Mark 8:27-38
“Soul Care”
Scripture: Mark 8:27-38
Memory Verse: “Whoever desires to come after Me, Let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow Me.” Mark 8:34b
Lesson Focus: To follow Jesus every day of our life.
Activities and Craft: Coloring Page, Activity Sheet
Craft for 1st and 2nd Grades: “Take Up Your Cross” Cross
Introduction: Play a game of follow the leader. Have fun and give different kids a turn.
Bible Study:
Review: Remember last week Jesus was challenging the disciples to remember what
God is doing and to not have a hard heart. We forget very quickly! Today, Jesus is once again going to focus on the disciples to teach them how to truly follow Him.
We now have come to the middle of the book of Mark. From now on, Jesus will be pointing and moving towards Jerusalem and the cross.
Mark 8:27-30: “The Quiz”
√ How many of you like a quiz? Does your teacher surprise you with a quiz sometimes?
Today, Jesus is going to give the disciples a quick quiz. Let’s see if they pass or
not?
√ What is the 1st question on the quiz? (“Who do men say that I am?)
√ What is their answer? (John the Baptist, Elijah, or a prophet.)
(This is a correct answer.)
√ What is the 2nd question on this quiz? (“Who do you say that I am?”)
√ What did they answer? (Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”)
√ What does it mean when Peter said that Jesus was the “Christ”?
Peter is saying that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised one in the Old
Testament, the Savior of the world. Peter is stating the truth of who Jesus is. “Christ” is the Greek for the Hebrew title “Messiah” and means “Anointed One.”
√ Is this the correct answer? (Yes)
Matthew 16:17-19, tells us how Jesus responded to Peter’s statement. Jesus knew that God through the Spirit had revealed this to Peter.
Mark 8:30-33: “The Warning”
√ What did Jesus tell them not to do? (to not tell people)
√ What did Jesus teach them?
Jesus began to teach them what the Messiah came to do.
- Jesus will suffer many things
- Jesus will be rejected by the “religious” authorities.
- Jesus will die
- Jesus will rise again from the dead on the third day
√ Did Jesus say these things clearly? (Yes, Jesus was very clear in what He told them
that He will have to do.)
√ What did Peter do? (took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Jesus.)
√ What does “rebuke” mean? (To set someone straight, they have it all wrong and you
correct them.)
√ Do you think Jesus had it wrong?
√ Do you think Peter was right in doing this?
√ Do you think Jesus liked what Peter said to Him?
Let’s see how Jesus responds to Peter?
- Rebukes Peter (Jesus is going to correct Peter)
- Call’s Peter “Satan”
- Tells Peter that he is not thinking about the things of God. He is thinking about the things of men.
Oh….Peter came so close. He got 100% on the first quiz – when he announced that Jesus was the “Christ.” But he turns around and flunks the second quiz. He did not believe that the “Christ” would have to suffer and die. He did not want that to happen. Peter was looking at this through his own eyes of selfishness. He did not want to lose Jesus to death. But this is why Jesus came.
In James 3:15 it says, “This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.” Peter is responding to what Jesus says according to his own wants. And Jesus says, “Get behind me Satan! You are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” We need to be very careful that what we think and what we say are from God. We may not understand something – but that just means that we go to God and ask Him for the wisdom to understand. (James 1:5) We are too quick to speak for God, let’s ask Him for the wisdom that we need to understand.
Mark 8:34-38; “The True Follower”
Jesus calls everyone to Him to listen. He begins to teach what a “true” follower of Jesus is.
- A True Follower of Jesus: “Takes up his cross”
Desire: to follow Jesus
Action: 1. deny himself
2. Take up his cross
3. Follow Jesus
√ What does it mean to “take up my cross?” The cross is the symbol of how Christ died. He came to die on the cross for our sins. When we take up our cross we are following Jesus. We are walking in Jesus’ steps and living like He lived.
- We care about people the way Jesus loved people.
- We follow the truths of God’s Word, even when people make fun of us.
- We are living in the power of the Holy Spirit to guide our lives.
“Taking up our cross” is not the hardships in our lives. It’s very simply following Jesus in the best way that we can
- A True Follower of Jesus: “Lose your life for Jesus”
This means to give up what you want and to do what God wants. When we give up our selfishness and allow God to be a part of every part of our lives we have the best life that God has planned for us. We are living for real!
Did you ever hear the saying “finders keepers – losers weepers.”
√ What does that mean?
Jesus is saying just the opposite.
Losers (lose your life) = don’t live for yourself
Keeepers (you gain your soul) = eternity
This is the exact opposite of what the world is saying.
The world tells us to live for ourselves. We should get everything that we want. No one will put us down. The most important person in my life is me!
Jesus says, to deny myself and follow Him.
√ What is your soul?
Our soul is the part of us that lives forever. It is the part inside of us that has a conscience and belongs to God. When God created man in Genesis – He breathed the “breath of life” into man. He created life and a soul. Our outside bodies hold the best part of us on the inside. When we leave this earth only our outside body is left here. Our souls go to Heaven to be with God forever.
That is why it is very important to take care of your “soul.”
Jesus is showing us how here in these verses.
We take care of our soul by following Jesus.
- By believing in the death of Jesus for our sin.
- By repenting of our sin and confessing Jesus as our Lord and Savior
- By reading God’s Word
- By depending on the Holy Spirit
- By following the example of how Jesus lived.
- By NOT listening to the world and its views.
The Bible tells us very clearly how to follow Jesus and how to take care of our soul:
Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Make sure every day you are reading Gods Word and praying and letting it change you. Reading God’s word is like a bath for your soul. It cleans you from the inside!
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