Manuscript Bible Study

Mark

MARK MANUSCRIPT… is the …GOLD-STANDARD

Mark has became “the one” to study. Below are LOTS OF HELPS including instructions on how to print and put together notebooks for Mark. This also applies as an example for all the manuscripts on this site.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK

Mark begins his first “sentence” with no verb: “The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” His last sentence ends with women fleeing Jesus’ empty tomb “because they were afraid.” For Mark, Jesus is a man of action. As such Mark provides a great place to start for people who are open to ask two critical questions:

Who is Jesus?
DISCIPLESHIP 101 (Part 1: Mark 1-8:30–pages 1-21)

What does it mean to follow Jesus? DISCIPLESHIP 201 (Part 2: Mark 8:31-16:8–pages 21-47)

MARK MANUSCRIPT 45-page manuscript plus the cover (below), how to study sheet and footnotes. If you are only studying Mark 1 you can just print the first 23 pages (and the footnotes on page 46, if you’d like)

What follows are study schedules for 46 Mark studies including the bottom one that can be edited:

Quarter Schedule: 46 Mark Studies (6 Quarters)

Semester Schedule: 46 Mark Studies (4 Semesters)

Mark Schedule to Edit: 46 Mark Studies, ms word

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The following Observation Guides and Application Journals provide very useful background/questions/insights. These may be printed and put under a separate tab sheets after the manuscript in all the participants’ Mark notebooks.

MARK 1–Mark 1:1-8:30 | MARK 2–Mark 8:31-16:8

Mark 1 Observation Guide, pdf | Mark 1, ms word

Mark 1 Applicaton Journal, pdf | Mark 1, ms word

Mark 2 Observation Guide, pdf | Mark 2, ms word

Mark 2 Application Journal, pdf | Mark 2, ms word

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Printing on one side of the paper allows for spreading the pages out to study side-by-side. This is recommended if you study on TABLES. The alternative if you do NOT study on tables is to print the manuscript front-to-back. (We suggest you initially print through page 21 for Mark 1 which is 12 front-to-back pages.) 20 lb. paper is the norm but 24 or 28 lb. paper provides for less bleed-through.

Providing a 1/2″ binder for each participant will give them a good writing surface. Find or order these at Costco for less than $2.50 each: 1/2″ View Binder. Print the following sheets (in color!) to put in the front/back sleeves:

Front Notebook Sheet, Mark Manuscript A page to slip into the front plastic sleeve. (See front cover sheet above.)

Back Notebook Sheet, Map of Palestine in NT Times This map provides location reference points. There is a block for participant’s to put in their name in the upper right.

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HELPS ESPECIALLY FOR LEADERS

What follows are a variety of notes that go beyond what Mark participants are given to help leaders lead their groups.

What follows is a completed Mark manuscript. We hesitate to make it available–it is NOT a substitute for personal study. Consider it a “manuscript commentary.”

Teresa’s Mark Manuscript, Mark 1: p. 1-21

Teresa’s Mark Manuscript, Mark 2 (a): p. 21-36

Teresa’s Mark Manuscript, Mark 2 (b): p. 37-45

Commentaries/sermons can be studied/listened to AFTER your own study especially to help with historical and cultural background to the text. Here’s a quality example of each.

Commentary: The Gospel of Mark by William L. Lane

Sermon Series: Mark Series by John Mark Comer–Solid Rock Church, Hillsboro, OR

Meaningful Painting: Below is a painting depicting Peter teaching the early church in Jerusalem. Peter’s teaching likely provides the content for Mark’s Gospel. You can imagine Mark listening intensely. (See if you find him there!)

Peter Teaches — Mark Listens — We Benefit

Artist Craig Erickson (CraigErickson.net) has given his permission to download and print the picture for your use. We have printed it as a 11 x 17″ color copy, then had our manuscript group members sign it after completing Mark 1, then had it framed, signed and hung in our home! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CRAIG’S PAINTING or CRAIG’S PAINTING, ms word. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The Gospel’s author, John Mark, appears in a number of places in the New Testament. His mother, Mary, was a wealthy woman whose home in Jerusalem provided the meeting place where the disciples prayed for Peter’s release from prison (Acts 12:12). Mark accompanied Barnabas and Paul on their first missionary journey but for unknown reasons left the group. Paul then refused to take Mark on his next trip but his uncle, Barnabas, intervenes and takes Mark with him to minister in Cyprus (Acts 15:36-41 ). Later Paul and Mark reconcile and Paul tells Timothy that Mark “is very useful to me for ministry (2 Tim. 4:11).

