Mark 9

Mark 9:1

IV. THE SERVANT’S JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM (Chaps. 9, 10) A. The Servant Transfigured (9:1-13) Having laid before the disciples the pathway of reproach, suffering, and death which He was to take, and having invited them to follow Him in lives of sacrifice and self-renunciation, the Lord now gives the other side of the picture. Though discipleship would cost them dearly in this life, it would be rewarded with glory by and by. 9:1-7 The Lord began by saying that some of the disciples would not taste death till they saw the kingdom of God present with power. He was referring to Peter, James, and John. On the Mount of Transfiguration they saw the kingdom of God in power. The argument of the passage is that anything we suffer for Christ’s sake now will be abundantly repaid when He returns and His servants appear with Him in glory. The conditions which prevailed on the Mount foreshadow the Millennial Reign of Christ.

1. Jesus was transfigureddazzling splendor radiated from His Person. Even His clothes were shining, whiter than any bleach could make them. During His First Advent, the glory of Christ was veiled. He came in humiliation, a Man of Sorrows, and acquainted with grief. But He will return in glory. No one will mistake Him then. He will be visibly the King of kings and Lord of lords.
2. Elijah and Moses were there. They represent: (a) OT saints, or (b) the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah), or (c) saints who have died, and those who have been translated.
3. Peter, James and John were there. They may represent NT saints in general, or those who will be alive when the kingdom is set up.
4. Jesus was the central Person. Peter’s suggestion of making three tabernacles was rebuked by the cloud and the voice from heaven. In all things Christ must have the pre-eminence. He will be the glory of Immanuel’s land.
5. The cloud may have been the shekinah or glory cloud which stayed in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and temple in OT times. It was the visible expression of God’s presence.
6. The voice was the voice of God the Father, acknowledging Christ as His beloved Son.9:8 When the cloud was lifted the disciples saw no one anymore, but only Jesus. It was a picture of the unique, glorious and pre-eminent place He will have when the kingdom comes in power, and which He should have in the hearts of His followers at the present time. 9:9, 10 As they came down from the mountain, He commanded them not to discuss what they had seen till after He had risen from the dead. This latter point puzzled them. Perhaps they still did not grasp that He was to be slain and rise again. They wondered about the expression rising from the dead. As Jews they knew the truth that all would be raised. But Jesus was speaking of a selective resurrection. He would be raised from among the dead onesnot all would be raised when He arose. This is a truth found only in the NT. 9:11 The disciples had another problem. They had just had a preview of the kingdom. But hadn’t Malachi predicted that Elijah must come as a forerunner of the Messiah, beginning the restitution of all things, and paving the way for setting up His universal reign (Mal_4:5)? Where was Elijah? Would he come first, as the scribes said he would? 9:12, 13 Jesus answered in effect, Indeed, it is true that Elijah must come first. But a more important and immediate question is this: Don’t the OT Scriptures predict that the Son of Man is to endure great sufferings and be treated with contempt? As far as Elijah is concerned, Elijah did come (in the person and ministry of John the Baptist), but men treated him exactly as they wanted tojust as men treated Elijah. The death of John the Baptist was an advance token of what they would do to the Son of Man. They rejected the forerunner; they will reject the King.

