Mark Chapter 9
Mar 9:1 MKJV And He said to them, Truly I say to you that there are some of those who stand here who shall not taste of death until they see the kingdom of God come with power.
Robertson: In Mar_8:38 Jesus clearly is speaking of the second coming. To what is he referring in Mar_9:1? One is reminded of Mar_13:32; Mat_24:36 where Jesus expressly denies that anyone save the Father himself (not even the Son) knows the day or the hour. Does he contradict that here? It may be observed that Luke has only “see the kingdom of God,” while Matthew has “see the Son of man coming” (erchomenon, present participle, a process). Mark has “see the kingdom of God come” (elēluthuian, perfect active participle, already come) and adds “with power.” Certainly the second coming did not take place while some of those standing there still lived. Did Jesus mean that? The very next incident in the Synoptic Gospels is the Transfiguration on Mount Hermon. Does not Jesus have that in mind here? The language will apply also to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the great Day of Pentecost. Some see in it a reference to the destruction of the temple. It is at least open to question whether the Master is speaking of the same event in Mar_8:38; Mar_9:1.
Mar 9:2 MKJV And after six days Jesus took Peter and James and John and led them up into a high mountain, apart by themselves. And He was transfigured before them.
Mar 9:3 MKJV And His clothing became shining, exceedingly white as snow such as no fuller on earth could whiten them.
Clarke --And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, etc. - For a full account of the nature and design of the transfiguration, see on Mat_17:1 (note), etc.
A high mountain - I have conjectured, Mat_17:1, that this was one of the mountains of Galilee: some say Hermon, some think a mountain near Caesarea Philippi to be more likely.
Russell: He was transfigured -- The object of the "vision" was probably two-fold--the comfort and strengthening of the Lord, and the enlightenment of his chosen witnesses.
The import of this vision is clearly indicated by Peter. (2Pe_1:16-18)
Guzik: -- What exactly happened here? Matthew says that Jesus’ face shone like the sun (Mat_17:2), and both Matthew and Mark use the word transfigured to describe what happened to Jesus. For this brief time, Jesus took on an appearance more appropriate for the King of Glory than for a humble man.
c. He was transfigured before them: Mark does his best to describe for us - no doubt, through the eyes of Peter - what Jesus looked like. Basically, Jesus’ whole appearance shined forth in glorious, bright light - his clothes became shining, and whiter than anything seen on this earth.
i. If we’re not careful, we think of the transfiguration as just a bright light shined on Jesus. But this wasn’t a light coming on Jesus from the outside. “The word transfigured describes a change on the outside that comes from the inside. It is the opposite of ‘masquerade,’ which is an outward change that does not come from within.” (Wiersbe)
d. Why did Jesus do this, and why at this time? Because Jesus just told His disciples that He was going the way of the cross (Mar_8:31), and that spiritually they should follow Him in the way of the cross (Mar_8:34-38). It would have been easy for them to lose confidence in Jesus after such a “negative” statement.
e. But now, as Jesus displays His glory as King over all God’s Kingdom, the disciples know that Jesus knows what He is doing; if He is to suffer, be rejected and killed, He is still in control.
f. Jesus also shows in a dramatic way that cross bearers will be glory receivers. The goal isn’t the cross. The cross is the path to the goal, and the goal is the glory of God.
Is your eye fixed on the glory beyond the cross?
Mar 9:4 MKJV And Elijah with Moses was seen by them, and they were talking with Jesus.
Russell: Appeared unto them -- It was only an appearance, because Christ was the firstborn from the dead and neither Moses nor Elijah is as yet "made perfect." (Heb_11:39, 40)
Guzik: Elijah appeared to them with Moses: Why Elijah and Moses? Because they represent those who are caught up to God (Jud_1:9; 2Ki_2:11). Moses represents those who die and go to glory, and Elijah represents those who are caught up to heaven without death (as in 1Th_4:13-18).
i. They also represent the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah). The sum of Old Testament revelation comes to meet with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration.
ii. Right in front of them, the disciples saw evidence of life beyond this life. When they saw Moses and Elijah, they knew that Moses had passed from this world 1,400 years before and Elijah had passed some 900 years before. Yet there they were, alive in glory before them. It gave them confidence in Jesus’ claim to resurrection.
b. They were talking with Jesus: What did they talk about? Elijah and Moses were interested in the outworking of God’s plan through Jesus. They spoke about what Jesus was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luk_9:31).
Luk 9:31 KJV Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
How could Jesus be talking to Moses who we know was dead, and we know was not in heaven (because no one could go before Jesus opened the way and came back at his second coming)?
Elijah we are not told what happened to him, but we also know he was not taken to heaven in reality because of the same reason given above—what are your thoughts on Elijah?
Mar 9:5 MKJV And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
Mar 9:6 MKJV For he did not know what to say, for they were very much afraid.
Russell: Three tabernacles -- Evidently thinking that the Master would rejoice at such blessed fellowship, and willing to do anything for his aid. How many there are like Peter who want to rear earthly tabernacles and fail to understand and appreciate the real vision of the kingdom. Peter was bewildered, confused, but in harmony with his natural temperament, wished to say something.
Expositors: They spoke of His decease, and their word seems to have lingered in the narrative as strangely appropriate to one of the speakers; it is Christ’s "exodus." [7]
But St. Mark does not linger over this detail, nor mention the drowsiness with which they struggled; he leans all the weight of his vivid narrative upon one great fact, the evidence now given of our Lord’s absolute supremacy.
For, at this juncture Peter interposed. He "answered," a phrase which points to his consciousness that he was no unconcerned bystander, that the vision was in some degree addressed to him and his companions. But he answers at random, and like a man distraught. "Lord, it is good for us to be here," as if it were not always good to be where Jesus led, even though men should bear a cross to follow Him. Intoxicated by the joy of seeing the King in His beauty, and doubtless by the revulsion of new hope in the stead of his dolorous forebodings, he proposes to linger there. He will have more than is granted, just as, when Jesus washed his feet, he said "not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." And if this might be, it was fitting that these superhuman personages should have tabernacles made for them. No doubt the assertion that he wist not what to say, bears specially upon this strange offer to shelter them from the night air, and to provide for each a place of separate repose. The words are incoherent, but they are quite natural from one who has so impulsively begun to speak that now he must talk on, because he knows not how to stop. They are the words of the very Peter whose actions we know so well. As he formerly walked upon the sea, before considering how boisterous were the waves, and would soon afterwards smite with the sword, and risk himself in the High Priest’s palace, without seeing his way through either adventure, exactly so in this bewildering presence he ventures into a sentence without knowing how to close it.
In speaking thus, he has lowered his Master to the level of the others, unconscious that Moses and Elijah were only attendants upon Jesus, …, and who speak not of their achievements but of His sufferings. If Peter knew it, the hour had struck when their work, the law of Moses and the utterances of the prophets whom Elijah represented, should cease to be the chief impulse in religion, and without being destroyed, should be "fulfilled," and absorbed in a new system. He was there to whom Moses in the law, and the prophets bore witness, and in His presence they had no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth. Yet Peter would fain build equal tabernacles for all alike.
Now St. Luke tells us that he interposed just when they were departing, and apparently in the hope of staying them. But all the narratives convey a strong impression that his words hastened their disappearance, and decided the manner of it. For while he yet spake, as if all the vision were eclipsed on being thus misunderstood, a cloud swept over the three -- bright, yet overshadowing them -- and the voice of God proclaimed their Lord to be His beloved Son (not faithful only, like Moses, as a steward over the house), and bade them, instead of desiring to arrest the flight of rival teachers, hear Him.
Too often Christian souls err after the same fashion. We cling to authoritative teachers, familiar ordinances, and traditional views, good it may be, and even divinely given, as if they were not intended wholly to lead us up to Christ. And in many a spiritual eclipse, from many a cloud which the heart fears to enter, the great lesson resounds through the conscience of the believer, Hear Him!
Let it be observed that the miraculous and Divine Voice reveals nothing new to them. ... What we all need most is not clearer and sounder views, but the bringing of our thoughts into subjection to the mind of Jesus.
Do you speak because you feel you have to say something?
Mar 9:7 MKJV And there was a cloud that overshadowed them. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son. Hear Him.
Russell: And a voice -- Such a voice was heard on three different occasions: (1) At our Lord's baptism. (Mat_3:17) (2) Here on the mount of transfiguration. (3) Just before the crucifixion. (Joh_12:28)
"And this voice which came from heaven we heard" when we were with him in the holy mount. (2Pe_1:18)
This is my beloved Son -- A fresh encouragement to their faith that Jesus was "the Son of the Highest." (Luk_1:32) Their faith was corroborated; God himself had testified in this miraculous manner that Jesus was his Son.
Hear him -- A needed lesson in reverence, humility and patience. "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak." (Jam_1:19) Be still! Hearken rather to the words of my beloved Son.
Guzik: --This is My beloved Son. Hear Him! The voice from the cloud of glory makes it clear that Jesus is not on the same level as Elijah and Moses. He is the beloved Son - so Hear Him!
“There are thousands of priests in the world who say, ‘Hear us’; but the Father says ‘Hear him.’ Many voices clamor for our attention: new philosophies, modern theologies, and old heresies revived, all call to us and entreat us to hearken, but the Father says, ‘Hear him.’“ (Spurgeon)
This word from heaven answered the disciples’ doubts after the revelation of the suffering Messiah. It assured them that the plan was all right with God the Father also.
The disciples wished to detain Moses and Elijah that they might hear them: but God shows that the law which had been in force, and the prophets which had prophesied, until now, must all give place to Jesus; and he alone must now be attended to, as the way, the truth, and the life.” (Clarke)
Who do you hear?
Do you just hear or do you listen as well?
Mar 9:8 MKJV And suddenly, looking around, they did not see anyone any more, except Jesus alone with themselves.
Gill: And suddenly, when they had looked round about,.... Upon hearing the voice, to see if they could observe any other object, by whom it was pronounced, and whether the same they had seen continued:
they saw no man any more; neither Moses, nor Elias, not at that time, nor ever after;
save Jesus only with themselves: the voice only regarded him, and being directed to them;
Popular NT: And suddenly, etc. Mark omits some details here. The withdrawal itself was not necessarily sudden, but their perception of it was.
Save Jesus only. His authority suffices; His love redeems; His glory is the great end.
With themselves. Peculiar to Mark; it hints at the self-consciousness of an eye-witness, and suggests that our Lord was near them as they looked. Matthew tells that they looked up after He touched them.
Are you satisfied with Jesus alone?
Mar 9:9 MKJV And as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things that they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Russell: What things they had seen -- A "vision"--not a reality (Mat_17:9)--of the coming glory of Christ's kingdom. (2Pe_1:16-18)
Guzik: After it was all over, Peter, John and James kept this word to themselves - after all, who would believe them? But the event left a lasting impression on these men. Peter relates what happened in 2Pe_1:16-18, how the voice from God saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” still rang in his ears, confirming who Jesus was.
Gill: until the son of man be risen again from the dead; meaning himself and his resurrection, when such proof would be given of his mission, authority, and glory, which would make this account more easy to be believed… This order of Christ was strictly observed by the disciples; for Luke, says, "they kept it close"; to themselves, in their own breasts; it lay concealed between these three; "and told no man in those days, any of those things which they had seen": and Mark says, "they kept that saying within themselves"; only as he adds, they were "questioning one with another, what the rising from the dead should mean": for they were not yet reconciled to the Messiah's dying, which was contrary to their expectation of a temporal kingdom; and therefore could not tell what to make of his rising again, whether this had not some secret, mystical meaning; for of his resurrection from the dead, in a literal sense, they had no notion; though it was foretold in the writings of the Old Testament, and had been so lately affirmed by Christ himself.
Could you have kept the secret?
When the woman came to the apostles to tell them Jesus’ body was taken from the tomb—and Peter and John ran to the tomb—do you think this experience came to their mind? (Luke 24:12, John 20:1-4)
Mar 9:10 MKJV And they kept that saying within themselves, debating with one another what the rising from the dead is.
