Last week’s study ended with Jesus telling his disciples once again that He had to be killed and three days later He would rise. And the reaction of the disciples was: “They did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask Him” about it (Mark 9:30-32).
This lack of understanding is very clear in the verses which follow. Jesus and the disciples went back to Capernaum, and Jesus asked them what they had been discussing along the way. They kept silent, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. Maybe this argument came because some of the disciples were jealous that Jesus had taken only Peter, James, and John to the Transfiguration event, and as Jesus had directed (Mark 9:9), no one was saying what had happened. Or maybe there was trouble because the disciples had just failed to cast out the evil spirit from the boy in Mark 9:16-18. Whose fault was it? Could some have done better than others? Who was better and greater than others (Mark 9:33-34)?
We read that Jesus sat down and called the disciples to Him for a serious talk. In the Kingdom of God, Jesus said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). The goal is not personal greatness, but service to others. Jesus Himself was the best example of that. He was willing to sacrifice everything, even His life, for the sake of others. He was willing to be “last,” dying like a criminal for the sins and failings of everyone else in the world, in order to bring forgiveness for them, though they and we did not deserve it.
Jesus then took a small child and set him in the midst of them and picked him up in His arms. Receiving and serving and helping even a little child in Jesus’ name is a “great” service, Jesus was saying - and then it was as if one were serving and receiving Jesus Himself and God the Father, Who sent Him to be our Servant Savior (Mark 9:36-37). (This is why Martin Luther emphasized that we can have different vocations or “callings” in this life, and all can be important service to God and others. Being a good parent and helping a child is a great thing, even when getting a child a drink of water, as we shall soon see. The same is true for being a teacher or doing our work well, whatever it is, in a way that serves and helps others. Greatness is not in trying to make ourselves look better than others or be above others, for the sake of personal gain.)
Again, the disciples did not seem to get what Jesus was teaching. John soon brought up the issue of someone else casting out demons in the name of Jesus. This person was not even one of the close disciples following Jesus. How dare he do that! And they tried to stop him, as if he were stealing from their power and authority and honor. Jesus replied with the opposite view. “Do not stop him.”
This must have been a person who had seen and heard Jesus and His disciples and trusted the power of Jesus and wanted to help battle Satan and evil in Jesus name. Such a person would not quickly turn to oppose Jesus. He was doing some good, and even the smallest good was a blessing, even it was just giving a a cup of cold water to someone, because of a relationship to Christ, as Jesus went on to explain (Mark 9:39-41).
This is somewhat like what Paul talked about in Philippians 1:12-19. He rejoiced that the good news of Jesus was spread, even if not always with the best of motivations or even as a result of persecution. Jesus is not talking about people who try to use the power of God for personal gain or try to earn or buy God’s power in some way. (See the bad examples of Simon the Magician in Acts 8:9-24 or the sons of Sceva in Acts 19:13-16.)
Jesus went on, in Mark 9:42 and following, to warn about the seriousness of leading ourselves or others astray, away from trust in Him and His will. Jesus began with the example of a very little child (literally, a “micron”) who believes in Him. How terrible it would be to cause such a little one to sin (literally, to stumble and fall, away from the Lord). It would be better, Jesus said, in a very dramatic way, for a person to die before leading someone astray, away from the faith (Mark 9:42).
These words remind us that even small children can receive the gift of faith and believe. That is one of the reason we practice infant baptism, as well as baptism for older children and adults. God can give that gift of faith to anyone of any age. The promises of baptism are “for you and for your children and for all who are far off” (Acts 2:38). How important it is to teach and strengthen baptized children or adults, then, with the Word of God and encourage them in faith in Jesus.
Likewise, Jesus went on to say how important it is to battle sins and evil in our own lives, before they cause us to stumble in sin and fall away from faith. He used very dramatic language here, too. He is not literally calling us to cut off feet or hands, etc. We heard Jesus already teaching that evil does not come from our hands or feet, but from within, from our sinful nature and hearts (Mark 7:20-23). We can use our hands to do evil, stealing or hurting others or doing other harmful things. We can use our feet to go places that are dangerous or harmful for us. Our eyes can read or look upon things that encourage evil or lustful desires. We need, with God’s power, to battle against such temptations to evil of all kinds, or we could lose our faith and end up not in heaven, in eternal “life," but in hell (Mark 9:43-48).
