Watch
As usual, maybe take a moment to invite the group to offer a recap of the last episode before you hit “Play.” But here’s another suggestion: whether or not you usually share with the group the title of the episode you’re about to watch together, maybe do so this time (“Indescribably Compassion”) for purposes of the discussion that will follow.
Discuss
Before you begin discussing the episode, take a moment to read the gospel accounts—recorded back-to-back in the Gospel of Mark—that inspired two scenes from this episode: Mark 1:40-45 and Mark 2:1-12.[1]
Jesus’s compassion for others is most obviously seen in this episode’s biggest moments, the two miracles. But what were some of the more subtle moments in which Jesus’s compassion was in full display?
Though the title of this episode speaks of Jesus’s compassion as “indescribable,” how would you describe it to others in a word or a phrase?
While the degree of Jesus’s compassion can be indescribable, ours can easily be described in a word: discriminating. Where did you see discriminating compassion in the episode? Where do you see it in today’s world at large? In the church? In you? And what do you think stirs such discriminating care?
One reason our compassion is discriminating in nature is that compassion is costly. How was it costly for Jesus in this episode? What might it cost us today?
What are some practical ways we can cultivate within us a compassion that leaves others speechless, as opposed to cultivating the usual compassion that can easily be tagged as “discriminatory”?
Pray
Here are two questions to guide your group’s closing prayer:
If you were to offer a word of thanks to God for something that comforted you in this episode, what would it be?
If you were to ask God’s help in living life in a new way in light of this episode, how would you sum up this new way of life?