Gill: And they kept that saying with themselves,.... "They retained it in their own mind", as the Persic version renders it; "they kept it close", as Luke says, Luk_9:36, among themselves, and acquainted no man with it: and which refers either to the whole of Christ's charge, relating to the vision on the mount; or else only to what he said about his resurrection from the dead; and which they took notice of particularly, and laid hold upon, as the word will bear to be rendered; and so the Ethiopic version does render it, "and they observed his saying"; what he last said concerning the son of man's rising from the dead;
questioning with one other what the rising from the dead should mean: they inquired, disputed, and reasoned with one another, what should be the meaning of such an expression: not that they were ignorant of the general resurrection of the dead; for this was the hope of Israel, and the general sense of the Jewish nation: but they did not know what he meant by his particular rising from the dead: whether he meant it in a literal sense, which supposed his death; and that though he had lately told them of, they knew not how to reconcile to the notions they had of a long and flourishing temporal kingdom of the Messiah; or whether he meant a and interest, in such manner as they expected.
Mar 9:11 MKJV And they asked Him, saying, Why do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?
Guzik: Why do the scribes say: The coming of Elijah before the Messiah is clearly prophesied in Mal_4:5-6. So the disciples wonder, “If Jesus is the Messiah, then where is Elijah?”
Mar 9:12 MKJV And He answered and told them, Elijah truly does come first and restores all things. And how has it been written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be despised?
Guzik: Elijah does come first: Jesus tells them that the Elijah prophecy in Malachi will indeed be fulfilled. Though Jesus does not say this here, the prophecy of Elijah’s coming had to do with Jesus’ second coming, not His first…
i. How is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer: Jesus draws attention to the contrast between His first and second comings here. The disciples were well aware of the prophecies concerning the glory of the Messiah; Jesus asked them to consider the prophecies concerning His suffering and that He must be treated with contempt.
Mar 9:13 MKJV But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they desired, as it is written of him.
Russell: Elias is indeed come -- In a sense, to those who could receive it, John the Baptist had thus come, and had introduced Jesus as the Messiah. Pointing out that John had served as Elijah to those who receive him as Messiah. As John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus in the flesh, so the greater Elijah, the Church in the flesh, is the forerunner of the great Messiah on the spirit plane.
Not going on to explain to them how he and they and all of the faithful Church would, while in the flesh, represent the higher antitypical Elijah, and endeavor to do a restorative work, but without success.
Guzik: But I say to you that Elijah has also come: While it is true that Elijah is yet to come in reference to the second coming of Jesus, there is also a sense in which Elijah has also come - in the person of John the Baptist.
i. John was not a reincarnation of Elijah, but he did minister in the role and spirit of Elijah. John the Baptist was a type or a picture of Elijah.
Mar 9:14 MKJV And coming to His disciples, He saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.
Barnes: Questioning with them - Debating with the disciples, and attempting to confound them. This he saw as he came down from the mount. In his absence they had taken occasion to attempt to perplex and confound his followers.
Guzik: Scribes disputing with them: From the context, it is reasonable to assume that scribes criticized the disciples for their inability to help the demon-possessed boy. “One wonders why these same scribes, instead of further embarrassing the crestfallen disciples before the crowd, did not set about exorcising the demon themselves, as a proof of orthodoxy.” (Cole)
Are you often surrounded by naysayers when you feel the Lord is not with you?
Do you feel Satan’s stronger when we are in the presence of the Lord?
Mar 9:15 MKJV And immediately all the crowd, seeing Him, were greatly amazed, and they were running to Him to greet Him.
Clarke --Were greatly amazed - Probably, because he came so unexpectedly; but the cause of this amazement is not self-evident.
Gill: Were greatly amazed; either that he should come at that juncture, to assist and relieve his disciples, when the Scribes were triumphing over them, as some think; or rather, as others, on account of that remaining lustre and glory which was on his countenance, through his transfiguration, and not yet wholly gone off; like that which was on the face of Moses, when he came down from Mount Sinai:
and running to him, saluted him; wishing him all peace and prosperity, expressing their great joy at his coming to them; which was very desirable by them, and exceedingly pleasing to them, and especially at this time, as both their words and gesture showed.
Do you run to the Lord when you see him?
Mar 9:16 MKJV And He asked the scribes, What are you discussing with them?
JFB: … addressing Himself to the scribes, He demands the subject of their discussion, ready to meet them where they had pressed hard upon His half-instructed and as yet timid apostles.
Benson: What question ye with them? — What is the subject of your dispute with them? What is the point you are debating so warmly? The scribes gave no answer to our Lord’s question. They did not care to repeat what they had said to his disciples: but one of the multitude said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, &c
Mar 9:17 MKJV And one of the crowd answered and said, Teacher, I have brought my son who has a dumb spirit to You.
PNT: One of the multitude. The scribes were silent, but the person most deeply interested answers. The subject of dispute was connected with the cure of the lunatic boy. The scribes feared to repeat their objections, lest our Lord should convict them in the presence of the multitude by working a miraculous cure. The hostility to our Lord was always cowardly!
I brought. He actually brought his son, expecting to find Christ, to thee, not knowing of His absence. It was his only son (Luk_9:38.)
A dumb spirit. A spirit causing the boy to be speechless; not that the demon was a silent one.
Barnes: A dumb spirit - A spirit which deprived his son of the power of speaking.
Guzik: A mute spirit: In the eyes of contemporary Jewish exorcists, this was a particularly difficult - if not impossible - demon to cast out. This was because they believed that you had to learn a demon’s name before you could cast it out, and if a demon made someone mute, you could never learn his name.
Do you bring your troubles to the Lord?
Mar 9:18 MKJV And wherever he seizes him, he dashes him. And he foams and gnashes his teeth and pines away. And I spoke to Your disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not.
Clarke --Pineth away - By these continual torments; so he was not only deaf and dumb, but sorely tortured besides.
Guzik: Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid: The boy displays signs that many today would regard as evidence of epilepsy, but Jesus perceived that they were caused by demonic possession. Surely, some of whom we diagnose as physically or mentally ill today are actually demon possessed.
i. “Jesus addresses the demon as a separate being from the boy as he often does. This makes it difficult to believe that Jesus was merely indulging popular belief in a superstition. He evidently regards the demon as the cause in this case of the boy’s misfortune.” (Robertson)
d. That they should cast it out, but they could not: This particular case of demon possession was too much for the disciples, though Jesus had given them authority over unclean spirits (Mar_6:7).
e. Apparently some demons are stronger - that is, more stubborn or intimidating than others. Eph_6:12 seems to describe different ranks of demonic beings, and it isn’t a stretch to think that some ranks might be more power than others are.
Russell: They could not -- So with us, occasionally by faith we go into the kingdom and see the glory of the Lord revealed, and then come down from the heights of contemplation to face the fealties of the present--the Adversary still in possession of the world, many his slaves and dupes, and no earthly power sufficient to cast him out.
Thus the Lord's people are still in the valley of conflict contending with the will of the flesh and the devil; yet their eyes of faith behold at the top of the mountain the glorious Lord, who will cause them to share in the glories of his kingdom.
Do you believe in demon possession today?
Mar 9:19 MKJV He answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me!
Guzik: O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? Who does Jesus call the faithless generation? He might refer to the contentious scribes, to the desperate father, or to the unsuccessful disciples.
Gill: He answereth him,.... The father of the child, and who is included in the reproof afterwards given, for his unbelief, and taking part with the Scribes against his disciples; though the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, read, "them"; meaning not his disciples, but the Scribes and Pharisees, with the father of the child: and saith,
JFB: how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? — language implying that it was a shame to them to want the faith necessary to perform this cure, and that it needed some patience to put up with them. It is to us surprising that some interpreters, as Chrysostom and Calvin, should represent this rebuke as addressed, not to the disciples at all, but to the scribes who disputed with them. Nor does it much, if at all, mend the matter to view it as addressed to both, as most expositors seem to do. With Bengel, Deuteronomy Wette, and Meyer, we regard it as addressed directly to the nine apostles who were unable to expel this evil spirit. And though, in ascribing this inability to their “want of faith” and the “perverted turn of mind” which they had drunk in with their early training, the rebuke would undoubtedly apply, with vastly greater force, to those who twitted the poor disciples with their inability, it would be to change the whole nature of the rebuke to suppose it addressed to those who had no faith at all, and were wholly perverted. It was because faith sufficient for curing this youth was to be expected of the disciples, and because they should by that time have got rid of the perversity in which they had been reared, that Jesus exposes them thus before the rest. And who does not see that this was fitted, more than anything else, to impress upon the by-standers the severe loftiness of the training He was giving to the Twelve, and the unsophisticated footing He was on with them?
Bring him unto me — The order to bring the patient to Him was instantly obeyed; when, lo! as if conscious of the presence of his Divine Tormentor, and expecting to be made to quit, the foul spirit rages and is furious, determined to die hard, doing all the mischief he can to this poor child while yet within his grasp.
Are you faithless?
Does the Lord have to bear with you?
Mar 9:20 MKJV And they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, the spirit immediately convulsed him. And he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming.
Clarke --When he saw him the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, etc. - When this demon saw Jesus, he had great rage, knowing that his time was short; and hence the extraordinary convulsions mentioned above.
Guzik: When Jesus comes near, the demon inside the boy knows that his time is short. He wants to do as much damage as he can before he leaves.
JFB: And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him — Just as the man with the legion of demons, “when he saw Jesus, ran and worshipped Him” (Mar_5:6), so this demon, when he saw Him, immediately “tare him.” The feeling of terror and rage was the same in both cases.
and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming — Still Jesus does nothing, but keeps conversing with the father about the case - partly to have its desperate features told out by him who knew them best, in the hearing of the spectators; partly to let its virulence have time to show itself; and partly to deepen the exercise of the father’s soul, to draw out his faith, and thus to prepare both him and the by-standers for what He was to do.
Do you hold on to the sins in your flesh, kicking and screaming when they are shown for what they are and need to be abandoned?
Does Satan have a hold of you?
Mar 9:21 MKJV And He asked his father, How long ago has it been since this came to him? And he said, From childhood.
Gill: And he asked his father,.... As he lay rolling about in this miserable condition, that the length and stubbornness of his disorder might be known, and so the cure the more remarkable, and appear the more expressive of his divine power and goodness:
JFB: And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child, etc. — Having told briefly the affecting features of the case, the poor father, half dispirited by the failure of the disciples and the aggravated virulence of the malady itself in presence of their Master, yet encouraged too by what he had heard of Christ, by the severe rebuke He had given to His disciples for not having faith enough to cure the boy, and by the dignity with which He had ordered him to be brought to Him - in this mixed state of mind, he closes his description of the case with these touching words:
Mar 9:22 MKJV And oftentimes it has cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.
Clarke: If Thou canst Do any thing - I have already tried thy disciples, and find they can do nothing in this case; but if thou hast any power, in mercy use it in our behalf.
Russell: Ofttimes -- This case was one of occasional obsession by an evil spirit.
To destroy him -- There are modern cases where obsession has induced suicide attempts.
Do you come to the Lord with all your troubles?
Mar 9:23 MKJV Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.
Clarke --If Thou canst Believe - This was an answer to the inquiry above. I can furnish a sufficiency of power, if thou canst but bring faith to receive it. Why are not our souls completely healed? Why is not every demon cast out? Why are not pride, self-will, love of the world, lust, anger, peevishness, with all the other bad tempers and dispositions which constitute the mind of Satan, entirely destroyed? Alas! it is because we do not believe; Jesus is able; more, Jesus is willing; but we are not willing to give up our idols; we give not credence to his word; therefore hath sin a being in us, and dominion over us.
Russell: If thou canst believe -- How great stress the Lord lays upon faith! Our blessings increase in proportion as we will exercise our faith.
Do you believe?
Mar 9:24 MKJV And immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.
Mark 9:24 TPT When he heard this, the boy’s father cried out with tears, saying, “I do believe, Lord; help my little faith!”
