
Mark 5:21-43 - How does the story of Jesus healing the woman in the crowd complement your understanding of the healing of Jairus’s daughter (and vice versa)?
Mark 8:22-9:13 - Why do you think the disciples were still confused, even after Jesus told them plainly about the cross?