Jesus is actually the one who speaks more about hell than anyone else in the Bible. He does not want anyone to go there. He is the Savior who rescues us from sin, eternal death, and hell. Yet, He warns that people can resist and reject Him and His gracious gifts of life earned for us. Here, hell is described as unquenchable fire, and the picture image of “gehenna” is used. This is a reference to the Valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where there was a huge garbage dump, which was continually on fire.
In earlier times, some of God’s people went so far astray that they worshipped false gods and even sacrificed their children, burned them for these gods in this valley. (See Jeremiah 7:31-32 and warnings about judgment and unquenchable fire (v.20, 32, etc.) King Josiah also brought reforms, trying to stop what had happened in that valley, in 2 Kings 23: 9-10.) This area eventually became the garbage dump of Gehenna, a symbol of hell. See also the Old Testament passage that Jesus quoted from Isaiah 66:24, describing hell as a place where “their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched” (Mark 9:43-48).
Jesus gave all these warnings, because He wanted no one to end up in hell, by rejecting Him and His saving work for the world. Jesus went on to speak of "salt" that He provides to preserve and protect His believers who trust in Him. “Have salt in yourselves," Jesus said. As every Old Testament grain offering needed to be salted, as a sign of “the salt of the covenant with your God” (Leviticus 2:13) and as a preservative, so also we need the preserving gifts of God to keep us in faith in Christ.
In the New Testament we think of the Word of God and the blessings of our baptism and the Lord’s Supper, by which the Holy Spirit brings us to faith but also keeps us in the faith. We can then be “salt” to the world around us, as witnesses for Jesus. (Mark 9:50. See also Matthew 5:13 and Colossians 4:5-6.)
Jesus added the idea that we can also be “salted with fire” (Mark 9:49). This is a reference not to the fire of hell, but to the fire of trials and troubles we might suffer in our lives as believers. These troubles can also be a means by which our faith can be strengthened and purified, over time, as we live our lives for our Lord. (See what Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3-7, and the words of James 1:2-4 and Romans 5:3-5.) Finally, Jesus ended these words to His disciples by calling them to “be at peace with one another" instead of having arguments and disagreement with one another, in Mark 9:33-34.
As Mark 10 begins, Jesus was traveling toward Judea and His ultimate suffering and death and resurrection, around Jerusalem. Wherever He went, crowds gathered and “He taught them, as was His custom.” He taught God’s Word wherever He could, as long as He could.
Very quickly, Jesus was also confronted again by Pharisees, who “tested” Him by the question, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” This was likely a kind of trap for Him, no matter how He answered the question. If He said “Yes," they could accuse Him of approving of divorce and being too liberal in His views, like the Sadducees. If he said “No," they could say He was rejecting Moses and his allowing for divorce in Deuteronomy 24:1.
Jesus knew what they were trying to do, and He asked them a question of His own instead: “What did Moses command you?” They quote the Deuteronomy passage. Jesus then had the chance to explain that it was only because of sin and hardness of heart, that Moses gave the command about divorce, “putting away” one’s spouse, in some circumstances (Mark 10:2-5).
Moses had written the whole first five books of the Old Testament by inspiration of God, and Jesus then quoted God’s original command, given early in Genesis, through Moses, about marriage. God made the first two people, one a male and the other a female, and brought them together in marriage (Genesis 1:27 and 2 :24). There were only two genders, and the male was to marry the female. Jesus quoted these passages from Genesis. As the Son of God, He was there at the creation and involved in all this, and knew what this meant. So Jesus added the word of explanation. “What therefore God has joined together, let man not separate.” This was the original high standard that God had for marriage, and Jesus supported and emphasized that (Mark 10:6-9).
Later, the disciples asked Jesus about this issue again. Jesus repeated His high view of marriage and His desire that marriage commitment not be broken (Mark 10:10-11). (Jesus obviously also knew of the reality of sin and “hardness of heart” and that not every marriage would work as intended by God. There are some grounds for divorce allowed in Scripture, and Jesus also taught the forgiveness of sins. If you want to pursue this more, there is more discussion of this in an earlier podcast on the Book of Malachi, Chapter 2.)
This study ends with Mark 10:13-16. The disciples again were not listening very closely to Jesus. They tried to keep parents from bringing children to Jesus for a blessing, as if He would not want to be bothered by children. Jesus was “indignant” and insisted that they “let the children come to Me, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.” In fact, He said, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” We will talk more about what this means next week and how it leads directly into the key passage in next week’s lesson.
For now, we need to ask how much we are like those first disciples. How well have we been listening? Where have we fallen short and need God’s forgiveness? May the Lord forgive and strengthen us all, that we may be better “salt” to the world, in service to Him and to one another.
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free