Guzik: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief: The poor father in this account is challenged by Jesus’ exhortation for faith. He did believe in Jesus’ power to deliver his boy - after all, why else would he have come to Jesus? But he also recognizes his doubts. So, he tearfully pleads with Jesus: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!
i. In this case, the man’s unbelief was not a rebellion against or a rejection the Lord’s promise. He did not deny the Lord’s promise; he desired it. However, it just seemed too good to be true. Thus, he says, “help my unbelief!”
ii. “Help my unbelief” is something a man can only say by faith. “While men have no faith, they are unconscious of their unbelief; but, as soon as they get a little faith, then they begin to be conscious of the greatness of their unbelief.” (Spurgeon)
Clarke Help thou mine unbelief - That is, assist me against it. Give me a power to believe.
Russell: Lord, I believe -- The father realized from Jesus' words that the difficulty rested with him, that he must exercise faith else his son could not be recovered
Barnes: Said with tears - The man felt the implied rebuke in the Saviour’s language; and feeling grieved that he should be thought to be destitute of faith, and feeling deeply for the welfare of his afflicted son, he wept. Nothing can be more touching or natural than this. An anxious father, distressed at the condition of his son, having applied to the disciples in vain, now coming to the Saviour; and not having full confidence that he had the proper qualification to be aided, he wept. Any man would have wept in his condition, nor would the Saviour turn the weeping suppliant away.
I believe - I have faith. I do put confidence in thee, though I know that my faith is not as strong as it should be.
Help thou mine unbelief - Supply thou the defects of my faith. Give me strength and grace to put “entire” confidence in thee. Everyone who comes to the Saviour for help has need of offering this prayer. In our unbelief and our doubts we need his aid, nor shall we ever put sufficient reliance on him without his gracious help.
Do you ask the Lord to help your unbelief (when you faulter in faith)?
Mar 9:25 MKJV And seeing that a crowd is running together, Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter no more into him!
Gill: When Jesus saw that the people came running together,.... לותיה, "to him", as the Syriac version adds, and so the Persic; upon hearing the vehement cry of the father of the child, and the earnest solicitations he made, expecting that something would be done
Clarke --I charge thee - Considerable emphasis should be laid on the pronoun: - Thou didst resist the command of my disciples, now I command thee to come out. If this had been only a natural disease, for instance the epilepsy, as some have argued, could our Lord have addressed it, with any propriety, as he has done here: Thou deaf and dumb spirit, come out of him, and enter no more into him? Is the doctrine of demoniacal influence false? If so, Jesus took the most direct method to perpetuate the belief of that falsity, by accommodating himself so completely to the deceived vulgar. But this was impossible; therefore the doctrine of demoniacal influence is a true doctrine, otherwise Christ would never have given it the least countenance or support.
Benson: When Jesus saw the people running together — The vehemence with which the father of the child spake, occasioned by the greatness of his grief, brought the crowd about them. Jesus, therefore, to prevent further disturbance, immediately commanded the unclean spirit to depart from the youth, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit — So termed because he made the child deaf and dumb: when Jesus spake, the devil heard, though the child could not: I charge thee — I myself, now; not my disciples; come out of him, and enter no more into him — Leave him instantly, and presume not any more to trouble or disquiet him as long as he lives.
Mar 9:26 MKJV And the spirit cried out, throwing him into convulsions, and came out of him. And he was like one dead, so that many said, He is dead.
Mar 9:27 MKJV But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Guzik: Jesus had no difficulty whatsoever in dealing the demon, even though the demon made a final display of his terrible strength. Knowing he must leave, the demon did the most damage he could before he left. But it was not lasting damage.
i. “He will do what harm he can when he cannot do us the harm he would.” (Poole)
Benson: And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, &c. — Scarcely had Jesus uttered the word when the devil came out of the child, making a hideous howling, and convulsing him to such a degree, that he lay senseless and without motion, as one dead, till Jesus took him by the hand, instantly brought him to life, and then delivered him to his father perfectly recovered.
Expositors: The evil being obeys, yet proves his reluctance by screaming and convulsing his victim for the last time, so that he, though healed, lies utterly prostrate, and "the more part said, He is dead." It was a fearful exhibition of the disappointed malice of the pit. But it only calls forth another display of the power and love of Jesus, Who will not leave the sufferer to a gradual recovery, nor speak, as to the fiend, in words of mere authority, but reaches forth His benign hand, and raises him, restored. Here we discover the same heart which provided that the daughter of Jairus should have food, and delivered her son to the widow of Nain, and was first to remind others that Lazarus was encumbered by his grave-clothes. The good works of Jesus were not melodramatic marvels for stage effect: they were the natural acts of supernatural power and love.
Mar 9:28 MKJV And He entering into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could we not cast him out?
Mar 9:29 MKJV And He said to them, This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer and fasting.
Guzik: a. Why could we not cast it out? Jesus reveals the reason for their weakness: it was due to a lack of prayer and fasting.
b. It isn’t that prayer and fasting make us more “worthy” to cast out demons; it is that prayer and fasting draw us closer to the heart of God, and they put us more in line with His power. They are an expression of our total dependence on Him.
i. Jesus had already given them the authority to cast out demons (Mar_3:14-15), but “The authority that Jesus had given them was effective only if exercised by faith, but faith must be cultivated through spiritual discipline and devotion.” (Wiersbe)
ii. This total dependence on God is the remedy for many spiritual problems. To be disappointed in yourself is to have trusted in yourself.
Russell: -- Showing that their greatest power would result from their living lives of self-denial and prayer. God's people could accomplish much more if they would always exercise full faith in the Lord, and continually live more in the spirit and less according to the flesh.
Clarke Prayer and fasting - This demon may be considered as an emblem of deeply rooted vices, and inveterate habits, over which the conquest is not generally obtained, but through extraordinary humiliations.
When you have a tough trial that you can’t seem to overcome, do you try prayer and fasting?
Mar 9:30 MKJV And going out from there, they passed through Galilee. And He desired that no one should know.
Gill: And they departed thence,.... From the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, from that part of the country where the mountain was, on which Christ was transfigured, and at the foot of which the above miracle was wrought. This is to be understood of Christ and his twelve disciples, though the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read in the singular number, "he went out"; not alone, but with his disciples, as the following account shows:
and passed through Galilee; in order to go to the coasts of Judea, and so to Jerusalem, where he was shortly to suffer: and therefore that his journey might not be retarded, and he be hindered by the conversation of the people in Galilee, and their importunity to stay with them, and teach, and work miracles among them, he passed through the country, in as private a manner as could be:
and he would not that any man should know it; partly for the reason just mentioned, and partly that he might have the opportunity of conversing alone with his disciples, and of reminding, and informing them, of some important things, which it was necessary they should be acquainted with, and observe.
Do you allow yourself quiet times where you can reflect on God’s Word, and discuss it with those closest to you?
Mar 9:31 MKJV For He taught His disciples and said to them, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And after He is killed, He shall rise the third day.
JFB: For he taught his disciples, and said unto them — “Let these sayings sink down into your ears” (Luk_9:44); not what had been passing between them as to His grandeur, but what He was now to utter.
Gill: The son of man is delivered into the hands of men: in one of Beza's copies it is read, "sinful men", as in Luk_24:7 and so the Persic version reads here, and adds rebellious. This is represented as if it was already done, because it was determined and agreed upon, that it should be; and because, in a very little time, the son of man would be delivered into the hands of wicked men, according to the will of God, with his own consent, by the means of Judas, the Jews, and Pilate:
and they shall kill him; put him to death, in a violent manner, contrary to all law and justice:
and after that he is killed; this is omitted in the Arabic version, and in the Persic version in the room of it it is read, "and shall put him into a sepulchre"; that being what followed next upon his death:
and he shall rise the third day. This Christ always takes care to mention, for the comfort of his disciples, when he tells them of his death.
Mar 9:32 MKJV But they did not understand that saying and were afraid to ask Him.
Guzik: The disciples couldn’t “process” what Jesus said about His destiny in Jerusalem - to die and then rise again. Unfortunately, they were afraid to ask.
Benson: But they understood not that saying — They could not comprehend how he, who was to abide on earth for ever, and was to deliver others from the universal destroyer, should himself fall under his stroke: Or, they could not reconcile his death, nor consequently his resurrection, which supposed his death, with their notions of his temporal kingdom: Luke says, And it was hid from them, namely, by their own prejudices and misconceptions concerning the Messiah. For, seeing he spake of rising again the third day, they were not able to divine any reason for his dying at all, being ignorant, as yet, of the nature and ends of his death. And they were afraid to ask him — Taking no comfort from the mention that was made of his resurrection, the prediction raised such fears in their minds, that they durst not ask him to explain it; especially as they remembered that he had often inculcated it, and had reprimanded Peter for being unwilling to hear it.
If you don’t understand something in God’s Word or how God is working in your life—are you afraid to ask?
Mar 9:33 MKJV And He came to Capernaum. And being in the house, He asked them, What was it that you disputed among yourselves in the way?
Clarke --And being in the house - That is, Peter’s house, where he ordinarily lodged. This has been often observed before.
Benson: Being in the house — With his apostles, with a view to introduce the discourse he intended; he asked, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves, &c. — Our Lord’s late prediction concerning his sufferings had made the disciples exceeding sorry, Mat_17:23; but their grief soon went off, or their ignorance quickly got the better of it; for in a day or two after, some of them, forming a separate company, fell a disputing about the chief posts of honour and profit in their Master’s kingdom. This debate Jesus overheard; and though he said nothing to them at the time, yet afterward, when they were alone in the house, he did not fail to inquire about it. They were at first silent, not caring to discover the matter to him. Therefore, he sat down, and called the twelve — Namely, to stand round him, and attend to what he should say and do. It is natural to suppose that twelve persons, travelling together on foot, would form themselves into two or three little companies, while some of them no doubt would be attending Christ and discoursing with him: but our Lord judged it proper, being now in the house, that all the twelve should hear this admonition, though they might not all have been engaged in the dispute which occasioned it.
Mar 9:34 MKJV But they were silent. For in the way they had disputed among themselves who was the greatest.
Guzik: a. They had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest: It seems that this was the favorite debating topic among the disciples. They all counted on Jesus to take over the world as “King Messiah,” and the debate was about who was most worthy to be Jesus’ chief associate.
But they kept silent: This was an embarrassed silence. It shows that they were ashamed of this obsession with greatness. It was a healthy sense of shame, and proved that some of the message of Jesus was sinking into their hearts.
Russell: They held their peace -- They were ashamed to tell the topic of their dispute. Certainly not indefinitely, for that would have been showing disrespect to the Master; but there was a brief silence which indicated some embarrassment.
By the way -- After the vision in the holy mount there followed temptation. Our highest views of heavenly things are quickly followed by earthly trials and difficulties, which serve to test and prove us.
They had disputed -- Because they had not enough love for one another. This spirit disappeared after Pentecost.
Who should be the greatest -- The Lord's prime minister. While the humility of the Lord's apostles is very Marked in their subsequent career, in the beginning of their course, they were all to some extent influenced by old ideas which it was the object of Christ's teaching to gradually eradicate. After the selection of the three (Verse 2) their relative prominence in the kingdom was naturally suggested to their minds.
Do you think more highly of yourself and your relationship with God and Jesus than you should?
Do you talk of others are not as enlightened as you are? They don’t have Truth?
Mar 9:35 MKJV And He sat down and called the Twelve and said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.
