Discipleship is movement. Being a disciple is a progression on the way toward a fuller understanding of who Jesus is and what is involved in following him. Along the way that Jesus guided his disciples they encountered disappointment, suffering, death, and ultimately were led to new life.

Everyone was unseeing as to who Jesus was and neither did they anticipate the form his kingdom would take. The questions that Jesus asked his disciples and the crowds to encourage their sight are just as relevant to our culture and circumstance as they were to the original audience. Blinded by our passion for self, Jesus could easily ask “do you still not understand?”

In the middle of the gospel of Mark, several stories are strung together in which Jesus directly confronts the blindness of his followers. He addresses:

• false sources of identity
• invalid expectations
• the burden of our crosses
• views of power
• belonging
• who the kingdom serves

Through his questions and responses Jesus made it clear that he did not come to reform humanity’s old ways, but to pave a new way that stands in direct opposition to a world trying to live without God.

In Essential Questions, Scott Perkins examines the questions that Jesus asked and applies them to the unhealthy ways we see as we live as disciples in a culture that pursues a different kingdom.