Next we hear that Mark is an associate of the Peter, who affectionately calls him “my son” (1 Peter 5:13). In the third century a church father, Eusebius, writes that the early Christians were so interested in Peter’s message that they asked Mark to write it down. It is likely that the Gospel of Mark reflects much of Peter’s experiences with Jesus, making it, in effect, the Gospel according to Peter.

Here is another painting by Craig Erickson entitled Peter and John Mark. Craig goes on to explain, “John Mark was Peter’s right hand man: his attendant and writer. Most believe it was John Mark who took down Peter’s account of the life of Christ, and that it was that account that became the Gospel of Mark.”

BOTTOM-LINE CONSIDERATION about studying MARK: The first portion of Scripture that Wycliffe missionaries translate for people without the Bible in their language has, for most of their history, been Mark. This Gospel, consequently, is the most accessible book to the most people worldwide ever written. It’s our hope to help make it the most studied as well. To that end, the more tools we can provide, the better. Please contact us regarding any ones that you know of as well.

Manuscript study started under the late Paul Byer in 1953. Paul was an InterVarsity Christian Fellowship staff seeking to help students dig into Scripture. For more details on its history, Click Here.

Now fast forward to… 1986 and pardon the BIG HAIR / BIG GLASSES. Here Paul both explains manuscript study and leads a group through it.

A person doesn’t have to have a breadth of Bible knowledge to join in because manuscript study puts EVERYONE ON THE SAME LEVEL, with the same passage in front of them and no need to “jump all around the Bible.” Even a person with no biblical background can feel right at home and not intimidated as a participant.

Okay, so here’s another video with a little different take on manuscript study–actually a lot different. We’ll call it a CONTRAST to Paul Byer’s substance, but hey, it’s only 2 1/2 minutes long and kind of fun.

Manuscript study is all about SUBSTANCE but it’s also about STYLE as well–a FUN, EASY-TO-LEARN and INVITING approach to learning more about who God is and who we are in relationship to him… together!

In its own way the video covers the three steps of inductive Bible study:

“Who, what, where and how….” — Observation

“Why’s that there? What’s the author trying to say?” — Interpretation

“Head, heart, hands and feet….” — Application

MANUSCRIPT STUDY HANDBOOK

Lindsay Olesberg writes a 253 page, one-of-a-kind book on how to get the most out of the Bible. What’s unique about Lindsay’s work is how she highlights the manuscript study method. Well written with a lot of hands-on exercises, this is an excellent reference for those desiring to go deeper in their study of Scripture. To order the book, Click Here.

HOW TO LEAD, MANUSCRIPT STYLE

Ever thought of leading a manuscript study? If you haven’t, we hope you will. Leading a manuscript group study differs slightly from leading a regular Bible study because group members get the opportunity to study right before they discuss. So, you can ask general observation questions–Who, Where, When, What and How–and expect the group to facilitate more of the discovery process. Here’s the basic steps.

–READ the section together out loud. Such reading gives the group a sense of initial togetherness.

–STUDY individually for 15-30 minutes—as long as group members are engaged—with colored pens/pencils.

Pens in Case

–DISCUSS your observations together which can be done one-to-one or within the small group.

Ask the W questions: Who’s involved & where? What’s going on & when? How’s it happening?

–DRAW OUT key interpretative questions/conclusions (the whys) within a small group discussion. Good observations will naturally lead your group to solid interpretations.

–WRAP-UP with the leader summarizing key points which leads to personal application.

–APPLY your insights through further one-to-one or small group sharing, prayer and action.

Group members can read and study their manuscript ahead of time if they’d like but this is not required. Group meetings are typically 1 1/2 to 2 hours long and include time for personal study. Group size can range from just a few to dozens as long as the group breaks up into smaller groups for discussion and prayer.

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