Gill: and called the twelve; all the disciples, who though they might not be all engaged in this dispute, nor equally criminal, yet were all, possessed of the same notion; and therefore Christ calls them all unto him, what he had to say, being pertinent unto them all:
Guzik: He sat down: This is important, because by sitting down Jesus showed that he was going to teach. “When a Rabbi was teaching as a Rabbi, as a master teaches his scholars and disciples, when he was really making a pronouncement, he sat to teach. Jesus deliberately took up the position of a Rabbi teaching his pupils before he spoke.” (Barclay)
The question at hand was “Who would be the greatest?” Jesus could have answered the question, “ I’m the greatest.” But Jesus does not put the focus on Himself. For an example of greatness, Jesus puts forth the last and the servant.
i. Of course, Jesus is the greatest in the kingdom. So when He said last and servant, He was really describing Himself - and He accurately expressed His nature. He was truly first, yet made Himself last of all and servant of all for our sake.
ii. Jesus challenges us to be last of all. The desire to be praised and to gain recognition should be foreign to a follower of Jesus. Jesus wants us to embrace last as a choice, allowing others to be preferred before us, and not only because we are forced to be last.
iii. Jesus challenges us to be the servant of all. In the worldly idea of power, the great man is distinguished by how many people serve him. In ancient China, it was fashionable for wealthy men to grow their fingernails so long that their hands were unusable for basic tasks. This was to demonstrate that they did not need to do anything for themselves; there was always a servant there to wait on them. The world may think of this as greatness, but God does not. Jesus declared that true greatness is shown not by how many serve you, but by how many you serve.
iv. “It was not that Jesus abolished ambition. Rather he recreated and sublimated ambition. For the ambition to rule he substituted the ambition to serve. For the ambition to have things done for us he substituted the ambition to do things for others.” (Barclay)
v. “How easy a thing had it been for our Saviour, had he intended in any such primacy in the church as the papists contend for, to have said, Peter shall be the greatest!” (Poole)
Benson: Let him serve his brethren in all the offices of humility, condescension, and kindness. In other words, If any man desire to be the greatest person in my kingdom, let him endeavour to obtain that dignity by preferring others in honour, and by doing them all the good in his power. This he said, to signify that in his kingdom, they who are most humble and modest, and zealous in doing good, shall be acknowledged as the greatest persons.
Do you like to be looked up to?
Do you like to serve others?
Mar 9:36 MKJV And He took a child, and embraced it, and set him in their midst. And He said to them,
Guzik: He took a little child and set him in the midst of them: Jesus draws their attention to His nature by presenting a child as an example. In that day, children were regarded more as property than individuals. It was understood that they were to be seen and not heard. Jesus says that the way we receive people regarded like children shows how we would receive Him (whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me).
i. Children are not threatening. We aren’t afraid of meeting a five-year old in a dark alley. When we have a tough, intimidating presence, we aren’t like Jesus.
ii. Children are not good at deceiving; they don’t do a very good job at fooling their parents. When we are good at hiding ourselves and deceiving others, we aren’t like Jesus.
iii. Look at what the devil wants to do with children (Mar_9:17-27) and look at what Jesus does with children!
d. Because Jesus is last of all and servant of all and like a child, when we honor and receive a child - or someone who is a servant like Jesus - we honor and receive Jesus Himself.
Russell: And set him -- The manner is impressive and solemn; as though he would say, "I want you to take this lesson to heart and ponder it well."
Gill: And he took a child,.... Which was in the house, and which he called unto him, and set by him, as the other evangelists observe:
and when he had taken him in his arms; and embraced him, to show his great regard to humility, and humble persons:
Do you care for children?
Mar 9:37 MKJV Whoever receives one of such children on My name receives Me. And whoever receives Me does not only receives Me, but Him who sent Me.
Russell: Shall receive -- Recognize and show kindness to.
One of such children -- Simple of heart, meek, truthful, free from ambition and rivalry, faithful, trusting, loving, obedient, teachable, indifferent to social distinctions and popular opinions, without guile. The least and humblest of God's children. Such disciples as have this child-like character, the mark of true followers of Jesus.
In my name -- Because he is mine.
Receiveth not me -- Not me alone.
Him that sent me -- They were to receive each other as representatives of Jesus; and more, as representatives of the Father. Showing his disciples that it was not their own greatness that was to be considered, but God's favor.
Gill: in my name; on account that he belongs to Christ, is one of his, bears his image, partakes of his grace, is loved by him, and shall be glorified with, him: such is Christ's great regard to his humble followers, that he takes it all one as if done to himself: but him that sent me; for as showing respect to one of Christ's members, is showing respect to him; so showing respect to Christ, is showing respect to his Father, from whence he came, by whom he was sent, in whose name he acted, and whose work and service he was concerned in.
How do you treat those brethren who don’t quite fit in—are a little slow, a little timid and shy, not quite as knowledgeable?
Mar 9:38 MKJV And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out demons in Your name, and he does not follow us. And we forbade him, because he does not follow us.
Clarke It can scarcely be supposed that a man who knew nothing of Christ, or who was only a common exorcist, could be able to work a miracle in Christ’s name; we may therefore safely imagine that this was either one of John the Baptist’s disciples, who, at his master’s command, had believed in Jesus, or one of the seventy, whom Christ had sent out, Luk_10:1-7, who, after he had fulfilled his commission, had retired from accompanying the other disciples; but as he still held fast his faith in Christ, and walked in good conscience, the influence of his Master still continued with him, so that he could cast out demons as well as the other disciples.
We forbade him - I do not see that we have any right to attribute any other motive to John than that which he himself owns - because he followed not us - because he did not attach himself constantly to thee, as we do, we thought he could not be in a proper spirit.
Guzik: Teacher, we saw someone: It had to frustrate Jesus’ disciples that these other followers of Jesus successfully cast out demons, when they had just failed (Mar_9:18). No wonder John wanted them to stop!
For he who is not against us is on our side: There are many that may be wrong in some aspect of their presentation or teaching, yet they still set forth Jesus in some manner. Let God deal with them. Those who are not against a Biblical Jesus are still for Him, at least in some way.
Russell: One casting out devils -- This one forbidden by John would correspond well with some now holding meetings other than those which we attend.
He followeth not -- We can be workers in the harvest, and yet not followers of the Lord. To be followers of the Lord, we must not only be workers in the harvest, but also must be workers according to his will.
The Lord makes use of various characters as agents in healings, even as Judas was one of the twelve who worked miracles.
We forbad him -- "What authority have you to cast out devils? Jesus did not send you out as one of the twelve, or as one of the seventy. You have no business in this work.
Are you guilty of forbidding someone or not recognizing someone as a Christian because they don’t hold all the same beliefs as your or go to your church?
Mar 9:39 MKJV But Jesus said, Do not forbid him. For there is no one who shall do a work of power in My name who can lightly speak evil of Me.
Clarke Forbid him not - If you meet him again, let him go on quietly in the work in which God owns him. If he were not of God, the demons would not be subject to him, and his work could not prosper. A spirit of bigotry has little countenance from these passages. There are some who are so outrageously wedded to their own creed, and religious system, that they would rather let sinners perish than suffer those who differ from them to become the instruments of their salvation. Even the good that is done they either deny or suspect, because the person does not follow them. This also is vanity and an evil disease.
Russell: Forbid him not -- Each spirit-begotten child of God has a right to speak, to preach, to declare his Heavenly Father's Word and message. None has a right to interfere. We are to keep strictly in mind that the Lord has not given any of us a right to supervise his work nor to forbid another to preach the Gospel.
Conscience is always to be respected; nor is any one who stands faithful to his conscience to be disesteemed therefor by his brethren, even if their consciences view the matter differently. R5501:6
If any person is doing a miracle in the name of Jesus, we are not to interfere. If the Lord wants to stop him, he can stop him. It is not our business to stop him. Whenever we find anyone doing a good work we should be sympathetic to the extent we see they have good hearts, but this does not mean that we should follow with them and leave our special commission of teaching the truth.
In my name -- If they recognize Jesus and the value of his death, if they trust in him for eternal life and seek to walk in his steps, they are our brethren, whether they follow with us or whether they do not.
Can you accept this?
Mar 9:40 MKJV For he who is not against us is for us.
Clarke He that is not against us, is on our part - Or rather, Whosoever is not against You, is for You. ... This reading is more consistent with the context - He followed not us - well, he is not against You; and he who is not against you, in such a work, may be fairly presumed to be on your side.
There is a parallel case to this mentioned in Num_11:26-29, which, for the elucidation of this passage, I will transcribe. “The Spirit rested upon Eldad and Medad, and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua, the servant of Moses, said, My lord Moses, forbid them! And Moses said unto him, Enviest Thou for My sake? Would God, that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them.” The reader will easily observe that Joshua and John were of the same bigoted spirit; and that Jesus and Moses acted from the spirit of candour and benevolence.
Russell: Is on our part -- A general principle which none should lose sight of. We are to love all and wish God-speed to all loving the Lord and manifesting his Spirit, whether they associate with us or not.
JFB: For he that is not against us is on our part — Two principles of immense importance are here laid down: “First, No one will readily speak evil of Me who has the faith to do a miracle in My name; and second, If such a person cannot be supposed to be against us, ye are to consider him for us.” Let it be carefully observed that our Lord does not say this man should not have “followed them,” nor yet that it was indifferent whether he did or not; but simply teaches how such a person was to be regarded, although he did not - namely, as a reverer of His name and a promoter of His cause.
Benson: And John answered him — As if he had said, But ought we to receive those who follow not us? Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name — Probably this was one of John the Baptist’s disciples, who believed in Jesus, though he did not yet associate with our Lord’s disciples. And we forbade him, because he followeth not us — How often is the same temper found in us! How readily do we also lust to envy! But how ill does that spirit become a disciple, much more a minister, of the benevolent Jesus! St. Paul had learned a better temper, when he rejoiced that Christ was preached, even by those who were his personal enemies. But to confine religion to them that follow us, is a narrowness of spirit which we should avoid and abhor. Jesus said, &c. — Christ here gives us a lovely example of candour and moderation. He was willing to put the best construction on doubtful cases, and to treat as friends those who were not avowed enemies. Perhaps in this instance it was a means of conquering the remainder of prejudice, and perfecting what was wanting in the faith and obedience of these persons. Forbid him not — Neither directly nor indirectly discourage or hinder any man, who brings sinners from the power of Satan to God, because he followeth not us, in opinions, modes of worship, or any thing else which does not affect the essence of religion. For he that is not against us, is for us — Our Lord had formerly said, He that is not with me, is against me: thereby admonishing his hearers that the war between him and Satan admitted of no neutrality, and that those who were indifferent to him now, would finally be treated as enemies. But here, in another view, he uses a very different proverb; directing his followers to judge of men’s characters in the most candid manner; and charitably to hope, that those who did not oppose his cause wished well to it. Upon the whole, we are to be rigorous in judging ourselves, and candid in judging each other.
Mar 9:41 MKJV For whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, truly I say to you, He shall not lose his reward.
Benson: For whosoever shall give you a cup of water, &c. — Having answered John, our Lord resumes the discourse, which was broken off at Mar_9:37. And to show the apostles further, that they had been in the wrong to discourage this person, who must have entertained a great veneration for their Master, and was in a fair way to become his follower, he told them, that the lowest degree of respect which any one showed him, though it were but the giving a cup of cold water to one of his thirsty disciples, would be acceptable to him, and should not lose its reward: whereas, on the other hand, the least discouragement of his servants in their duty, come from what quarter it might, should be severely punished. For he added, Whosoever shall offend: και ος αν σκανδαλιση, whosoever shall cause to stumble one of these little ones — The very least Christian. It is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck — See note on Mat_18:5-6.
Clarke -- The most indigent may exercise the works of mercy and charity; seeing even a cup of cold water, given in the name of Jesus, shall not lose its reward. How astonishing is God’s kindness! It is not the rich merely whom he calls on to be charitable; but even the poor, and the most impoverished of the poor! God gives the power and inclination to be charitable, and then rewards the work which, it may be truly said, God himself hath wrought.
It is the name of Jesus that sanctifies everything, and renders services, in themselves comparatively contemptible, of high worth in the sight of God.
Russell: For whosoever shall give -- Including the worldly man. Whosoever is a big word, and takes in men of all characters. Including the thief on the cross who spoke kindly to the suffering Savior.
Not lose his reward -- In the Millennial age. It would indicate their sympathy, and no doubt would bring them eventually, either in the present or in the coming life, some recognition and reward.
