loudandclear

Mark 9:30-50

(notes by Niko Gruber)

30 Leaving that region, they traveled through Galilee. Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, 31 for he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them. He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.” 32 They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant. The Greatest in the Kingdom 33 After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?” 34 But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest. 35 He sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.” 36 Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.” Using the Name of Jesus 38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” 39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. 40 Anyone who is not against us is for us. 41 If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah, I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded. 42 “But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone hung around your neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’ 49 “For everyone will be tested with fire. 50 Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? You must have the qualities of salt among yourselves and live in peace with each other.”

(((Jesus asks His disciples what they were talking about, not because He didn’t know, but knew the question would lead to His lesson. His disciples were too embarrassed to answer His question. Jesus then says a statement that is as crazy sounding now as it was then. Jesus was talking about His Upside-down Kingdom. That in His Kingdom the people who are the greatest are serving others and humbling themselves. This is the complete opposite of the way the world views being great. This isn’t a fake humbleness where you serve others so you can be seen as great. Serving others should be done out of a heart of love, rather than for self-gain. Jesus uses the example of welcoming children. Often in ancient cultures children were thought less of and were unimportant.)))

(((John then tries to brag to Jesus about how they were stopping other people who weren’t in their group from doing things in the name of Jesus. The disciples had a small mindset. They thought that only they knew the right way. That everyone else was wrong because they weren’t in their group. Jesus tells them that, “Anyone who is not against us is for us.” This has implications for us even today. So often we can miss what God is doing in the world by just focusing on our small group of people around us. If we only look at the people near us, then what we see is a small God, but if we take the time to see what He is doing all over the world we can see the full vision of what God is doing to restore the world back to Him.)))

(((Jesus then goes on to say some intense statements about sin. He calls for people to cut off their feet and eyes. What He is using here is called a hyperbole. A hyperbole is something that is exaggerated to express strong feelings about something. It isn’t supposed to be taken literally. So while Jesus may not be asking us to actually cut off parts of our body, He is calling us to do whatever we can to get rid of sin in our life. Sin is anything that is against God. Because of this we know that sin shouldn’t be taken lightly. Although God will still forgive us when we fail, we should still try our best to get rid of sin in our lives. When we sin without realizing the weight of our actions we cheapen the grace that God has given us. When we sin without taking our sin seriously, we in turn don’t take Jesus’ death seriously.)))