The platypus lays eggs, feeds its young with milk and fits into no drawer at all, and we still called it a mammal, so as not to disturb the system. That image opens a reflection on the first chapters of Mark’s Gospel (Mark 1-2), written to people living at the very heart of a world of norms, categories and labels. Again and again Mark shows a Jesus who cannot be quickly named: a teacher who says nothing and takes a sick woman by the hand, and someone who forgives sins. Listen, and see why the question of who Jesus is will not tolerate hasty answers.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- In Capernaum people say Jesus teaches "as one who has authority," and the unclean spirit calls him the Holy One of God. Why do the people still ask "what is this" despite those words?
- In Mark 2:1-12 the teachers of the law think: "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" What do their reaction and the healing of the paralyzed man reveal about who Jesus is?
- The sermon contrasts the synagogue with the home of Simon's mother-in-law, where Jesus silently takes the sick woman by the hand. How does this scene reshape your picture of Jesus as teacher and Holy One of God?
- The speaker compares Jesus to a platypus that doesn't fit our categories. Which "boxes" do you most easily put Jesus in, and what do you miss because of it?
- Four men tear open a roof and risk looking foolish to bring their friend to Jesus. What might that kind of courageous faith look like for you today?
- The sermon says that what Jesus does demands an answer that can't be postponed. How are you answering the question of who he is for you this week, and what follows from that in practice?