Guzik: Nothing could seem more petty than giving a mere cup of water. But God remembers the heart, not only the gift itself.
Do you appreciate those outside your fellowship who are attempting to serve the Lord?
Do you accept that service rendered to you?
Mar 9:42 MKJV And whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in Me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck and he were cast into the sea.
Russell: Whosoever shall offend -- Greek: skandalon; scandalize, stumble, entrap, injure, hurt spiritually, thus subjecting himself to certain losses beyond the present life. Beguile and lead astray--from the truth, or holiness of life.
When leaders of church unite to force people to accept or reject their views by restraining the liberty of speech and the liberty of the press, to prevent the publications of doctrines of the Bible according to other men's views, they have departed from the rational ideal of dealing with the subject.
These little ones -- These that are little or humble minded, meek and loyal of heart,
Guzik: If a small act of kindness towards others done in Jesus’ name will be eternally remembered, so will any cause for stumbling. And the punishment is severe: it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were throne into the sea.
i. In that day, there were two different sizes of millstones. The smaller one was used by a woman to grind a small amount of grain. The larger one was turned by a donkey to grind a larger amount of grain. Jesus refers to the larger kind of millstone here.
ii. Most Christians don’t take this statement of Jesus seriously enough, and don’t appreciate the great danger there is in doing something to cause another to stumble - especially one of these little ones.
Some Christians think nothing of drawing young, weak Christians into their own little squabbles and divisions. They themselves emerge without much damage, but the little ones they brought with them into the squabble often end up shipwrecked.
Are you careful on how you treat or think about your brethren?
Do you think about how your controversies or actions my stumble another?
Mar 9:43 MKJV And if your hand offends you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than to have two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched
Mar 9:44 MKJV where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.
Guzik: If your hand makes you sin, cut it off: Tragically, some have taken these words of Jesus in a sense He did not intend, and have cut off their hands, or mutilated themselves in some other way in a mistaken battle against sin.
i. The problem with taking Jesus’ words literally here is that bodily mutilation does not go far enough in controlling sin. Sin is more a matter of the heart than of any particular limb or organ, and if I cut off my right hand, my left is still ready to sin. If I completely dismember my body, I can still sin in my mind and in my heart.
ii. “This was not a demand for physical self-mutilation, but in the strongest manner possible Jesus speaks of the costliest sacrifices.” (Lane)
b. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell: With this exhortation, Jesus tried to correct a big misunderstanding on the part of the disciples. They thought of the kingdom mainly in terms of reward, not in terms of sacrifice.
i. Essentially, Jesus restates what Mark recorded in 8:34-35: that if we try to save our lives, we will lose them, and to follow Jesus means to pick up our cross and follow Him.
c. To go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched: the word hell is an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew “Valley of Hinnom,” a place outside Jerusalem’s walls desecrated by Molech worship and human sacrifice, thus turned into the dump where rubbish and refuse were burned. The smoldering fires and festering worms made it a graphic and effective picture of the fate of the damned.
Clarke The fire that never shall be quenched - That is, the inextinguishable fire. This clause is wanting in L, three others, the Syriac, and later Persic. Some eminent critics suppose it to be a spurious reading; but the authorities which are for it, are by no means counterbalanced by those which are against it. The same clause in Mar_9:45, is omitted in BCL, seven others, Syriac, later Persic, Coptic, and one Itala. Eternal fire is the expression of Matthew.
Meyer: Let us strive to cut off whatever causes us to stumble. It may be a friendship, a pastime, a pursuit, a course of reading; but there must be no quarter given, no excuse accepted. As soon as the soul dares to make this supreme renunciation, there is an accession of life. Whenever the body loses the use of one member, such as the eye, there is an accession of vigor in others; so, to deny the lower is to open the door to the higher, and, though maimed, to enter into life. Mar_9:44-48 evidently refer to the valley of Hinnom, where fires were kept burning to consume waste.
Russell: Cut if off -- As God will not accept a divided heart, if a part of your powers symbolized by "hand" offend, it would be better to have a single one, than two working in opposition.
It is better -- It would be better to endure the loss of members than lose all in gehenna. The future life is of inestimable value, and it will richly pay you to make any sacrifice to receive and enjoy that life.
Enter into life maimed -- Everlasting life, which is the opposite of the everlasting destruction symbolized by gehenna.
Go into hell -- Greek: gehenna; everlasting destruction. "Valley of Hinnom." This valley lay just outside the city of Jerusalem and served the purpose of sewer and garbage-burner to that city. No living thing was ever permitted to be cast into gehenna nor were the Jews allowed to torture any creature. A figure used by our Lord and the Prophet Isaiah (66:24) to represent the utter destruction of the second death.
Jerusalem was a figure of the kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem; hence its valley was an appropriate symbol of the second death, the utter extermination of all things abominable at the close of the Millennial age. The Jews knew it to refer to the valley outside their city, which was not a place of torment, nor a place where any living thing was cast, but a place for the utter destruction of whatever might be cast into it. R2602:6
Kimchi says that brimstone was thrown in to continue the fires and that the condemnation of the wicked in a parabolic way, is called Gihinnom.
Do you believe that Second Death is real?
Do you understand what Second Death is?
Are you allowing sin in your life?
Mar 9:45 MKJV And if your foot offends you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame than to have two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched
Mar 9:46 MKJV where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.
Mar 9:47 MKJV And if your eye offends you, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes to be cast into hell fire
Mar 9:48 MKJV where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.
Russell: And if thine eye -- Anything as precious as a foot or an eye. Any sin we may cherish, be it as precious as a right eye.
There are eyes of the understanding as well as natural eyes. Eye is representative of design or purpose.
A literal eye, hand or foot, could not cause one to stumble in such a way as to affect his eternal welfare. There are eyes of understanding as well as natural eyes. Eyes are also used as representative of design or purpose.
Offend thee -- It is not an uncommon thing for many who have professed to have an eye for the glory of God, to have a much larger eye for business, for literature, for fame, etc.
Pluck it out -- As God will not accept a divided heart, if part of your powers symbolized by "eye" offend, it would be better to have a single one than two working in opposition.
It is better -- Paul echoed the same spirit when he said, "I count all things but loss"; "Let us lay aside every weight--and run." (Phi_3:8; Heb_12:1)
Expositor’s: If the hand be capacity, resource, and possession, the foot is swift perilous impulse, and also fixed habitude, monotonous recurrence, the settled ways of the world.
Cut off hand and foot, and what is left to the mutilated trunk, the ravaged and desolated life? Desire is left; the desire of the eyes. The eyes may not touch the external world; all may now be correct in our actions and intercourse with men. But yet greed, passion, inflamed imagination may desecrate the temple of the soul. The eyes misled Eve when she saw that the fruit was good, and David on his palace roof. Before the eyes of Jesus, Satan spread his third and worst temptation. And our Lord seems to imply that this last sacrifice of the worst because the deepest evil must be made with indignant vehemence; hand and foot must be cut off, but the eye must be cast out, though life be half darkened in the process.
He added that in such cases the choice is between mutilation and the loss of all. It is no longer a question of the full improvement of every faculty, the doubling of all the talents, but a choice between living a life impoverished and half spoiled, and going complete to Gehenna, to the charnel valley where the refuse of Jerusalem was burned in a continual fire, and the worm of corruption never died.
The metaphors of Jesus, however, are not employed to exaggerate His meaning, but only to express it. And what He said is this: The man who cherishes one dear and excusable occasion of offense, who spares himself the keenest spiritual surgery, shall be cast forth with everything that defileth, shall be ejected with the offal of the New Jerusalem.
And it was not addressed to the outcast or the Pharisee, but to His own. They were called to the highest life…Therefore they needed solemn warning, and the counter-pressure of those awful issues known to be dependent on their stern self-discipline. …And since the need of this solemn warning sprang from their rivalry and partisanship, Jesus concludes with an emphatic charge to discipline and correct themselves and to beware of impeding others: to be searching in the closet, and charitable in the church: to have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
Mar 9:49 MKJV For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
Guzik: a. For everyone will be seasoned with fire: Jesus declared His followers will be seasoned with fire, and that every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt, that the salt must retain its flavor, and that it will bring peace among us.
b. What is Jesus talking about? This passage has led to many different interpretations.
i. The first main interpretation is that fire refers to tribulation and suffering; these things accompany the “living sacrifice” (Rom_12:1) of the disciple. Since Old Testament sacrifices always included salt (Lev_2:13), Jesus is saying “just as every sacrifice under the law required salt, so the living sacrifice My followers bring to Me must be seasoned with suffering and tribulations.”
Russell: For -- Connects the first clause of verses 43, 45 and 47 with the first clause of verse 49. We must not fail to notice the intimate connection between the 49th verse and the former verses by the little word "for," which shows the relation of the statements to each other.
Salted with fire -- May we not only submit to, but volunteer to be "salted with fire," then we shall be prepared to offer an acceptable sacrifice "salted with salt." Forsaking all to be a disciple of Christ, we understand to be the salt of fiery trial and separation.
Every sacrifice -- In the type, salt was required to be offered with the sacrifice. "With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt." (Lev_2:13) If we become careless and neglect the salt, the sacrifice will become offensive unto God.
Salted with salt -- A symbol of fidelity, loyalty and incorruption
Mar 9:50 MKJV Salt is good; but if the salt becomes saltless, with what will you season? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
Clarke Have salt in yourselves - See that ye have at all times the preserving principle of Divine grace in your hearts, and give that proof of it which will satisfy your own minds, and convince or silence the world: live in brotherly kindness and peace with each other: thus shall all men see that you are free from ambition, (see Mar_9:34), and that you are my disciples indeed. That it is possible for the salt to lose its savor, and yet retain its appearance in the most perfect manner, see proved on the note on Mat_5:13.
Matthew 5:13 KJV Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Salt is good -- Salt signifies a purifying quality, it gives flavor to whatever it is attached and seems to signify a preservative quality that is a detriment to corruption. There are few, if any, words in the Bible that have a wider range of symbolism than the word salt. It is used as a symbol for fidelity, friendship, incorruption, barrenness, perpetual desolation, preservation, etc.
Have lost his saltness -- By clinging to the world, and worldly ways, to anything that is foreign to the word and spirit of Christ. If the Christian should persistently fall way from his righteousness, he is "thenceforth good for nothing." (Mat_5:13) How important that we not only have salt in ourselves, but that we continue to retain its healthful properties.
If you are clinging to the world and worldly ways, thoughts and associations, or to a worldly church organization, then the salt is losing, if it has not already lost, its savor. If we lose the quality of being separated from the world and have the spirit of pride, we would lose our Christianity and cease to be the Lord's representative.
Wherewith will ye season it? -- There is no way to restore saltness to salt once it has gone. So if we lose the holy Spirit, there is no way by which we could be renewed again.
Have salt -- Purity, righteousness.
In yourselves -- If we have not the salt in ourselves, how can we be the salt of the earth? If we are not truly and sincerely righteous, how can we exert upon others the cleansing and healing influences?
Barnes: Have salt in yourselves - Have the preserving, purifying principle always; the principles of denying yourselves, of suppressing pride, ambition, contention, etc., and thus you will be an acceptable offering to God.
Have peace - Avoid contention and quarrelling, struggling for places, honors, and office, and seek each other’s welfare, and religion will be honored and preserved in the world.
Are you the salt of the earth?
Robertson: In Mar_8:38 Jesus clearly is speaking of the second coming. To what is he referring in Mar_9:1? One is reminded of Mar_13:32; Mat_24:36 where Jesus expressly denies that anyone save the Father himself (not even the Son) knows the day or the hour. Does he contradict that here? It may be observed that Luke has only “see the kingdom of God,” while Matthew has “see the Son of man coming” (erchomenon, present participle, a process). Mark has “see the kingdom of God come” (elēluthuian, perfect active participle, already come) and adds “with power.” Certainly the second coming did not take place while some of those standing there still lived. Did Jesus mean that? The very next incident in the Synoptic Gospels is the Transfiguration on Mount Hermon. Does not Jesus have that in mind here? The language will apply also to the coming of the Holy Spirit on the great Day of Pentecost. Some see in it a reference to the destruction of the temple. It is at least open to question whether the Master is speaking of the same event in Mar_8:38; Mar_9:1.