Mark 9:14

B. A Demon-Possessed Boy Healed (9:14-29) 9:14-16 The disciples were not permitted to remain on the mountain-top of glory. In the valley below was groaning, sobbing mankind. A world of need lay at their feet. When Jesus and the three disciples reached the base of the mountain, an animated discussion was going on among the scribes, the crowd, and the other disciples. As soon as the Lord appeared, the conversation broke up and the crowd rushed to Him. What are you discussing with My disciples? He inquired. 9:17, 18 A distraught father excitedly told the Lord about his son, possessed with a mute spirit. The demon dashed the child to the ground, made him grind his teeth and foam at the mouth. These violent convulsions were causing the child to waste away. The father had asked the disciples to help, but they could not. 9:19 Jesus chided the disciples for their unbelief. Had He not given them power to cast out demons? How long would He have to be with them before they would use the authority He had given them? How long would He have to put up with lives of powerlessness and defeat? 9:20-23 As they brought the child to the Lord, the demon induced a particularly serious fit. The Lord asked his father how long this had been going on. It was from childhood, he explained. These spasms often had thrown the child into the fire and into the water. There had been narrow escapes from death. Then the father asked the Lord to please do something if He coulda heart-rending cry, wrung from years of desperation. Jesus told him that it was not a question of His ability to heal, but of the father’s ability to believe. Faith in the living God is always rewarded. No case is too difficult for Him. 9:24 The father expressed the paradox of faith and unbelief experienced by God’s people in all ages. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! We want to believe, yet find ourselves filled with doubt. We hate this inward, unreason able contradiction, yet seem to fight it in vain. 9:25-27 When Jesus ordered the unclean spirit to leave the child, there was another terrible spasm, then the little body relaxed as if dead. The Savior raised him up and restored him to his father. 9:28, 29 Later when our Lord was alone with His disciples in the house, they asked Him privately why they hadn’t been able to do it. He replied that certain miracles require prayer and fasting. Which of us is not faced at times in our Christian service with a sense of defeat and frustration? We have labored tirelessly and conscientiously, yet there has been no evidence of the Spirit of God working in power. We too hear the Savior’s words reminding us, This kind . . . etc.

Mark 9:30

C. Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection (9:30-32) 9:30 Our Lord’s visit to Caesarea Philippi had ended. Now He passed through Galileea trip that would lead Him to Jerusalem and the cross. He desired to travel unnoticed. For the most part, His public ministry was over. Now He wanted to spend time with the disciples, instructing and preparing them for what lay ahead. 9:31, 32 He told them plainly that He was going to be arrested and killed, and that He would rise again the third day. They somehow didn’t take it in, and were afraid to ask Him. We are often afraid to ask too, and thus lose a blessing.

Mark 9:33

D. Greatness in the Kingdom (9:33-37) 9:33, 34 When they reached the house in Capernaum where they would stay, Jesus asked them what they had been arguing about along the way. They were ashamed to admit that they had been disputing which of them would be the greatest. Perhaps the Transfiguration had revived their hopes for an imminent kingdom, and they were grooming themselves for places of honor in it. It is heartbreaking to realize that at the very time Jesus had been telling them about His impending death, they were esteeming themselves better than others. The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked above all things, as Jeremiah said. 9:35-37 Jesus, knowing what they had argued about, gave them a lesson in humility. He said that the way to be first was to voluntarily take the lowest place of service and live for others instead of self. A little child was set before them and embraced by the Lord Jesus. He emphasized that a kindness shown in His name to the least esteemed, the least renowned, was an act of greatness. It was as if the kindness were shown to the Lord Himself, yes, even to God the Father. O blessed Lord Jesus, Your teachings probe and expose this carnal heart of mine. Break me of self and let Your life be lived through me.

Mark 9:38

E. The Servant Forbids Sectarianism (9:38-42) This chapter seems to be full of failures. Peter spoke clumsily on the Mount of Transfiguration (vv. 5, 6). The disciples failed to cast out the mute demon (v. 18). They argued over who was greatest (v. 34). In vv. 38-40, we find them demonstrating a sectarian spirit. 9:38 It was John the beloved who reported to Jesus that they had found a man casting out demons in His name. The disciples told him to stop because he didn’t identify himself with them. The man wasn’t teaching false doctrine or living in sin. He simply did not join up with the disciples. They drew a circle that shut me outRebel, heretic, thing to flout; But love and I had the wit to winWe drew a circle that took them in. 9:39 Jesus said, Don’t stop him. If he has enough faith in Me to use My name in casting out demons, he is on My side and is working against Satan. He isn’t apt to turn around quickly and speak evil of Me or be My enemy.9:40 Verse 40 seems to contradict Mat_12:30 where Jesus said: He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. But there is no real conflict. In Matthew, the issue was whether Christ was the Son of God or demon-empowered. On such a fundamental question, anyone who is not with Him is working against Him. Here in Mark, the question was not the Person or work of Christ, but the matter of one’s associates in the service of the Lord. Here there must be tolerance and love. Whoever is not against Him in service must be against Satan and therefore on Christ’s side. 9:41 Even the smallest kindness done in Christ’s name will be rewarded. A cup of water given to a disciple because he belongs to Christ will not go unnoticed. Casting out a demon in His name is rather spectacular. Giving a glass of water is commonplace. But both are precious to Him when done for His glory. Because you belong to Christ is the cord that should bind believers together. These words, if kept before us, would deliver us from party spirit, petty bickerings and jealousy in Christian service. 9:42 Constantly the Lord’s servant must consider what effect his words and actions will have on others. It is possible to stumble a fellow believer, causing life-long spiritual damage. It would be better to be drowned with a millstone around one’s neck than to cause a little one to stray from the path of holiness and truth.