Mar 9:2 MKJV And after six days Jesus took Peter and James and John and led them up into a high mountain, apart by themselves. And He was transfigured before them.
Mar 9:3 MKJV And His clothing became shining, exceedingly white as snow such as no fuller on earth could whiten them.
Clarke --And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, etc. - For a full account of the nature and design of the transfiguration, see on Mat_17:1 (note), etc.
A high mountain - I have conjectured, Mat_17:1, that this was one of the mountains of Galilee: some say Hermon, some think a mountain near Caesarea Philippi to be more likely.
Russell: He was transfigured -- The object of the "vision" was probably two-fold--the comfort and strengthening of the Lord, and the enlightenment of his chosen witnesses.
The import of this vision is clearly indicated by Peter. (2Pe_1:16-18)
Guzik: -- What exactly happened here? Matthew says that Jesus’ face shone like the sun (Mat_17:2), and both Matthew and Mark use the word transfigured to describe what happened to Jesus. For this brief time, Jesus took on an appearance more appropriate for the King of Glory than for a humble man.
c. He was transfigured before them: Mark does his best to describe for us - no doubt, through the eyes of Peter - what Jesus looked like. Basically, Jesus’ whole appearance shined forth in glorious, bright light - his clothes became shining, and whiter than anything seen on this earth.
i. If we’re not careful, we think of the transfiguration as just a bright light shined on Jesus. But this wasn’t a light coming on Jesus from the outside. “The word transfigured describes a change on the outside that comes from the inside. It is the opposite of ‘masquerade,’ which is an outward change that does not come from within.” (Wiersbe)
d. Why did Jesus do this, and why at this time? Because Jesus just told His disciples that He was going the way of the cross (Mar_8:31), and that spiritually they should follow Him in the way of the cross (Mar_8:34-38). It would have been easy for them to lose confidence in Jesus after such a “negative” statement.
e. But now, as Jesus displays His glory as King over all God’s Kingdom, the disciples know that Jesus knows what He is doing; if He is to suffer, be rejected and killed, He is still in control.
f. Jesus also shows in a dramatic way that cross bearers will be glory receivers. The goal isn’t the cross. The cross is the path to the goal, and the goal is the glory of God.
Is your eye fixed on the glory beyond the cross?
Mar 9:4 MKJV And Elijah with Moses was seen by them, and they were talking with Jesus.
Russell: Appeared unto them -- It was only an appearance, because Christ was the firstborn from the dead and neither Moses nor Elijah is as yet "made perfect." (Heb_11:39, 40)
Guzik: Elijah appeared to them with Moses: Why Elijah and Moses? Because they represent those who are caught up to God (Jud_1:9; 2Ki_2:11). Moses represents those who die and go to glory, and Elijah represents those who are caught up to heaven without death (as in 1Th_4:13-18).
i. They also represent the Law (Moses) and the Prophets (Elijah). The sum of Old Testament revelation comes to meet with Jesus at the Mount of Transfiguration.
ii. Right in front of them, the disciples saw evidence of life beyond this life. When they saw Moses and Elijah, they knew that Moses had passed from this world 1,400 years before and Elijah had passed some 900 years before. Yet there they were, alive in glory before them. It gave them confidence in Jesus’ claim to resurrection.
b. They were talking with Jesus: What did they talk about? Elijah and Moses were interested in the outworking of God’s plan through Jesus. They spoke about what Jesus was about to accomplish at Jerusalem (Luk_9:31).
Luk 9:31 KJV Who appeared in glory, and spake of his decease which he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
How could Jesus be talking to Moses who we know was dead, and we know was not in heaven (because no one could go before Jesus opened the way and came back at his second coming)?
Elijah we are not told what happened to him, but we also know he was not taken to heaven in reality because of the same reason given above—what are your thoughts on Elijah?
Mar 9:5 MKJV And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. And let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
Mar 9:6 MKJV For he did not know what to say, for they were very much afraid.
Russell: Three tabernacles -- Evidently thinking that the Master would rejoice at such blessed fellowship, and willing to do anything for his aid. How many there are like Peter who want to rear earthly tabernacles and fail to understand and appreciate the real vision of the kingdom. Peter was bewildered, confused, but in harmony with his natural temperament, wished to say something.
Expositors: They spoke of His decease, and their word seems to have lingered in the narrative as strangely appropriate to one of the speakers; it is Christ’s "exodus." [7]
But St. Mark does not linger over this detail, nor mention the drowsiness with which they struggled; he leans all the weight of his vivid narrative upon one great fact, the evidence now given of our Lord’s absolute supremacy.
For, at this juncture Peter interposed. He "answered," a phrase which points to his consciousness that he was no unconcerned bystander, that the vision was in some degree addressed to him and his companions. But he answers at random, and like a man distraught. "Lord, it is good for us to be here," as if it were not always good to be where Jesus led, even though men should bear a cross to follow Him. Intoxicated by the joy of seeing the King in His beauty, and doubtless by the revulsion of new hope in the stead of his dolorous forebodings, he proposes to linger there. He will have more than is granted, just as, when Jesus washed his feet, he said "not my feet only, but also my hands and my head." And if this might be, it was fitting that these superhuman personages should have tabernacles made for them. No doubt the assertion that he wist not what to say, bears specially upon this strange offer to shelter them from the night air, and to provide for each a place of separate repose. The words are incoherent, but they are quite natural from one who has so impulsively begun to speak that now he must talk on, because he knows not how to stop. They are the words of the very Peter whose actions we know so well. As he formerly walked upon the sea, before considering how boisterous were the waves, and would soon afterwards smite with the sword, and risk himself in the High Priest’s palace, without seeing his way through either adventure, exactly so in this bewildering presence he ventures into a sentence without knowing how to close it.
In speaking thus, he has lowered his Master to the level of the others, unconscious that Moses and Elijah were only attendants upon Jesus, …, and who speak not of their achievements but of His sufferings. If Peter knew it, the hour had struck when their work, the law of Moses and the utterances of the prophets whom Elijah represented, should cease to be the chief impulse in religion, and without being destroyed, should be "fulfilled," and absorbed in a new system. He was there to whom Moses in the law, and the prophets bore witness, and in His presence they had no glory by reason of the glory that excelleth. Yet Peter would fain build equal tabernacles for all alike.
Now St. Luke tells us that he interposed just when they were departing, and apparently in the hope of staying them. But all the narratives convey a strong impression that his words hastened their disappearance, and decided the manner of it. For while he yet spake, as if all the vision were eclipsed on being thus misunderstood, a cloud swept over the three -- bright, yet overshadowing them -- and the voice of God proclaimed their Lord to be His beloved Son (not faithful only, like Moses, as a steward over the house), and bade them, instead of desiring to arrest the flight of rival teachers, hear Him.
Too often Christian souls err after the same fashion. We cling to authoritative teachers, familiar ordinances, and traditional views, good it may be, and even divinely given, as if they were not intended wholly to lead us up to Christ. And in many a spiritual eclipse, from many a cloud which the heart fears to enter, the great lesson resounds through the conscience of the believer, Hear Him!
Let it be observed that the miraculous and Divine Voice reveals nothing new to them. ... What we all need most is not clearer and sounder views, but the bringing of our thoughts into subjection to the mind of Jesus.
Do you speak because you feel you have to say something?
Mar 9:7 MKJV And there was a cloud that overshadowed them. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is My beloved Son. Hear Him.
Russell: And a voice -- Such a voice was heard on three different occasions: (1) At our Lord's baptism. (Mat_3:17) (2) Here on the mount of transfiguration. (3) Just before the crucifixion. (Joh_12:28)
"And this voice which came from heaven we heard" when we were with him in the holy mount. (2Pe_1:18)
This is my beloved Son -- A fresh encouragement to their faith that Jesus was "the Son of the Highest." (Luk_1:32) Their faith was corroborated; God himself had testified in this miraculous manner that Jesus was his Son.
Hear him -- A needed lesson in reverence, humility and patience. "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak." (Jam_1:19) Be still! Hearken rather to the words of my beloved Son.
Guzik: --This is My beloved Son. Hear Him! The voice from the cloud of glory makes it clear that Jesus is not on the same level as Elijah and Moses. He is the beloved Son - so Hear Him!
“There are thousands of priests in the world who say, ‘Hear us’; but the Father says ‘Hear him.’ Many voices clamor for our attention: new philosophies, modern theologies, and old heresies revived, all call to us and entreat us to hearken, but the Father says, ‘Hear him.’“ (Spurgeon)
This word from heaven answered the disciples’ doubts after the revelation of the suffering Messiah. It assured them that the plan was all right with God the Father also.
The disciples wished to detain Moses and Elijah that they might hear them: but God shows that the law which had been in force, and the prophets which had prophesied, until now, must all give place to Jesus; and he alone must now be attended to, as the way, the truth, and the life.” (Clarke)
Who do you hear?
Do you just hear or do you listen as well?
Mar 9:8 MKJV And suddenly, looking around, they did not see anyone any more, except Jesus alone with themselves.
Gill: And suddenly, when they had looked round about,.... Upon hearing the voice, to see if they could observe any other object, by whom it was pronounced, and whether the same they had seen continued:
they saw no man any more; neither Moses, nor Elias, not at that time, nor ever after;
save Jesus only with themselves: the voice only regarded him, and being directed to them;
Popular NT: And suddenly, etc. Mark omits some details here. The withdrawal itself was not necessarily sudden, but their perception of it was.
Save Jesus only. His authority suffices; His love redeems; His glory is the great end.
With themselves. Peculiar to Mark; it hints at the self-consciousness of an eye-witness, and suggests that our Lord was near them as they looked. Matthew tells that they looked up after He touched them.
Are you satisfied with Jesus alone?
Mar 9:9 MKJV And as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things that they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
Russell: What things they had seen -- A "vision"--not a reality (Mat_17:9)--of the coming glory of Christ's kingdom. (2Pe_1:16-18)
Guzik: After it was all over, Peter, John and James kept this word to themselves - after all, who would believe them? But the event left a lasting impression on these men. Peter relates what happened in 2Pe_1:16-18, how the voice from God saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” still rang in his ears, confirming who Jesus was.
Gill: until the son of man be risen again from the dead; meaning himself and his resurrection, when such proof would be given of his mission, authority, and glory, which would make this account more easy to be believed… This order of Christ was strictly observed by the disciples; for Luke, says, "they kept it close"; to themselves, in their own breasts; it lay concealed between these three; "and told no man in those days, any of those things which they had seen": and Mark says, "they kept that saying within themselves"; only as he adds, they were "questioning one with another, what the rising from the dead should mean": for they were not yet reconciled to the Messiah's dying, which was contrary to their expectation of a temporal kingdom; and therefore could not tell what to make of his rising again, whether this had not some secret, mystical meaning; for of his resurrection from the dead, in a literal sense, they had no notion; though it was foretold in the writings of the Old Testament, and had been so lately affirmed by Christ himself.
Could you have kept the secret?
When the woman came to the apostles to tell them Jesus’ body was taken from the tomb—and Peter and John ran to the tomb—do you think this experience came to their mind? (Luke 24:12, John 20:1-4)
Mar 9:10 MKJV And they kept that saying within themselves, debating with one another what the rising from the dead is.
Gill: And they kept that saying with themselves,.... "They retained it in their own mind", as the Persic version renders it; "they kept it close", as Luke says, Luk_9:36, among themselves, and acquainted no man with it: and which refers either to the whole of Christ's charge, relating to the vision on the mount; or else only to what he said about his resurrection from the dead; and which they took notice of particularly, and laid hold upon, as the word will bear to be rendered; and so the Ethiopic version does render it, "and they observed his saying"; what he last said concerning the son of man's rising from the dead;
questioning with one other what the rising from the dead should mean: they inquired, disputed, and reasoned with one another, what should be the meaning of such an expression: not that they were ignorant of the general resurrection of the dead; for this was the hope of Israel, and the general sense of the Jewish nation: but they did not know what he meant by his particular rising from the dead: whether he meant it in a literal sense, which supposed his death; and that though he had lately told them of, they knew not how to reconcile to the notions they had of a long and flourishing temporal kingdom of the Messiah; or whether he meant a and interest, in such manner as they expected.
Mar 9:11 MKJV And they asked Him, saying, Why do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?
Guzik: Why do the scribes say: The coming of Elijah before the Messiah is clearly prophesied in Mal_4:5-6. So the disciples wonder, “If Jesus is the Messiah, then where is Elijah?”
Mar 9:12 MKJV And He answered and told them, Elijah truly does come first and restores all things. And how has it been written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be despised?
Guzik: Elijah does come first: Jesus tells them that the Elijah prophecy in Malachi will indeed be fulfilled. Though Jesus does not say this here, the prophecy of Elijah’s coming had to do with Jesus’ second coming, not His first…
i. How is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer: Jesus draws attention to the contrast between His first and second comings here. The disciples were well aware of the prophecies concerning the glory of the Messiah; Jesus asked them to consider the prophecies concerning His suffering and that He must be treated with contempt.
Mar 9:13 MKJV But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they desired, as it is written of him.
Russell: Elias is indeed come -- In a sense, to those who could receive it, John the Baptist had thus come, and had introduced Jesus as the Messiah. Pointing out that John had served as Elijah to those who receive him as Messiah. As John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus in the flesh, so the greater Elijah, the Church in the flesh, is the forerunner of the great Messiah on the spirit plane.
Not going on to explain to them how he and they and all of the faithful Church would, while in the flesh, represent the higher antitypical Elijah, and endeavor to do a restorative work, but without success.
Guzik: But I say to you that Elijah has also come: While it is true that Elijah is yet to come in reference to the second coming of Jesus, there is also a sense in which Elijah has also come - in the person of John the Baptist.
i. John was not a reincarnation of Elijah, but he did minister in the role and spirit of Elijah. John the Baptist was a type or a picture of Elijah.
Mar 9:14 MKJV And coming to His disciples, He saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them.
Barnes: Questioning with them - Debating with the disciples, and attempting to confound them. This he saw as he came down from the mount. In his absence they had taken occasion to attempt to perplex and confound his followers.
Guzik: Scribes disputing with them: From the context, it is reasonable to assume that scribes criticized the disciples for their inability to help the demon-possessed boy. “One wonders why these same scribes, instead of further embarrassing the crestfallen disciples before the crowd, did not set about exorcising the demon themselves, as a proof of orthodoxy.” (Cole)
- “He found disputing scribes, a distracted father, a demon-possessed boy, and defeated disciples . . . He silenced the scribes, He comforted the father, He healed the boy, He instructed the disciples.” (Morgan)
Are you often surrounded by naysayers when you feel the Lord is not with you?
Do you feel Satan’s stronger when we are in the presence of the Lord?
Mar 9:15 MKJV And immediately all the crowd, seeing Him, were greatly amazed, and they were running to Him to greet Him.
Clarke --Were greatly amazed - Probably, because he came so unexpectedly; but the cause of this amazement is not self-evident.
Gill: Were greatly amazed; either that he should come at that juncture, to assist and relieve his disciples, when the Scribes were triumphing over them, as some think; or rather, as others, on account of that remaining lustre and glory which was on his countenance, through his transfiguration, and not yet wholly gone off; like that which was on the face of Moses, when he came down from Mount Sinai:
and running to him, saluted him; wishing him all peace and prosperity, expressing their great joy at his coming to them; which was very desirable by them, and exceedingly pleasing to them, and especially at this time, as both their words and gesture showed.
Do you run to the Lord when you see him?
Mar 9:16 MKJV And He asked the scribes, What are you discussing with them?
JFB: … addressing Himself to the scribes, He demands the subject of their discussion, ready to meet them where they had pressed hard upon His half-instructed and as yet timid apostles.
Benson: What question ye with them? — What is the subject of your dispute with them? What is the point you are debating so warmly? The scribes gave no answer to our Lord’s question. They did not care to repeat what they had said to his disciples: but one of the multitude said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, &c
Mar 9:17 MKJV And one of the crowd answered and said, Teacher, I have brought my son who has a dumb spirit to You.
PNT: One of the multitude. The scribes were silent, but the person most deeply interested answers. The subject of dispute was connected with the cure of the lunatic boy. The scribes feared to repeat their objections, lest our Lord should convict them in the presence of the multitude by working a miraculous cure. The hostility to our Lord was always cowardly!
I brought. He actually brought his son, expecting to find Christ, to thee, not knowing of His absence. It was his only son (Luk_9:38.)
A dumb spirit. A spirit causing the boy to be speechless; not that the demon was a silent one.
Barnes: A dumb spirit - A spirit which deprived his son of the power of speaking.
Guzik: A mute spirit: In the eyes of contemporary Jewish exorcists, this was a particularly difficult - if not impossible - demon to cast out. This was because they believed that you had to learn a demon’s name before you could cast it out, and if a demon made someone mute, you could never learn his name.
Do you bring your troubles to the Lord?
Mar 9:18 MKJV And wherever he seizes him, he dashes him. And he foams and gnashes his teeth and pines away. And I spoke to Your disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not.
Clarke --Pineth away - By these continual torments; so he was not only deaf and dumb, but sorely tortured besides.
Guzik: Wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid: The boy displays signs that many today would regard as evidence of epilepsy, but Jesus perceived that they were caused by demonic possession. Surely, some of whom we diagnose as physically or mentally ill today are actually demon possessed.
i. “Jesus addresses the demon as a separate being from the boy as he often does. This makes it difficult to believe that Jesus was merely indulging popular belief in a superstition. He evidently regards the demon as the cause in this case of the boy’s misfortune.” (Robertson)
d. That they should cast it out, but they could not: This particular case of demon possession was too much for the disciples, though Jesus had given them authority over unclean spirits (Mar_6:7).
e. Apparently some demons are stronger - that is, more stubborn or intimidating than others. Eph_6:12 seems to describe different ranks of demonic beings, and it isn’t a stretch to think that some ranks might be more power than others are.
Russell: They could not -- So with us, occasionally by faith we go into the kingdom and see the glory of the Lord revealed, and then come down from the heights of contemplation to face the fealties of the present--the Adversary still in possession of the world, many his slaves and dupes, and no earthly power sufficient to cast him out.
Thus the Lord's people are still in the valley of conflict contending with the will of the flesh and the devil; yet their eyes of faith behold at the top of the mountain the glorious Lord, who will cause them to share in the glories of his kingdom.
Do you believe in demon possession today?
Mar 9:19 MKJV He answered him and said, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me!
Guzik: O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? Who does Jesus call the faithless generation? He might refer to the contentious scribes, to the desperate father, or to the unsuccessful disciples.
Gill: He answereth him,.... The father of the child, and who is included in the reproof afterwards given, for his unbelief, and taking part with the Scribes against his disciples; though the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, Persic, and Ethiopic versions, read, "them"; meaning not his disciples, but the Scribes and Pharisees, with the father of the child: and saith,
JFB: how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? — language implying that it was a shame to them to want the faith necessary to perform this cure, and that it needed some patience to put up with them. It is to us surprising that some interpreters, as Chrysostom and Calvin, should represent this rebuke as addressed, not to the disciples at all, but to the scribes who disputed with them. Nor does it much, if at all, mend the matter to view it as addressed to both, as most expositors seem to do. With Bengel, Deuteronomy Wette, and Meyer, we regard it as addressed directly to the nine apostles who were unable to expel this evil spirit. And though, in ascribing this inability to their “want of faith” and the “perverted turn of mind” which they had drunk in with their early training, the rebuke would undoubtedly apply, with vastly greater force, to those who twitted the poor disciples with their inability, it would be to change the whole nature of the rebuke to suppose it addressed to those who had no faith at all, and were wholly perverted. It was because faith sufficient for curing this youth was to be expected of the disciples, and because they should by that time have got rid of the perversity in which they had been reared, that Jesus exposes them thus before the rest. And who does not see that this was fitted, more than anything else, to impress upon the by-standers the severe loftiness of the training He was giving to the Twelve, and the unsophisticated footing He was on with them?
Bring him unto me — The order to bring the patient to Him was instantly obeyed; when, lo! as if conscious of the presence of his Divine Tormentor, and expecting to be made to quit, the foul spirit rages and is furious, determined to die hard, doing all the mischief he can to this poor child while yet within his grasp.
Are you faithless?
Does the Lord have to bear with you?
Mar 9:20 MKJV And they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, the spirit immediately convulsed him. And he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming.
Clarke --When he saw him the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, etc. - When this demon saw Jesus, he had great rage, knowing that his time was short; and hence the extraordinary convulsions mentioned above.
Guzik: When Jesus comes near, the demon inside the boy knows that his time is short. He wants to do as much damage as he can before he leaves.
- “However, it letteth us see how hardly the devil parteth with his possession in us in any degree, and how ready he is to run the length of his line in doing us mischief.” (Poole)
JFB: And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him — Just as the man with the legion of demons, “when he saw Jesus, ran and worshipped Him” (Mar_5:6), so this demon, when he saw Him, immediately “tare him.” The feeling of terror and rage was the same in both cases.
and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming — Still Jesus does nothing, but keeps conversing with the father about the case - partly to have its desperate features told out by him who knew them best, in the hearing of the spectators; partly to let its virulence have time to show itself; and partly to deepen the exercise of the father’s soul, to draw out his faith, and thus to prepare both him and the by-standers for what He was to do.
Do you hold on to the sins in your flesh, kicking and screaming when they are shown for what they are and need to be abandoned?
Does Satan have a hold of you?
Mar 9:21 MKJV And He asked his father, How long ago has it been since this came to him? And he said, From childhood.
Gill: And he asked his father,.... As he lay rolling about in this miserable condition, that the length and stubbornness of his disorder might be known, and so the cure the more remarkable, and appear the more expressive of his divine power and goodness:
JFB: And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child, etc. — Having told briefly the affecting features of the case, the poor father, half dispirited by the failure of the disciples and the aggravated virulence of the malady itself in presence of their Master, yet encouraged too by what he had heard of Christ, by the severe rebuke He had given to His disciples for not having faith enough to cure the boy, and by the dignity with which He had ordered him to be brought to Him - in this mixed state of mind, he closes his description of the case with these touching words:
Mar 9:22 MKJV And oftentimes it has cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.
Clarke: If Thou canst Do any thing - I have already tried thy disciples, and find they can do nothing in this case; but if thou hast any power, in mercy use it in our behalf.
Russell: Ofttimes -- This case was one of occasional obsession by an evil spirit.
To destroy him -- There are modern cases where obsession has induced suicide attempts.
Do you come to the Lord with all your troubles?
Mar 9:23 MKJV Jesus said to him, If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.
Clarke --If Thou canst Believe - This was an answer to the inquiry above. I can furnish a sufficiency of power, if thou canst but bring faith to receive it. Why are not our souls completely healed? Why is not every demon cast out? Why are not pride, self-will, love of the world, lust, anger, peevishness, with all the other bad tempers and dispositions which constitute the mind of Satan, entirely destroyed? Alas! it is because we do not believe; Jesus is able; more, Jesus is willing; but we are not willing to give up our idols; we give not credence to his word; therefore hath sin a being in us, and dominion over us.
Russell: If thou canst believe -- How great stress the Lord lays upon faith! Our blessings increase in proportion as we will exercise our faith.
Do you believe?
Mar 9:24 MKJV And immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.
Mark 9:24 TPT When he heard this, the boy’s father cried out with tears, saying, “I do believe, Lord; help my little faith!”