Mark 9:43

F. Ruthless Self-Discipline (9:43-50) 9:43 The remaining verses of the chapter emphasize the necessity of discipline and renunciation. Those who set out on the path of true discipleship must constantly battle with natural desires and appetites. To cater to them spells ruin. To control them insures spiritual victory. The Lord spoke of the hand, the foot, and the eye, explaining that it would be better to lose one of these than to be stumbled by it into hell. Reaching the goal is worth any sacrifice. The hand might suggest our deeds, the foot our walk, and the eye the things we crave. These are potential danger spots. Unless they are dealt with severely, they can lead to eternal ruin. Does this passage teach that true believers can finally be lost and spend eternity in hell? Taken by itself it might suggest that. But taken with the consistent teaching of the NT, we must conclude that anyone who goes to hell was never a genuine Christian at all. A person might profess to be born again and appear to go on well for some time. But if that person consistently indulges the flesh, it is clear he was never saved. 9:44-48 The Lord repeatedly speaks of hell as a place where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. It is tremendously solemn. If we really believed it, we would not live for things but for never-dying souls. Give me a passion for souls, O Lord!Fortunately it is never morally necessary to amputate a hand or foot or to cut out an eye. Jesus did not suggest that we should practice such extremes. All He said was it would be better to sacrifice the use of these organs than to be dragged down to hell by their abuse. 9:49 Verses 49 and 50 are especially difficult. Therefore we will examine them clause by clause. For everyone will be seasoned with fire. The three main problems are: (1) Which fire is referred to? (2) What is meant by seasoned? (3) Does everyone refer to saved, to unsaved, or to both? Fire may mean hell (as in vv. 44, 46, 48) or judgment of any kind, including divine judgment of a believer’s works, and self-judgment. Salt typifies that which preserves, purifies, and seasons. In eastern lands, it is also a pledge of loyalty, friendship, or faithfulness to a promise. If everyone means the unsaved, then the thought is that they will be preserved in the fires of hell, that is, that they will suffer eternal punishment. If everyone refers to believers, the passage teaches that they must: (1) be purified through the fires of God’s chastening in this life; or (2) preserve themselves from corruption by practicing self-discipline and self-renunciation; or (3) be tested at the Judgment Seat of Christ. And every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt. This clause is quoted from Lev_2:13 (see also Num_18:19; 2Ch_13:5). Salt, an emblem of the covenant between God and His people, was intended to remind the people that the covenant was a solemn treaty to be kept inviolate. In presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice to God (Rom_12:1-2), we should season the sacrifice with salt by making it an irrevocable commitment. 9:50 Salt is good. Christians are the salt of the earth (Mat_5:13). God expects them to exert a healthful, purifying influence. As long as they fulfill their discipleship, they are a blessing to all. But if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Salt without saltiness is valueless. A Christian who is not carrying out his duties as a true disciple is barren and ineffective. It is not enough to make a good start in the Christian life. Unless there is constant and radical self-judgment, the child of God is failing to achieve the purpose for which God saved him. Have salt in yourselves. Be a power for God in the world. Exert a beneficial influence for the glory of Christ. Be intolerant of anything in your life that might lessen your effectiveness for Him. And have peace with one another. This apparently refers back to verses 33 and 34, where the disciples had argued over which of them was the greatest. Pride must be put away and replaced by humble service for all. To summarize, verses 49 and 50 seem to picture the believer’s life as a sacrifice to God. It is salted with fire, that is, mixed with self-judgment and self-renunciation. It is salted with salt, that is, offered with a pledge of unalterable devotedness. If the believer goes back on his vows, or fails to deal drastically with sinful desires, then his life will be savorless, worthless, and pointless. Therefore he should eradicate anything from his life that would interfere with his divinely-appointed mission, and he should maintain peaceful relations with other believers.