Guzik: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief: The poor father in this account is challenged by Jesus’ exhortation for faith. He did believe in Jesus’ power to deliver his boy - after all, why else would he have come to Jesus? But he also recognizes his doubts. So, he tearfully pleads with Jesus: Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!
i. In this case, the man’s unbelief was not a rebellion against or a rejection the Lord’s promise. He did not deny the Lord’s promise; he desired it. However, it just seemed too good to be true. Thus, he says, “help my unbelief!”
ii. “Help my unbelief” is something a man can only say by faith. “While men have no faith, they are unconscious of their unbelief; but, as soon as they get a little faith, then they begin to be conscious of the greatness of their unbelief.” (Spurgeon)
Clarke Help thou mine unbelief - That is, assist me against it. Give me a power to believe.
Russell: Lord, I believe -- The father realized from Jesus' words that the difficulty rested with him, that he must exercise faith else his son could not be recovered
Barnes: Said with tears - The man felt the implied rebuke in the Saviour’s language; and feeling grieved that he should be thought to be destitute of faith, and feeling deeply for the welfare of his afflicted son, he wept. Nothing can be more touching or natural than this. An anxious father, distressed at the condition of his son, having applied to the disciples in vain, now coming to the Saviour; and not having full confidence that he had the proper qualification to be aided, he wept. Any man would have wept in his condition, nor would the Saviour turn the weeping suppliant away.
I believe - I have faith. I do put confidence in thee, though I know that my faith is not as strong as it should be.
Help thou mine unbelief - Supply thou the defects of my faith. Give me strength and grace to put “entire” confidence in thee. Everyone who comes to the Saviour for help has need of offering this prayer. In our unbelief and our doubts we need his aid, nor shall we ever put sufficient reliance on him without his gracious help.
Do you ask the Lord to help your unbelief (when you faulter in faith)?
Mar 9:25 MKJV And seeing that a crowd is running together, Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter no more into him!
Gill: When Jesus saw that the people came running together,.... לותיה, "to him", as the Syriac version adds, and so the Persic; upon hearing the vehement cry of the father of the child, and the earnest solicitations he made, expecting that something would be done
Clarke --I charge thee - Considerable emphasis should be laid on the pronoun: - Thou didst resist the command of my disciples, now I command thee to come out. If this had been only a natural disease, for instance the epilepsy, as some have argued, could our Lord have addressed it, with any propriety, as he has done here: Thou deaf and dumb spirit, come out of him, and enter no more into him? Is the doctrine of demoniacal influence false? If so, Jesus took the most direct method to perpetuate the belief of that falsity, by accommodating himself so completely to the deceived vulgar. But this was impossible; therefore the doctrine of demoniacal influence is a true doctrine, otherwise Christ would never have given it the least countenance or support.
Benson: When Jesus saw the people running together — The vehemence with which the father of the child spake, occasioned by the greatness of his grief, brought the crowd about them. Jesus, therefore, to prevent further disturbance, immediately commanded the unclean spirit to depart from the youth, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit — So termed because he made the child deaf and dumb: when Jesus spake, the devil heard, though the child could not: I charge thee — I myself, now; not my disciples; come out of him, and enter no more into him — Leave him instantly, and presume not any more to trouble or disquiet him as long as he lives.
Mar 9:26 MKJV And the spirit cried out, throwing him into convulsions, and came out of him. And he was like one dead, so that many said, He is dead.
Mar 9:27 MKJV But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
Guzik: Jesus had no difficulty whatsoever in dealing the demon, even though the demon made a final display of his terrible strength. Knowing he must leave, the demon did the most damage he could before he left. But it was not lasting damage.
i. “He will do what harm he can when he cannot do us the harm he would.” (Poole)
Benson: And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, &c. — Scarcely had Jesus uttered the word when the devil came out of the child, making a hideous howling, and convulsing him to such a degree, that he lay senseless and without motion, as one dead, till Jesus took him by the hand, instantly brought him to life, and then delivered him to his father perfectly recovered.
Expositors: The evil being obeys, yet proves his reluctance by screaming and convulsing his victim for the last time, so that he, though healed, lies utterly prostrate, and "the more part said, He is dead." It was a fearful exhibition of the disappointed malice of the pit. But it only calls forth another display of the power and love of Jesus, Who will not leave the sufferer to a gradual recovery, nor speak, as to the fiend, in words of mere authority, but reaches forth His benign hand, and raises him, restored. Here we discover the same heart which provided that the daughter of Jairus should have food, and delivered her son to the widow of Nain, and was first to remind others that Lazarus was encumbered by his grave-clothes. The good works of Jesus were not melodramatic marvels for stage effect: they were the natural acts of supernatural power and love.
Mar 9:28 MKJV And He entering into a house, His disciples asked Him privately, Why could we not cast him out?
Mar 9:29 MKJV And He said to them, This kind can come out by nothing except by prayer and fasting.
Guzik: a. Why could we not cast it out? Jesus reveals the reason for their weakness: it was due to a lack of prayer and fasting.
b. It isn’t that prayer and fasting make us more “worthy” to cast out demons; it is that prayer and fasting draw us closer to the heart of God, and they put us more in line with His power. They are an expression of our total dependence on Him.
i. Jesus had already given them the authority to cast out demons (Mar_3:14-15), but “The authority that Jesus had given them was effective only if exercised by faith, but faith must be cultivated through spiritual discipline and devotion.” (Wiersbe)
ii. This total dependence on God is the remedy for many spiritual problems. To be disappointed in yourself is to have trusted in yourself.
Russell: -- Showing that their greatest power would result from their living lives of self-denial and prayer. God's people could accomplish much more if they would always exercise full faith in the Lord, and continually live more in the spirit and less according to the flesh.
Clarke Prayer and fasting - This demon may be considered as an emblem of deeply rooted vices, and inveterate habits, over which the conquest is not generally obtained, but through extraordinary humiliations.
When you have a tough trial that you can’t seem to overcome, do you try prayer and fasting?
Mar 9:30 MKJV And going out from there, they passed through Galilee. And He desired that no one should know.
Gill: And they departed thence,.... From the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, from that part of the country where the mountain was, on which Christ was transfigured, and at the foot of which the above miracle was wrought. This is to be understood of Christ and his twelve disciples, though the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions read in the singular number, "he went out"; not alone, but with his disciples, as the following account shows:
and passed through Galilee; in order to go to the coasts of Judea, and so to Jerusalem, where he was shortly to suffer: and therefore that his journey might not be retarded, and he be hindered by the conversation of the people in Galilee, and their importunity to stay with them, and teach, and work miracles among them, he passed through the country, in as private a manner as could be:
and he would not that any man should know it; partly for the reason just mentioned, and partly that he might have the opportunity of conversing alone with his disciples, and of reminding, and informing them, of some important things, which it was necessary they should be acquainted with, and observe.
Do you allow yourself quiet times where you can reflect on God’s Word, and discuss it with those closest to you?
Mar 9:31 MKJV For He taught His disciples and said to them, The Son of Man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him. And after He is killed, He shall rise the third day.
JFB: For he taught his disciples, and said unto them — “Let these sayings sink down into your ears” (Luk_9:44); not what had been passing between them as to His grandeur, but what He was now to utter.
Gill: The son of man is delivered into the hands of men: in one of Beza's copies it is read, "sinful men", as in Luk_24:7 and so the Persic version reads here, and adds rebellious. This is represented as if it was already done, because it was determined and agreed upon, that it should be; and because, in a very little time, the son of man would be delivered into the hands of wicked men, according to the will of God, with his own consent, by the means of Judas, the Jews, and Pilate:
and they shall kill him; put him to death, in a violent manner, contrary to all law and justice:
and after that he is killed; this is omitted in the Arabic version, and in the Persic version in the room of it it is read, "and shall put him into a sepulchre"; that being what followed next upon his death:
and he shall rise the third day. This Christ always takes care to mention, for the comfort of his disciples, when he tells them of his death.
Mar 9:32 MKJV But they did not understand that saying and were afraid to ask Him.
Guzik: The disciples couldn’t “process” what Jesus said about His destiny in Jerusalem - to die and then rise again. Unfortunately, they were afraid to ask.
Benson: But they understood not that saying — They could not comprehend how he, who was to abide on earth for ever, and was to deliver others from the universal destroyer, should himself fall under his stroke: Or, they could not reconcile his death, nor consequently his resurrection, which supposed his death, with their notions of his temporal kingdom: Luke says, And it was hid from them, namely, by their own prejudices and misconceptions concerning the Messiah. For, seeing he spake of rising again the third day, they were not able to divine any reason for his dying at all, being ignorant, as yet, of the nature and ends of his death. And they were afraid to ask him — Taking no comfort from the mention that was made of his resurrection, the prediction raised such fears in their minds, that they durst not ask him to explain it; especially as they remembered that he had often inculcated it, and had reprimanded Peter for being unwilling to hear it.
If you don’t understand something in God’s Word or how God is working in your life—are you afraid to ask?
Mar 9:33 MKJV And He came to Capernaum. And being in the house, He asked them, What was it that you disputed among yourselves in the way?
Clarke --And being in the house - That is, Peter’s house, where he ordinarily lodged. This has been often observed before.
Benson: Being in the house — With his apostles, with a view to introduce the discourse he intended; he asked, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves, &c. — Our Lord’s late prediction concerning his sufferings had made the disciples exceeding sorry, Mat_17:23; but their grief soon went off, or their ignorance quickly got the better of it; for in a day or two after, some of them, forming a separate company, fell a disputing about the chief posts of honour and profit in their Master’s kingdom. This debate Jesus overheard; and though he said nothing to them at the time, yet afterward, when they were alone in the house, he did not fail to inquire about it. They were at first silent, not caring to discover the matter to him. Therefore, he sat down, and called the twelve — Namely, to stand round him, and attend to what he should say and do. It is natural to suppose that twelve persons, travelling together on foot, would form themselves into two or three little companies, while some of them no doubt would be attending Christ and discoursing with him: but our Lord judged it proper, being now in the house, that all the twelve should hear this admonition, though they might not all have been engaged in the dispute which occasioned it.
Mar 9:34 MKJV But they were silent. For in the way they had disputed among themselves who was the greatest.
Guzik: a. They had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest: It seems that this was the favorite debating topic among the disciples. They all counted on Jesus to take over the world as “King Messiah,” and the debate was about who was most worthy to be Jesus’ chief associate.
But they kept silent: This was an embarrassed silence. It shows that they were ashamed of this obsession with greatness. It was a healthy sense of shame, and proved that some of the message of Jesus was sinking into their hearts.
Russell: They held their peace -- They were ashamed to tell the topic of their dispute. Certainly not indefinitely, for that would have been showing disrespect to the Master; but there was a brief silence which indicated some embarrassment.
By the way -- After the vision in the holy mount there followed temptation. Our highest views of heavenly things are quickly followed by earthly trials and difficulties, which serve to test and prove us.
They had disputed -- Because they had not enough love for one another. This spirit disappeared after Pentecost.
Who should be the greatest -- The Lord's prime minister. While the humility of the Lord's apostles is very Marked in their subsequent career, in the beginning of their course, they were all to some extent influenced by old ideas which it was the object of Christ's teaching to gradually eradicate. After the selection of the three (Verse 2) their relative prominence in the kingdom was naturally suggested to their minds.
Do you think more highly of yourself and your relationship with God and Jesus than you should?
Do you talk of others are not as enlightened as you are? They don’t have Truth?
Mar 9:35 MKJV And He sat down and called the Twelve and said to them, If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.
Gill: and called the twelve; all the disciples, who though they might not be all engaged in this dispute, nor equally criminal, yet were all, possessed of the same notion; and therefore Christ calls them all unto him, what he had to say, being pertinent unto them all:
Guzik: He sat down: This is important, because by sitting down Jesus showed that he was going to teach. “When a Rabbi was teaching as a Rabbi, as a master teaches his scholars and disciples, when he was really making a pronouncement, he sat to teach. Jesus deliberately took up the position of a Rabbi teaching his pupils before he spoke.” (Barclay)
The question at hand was “Who would be the greatest?” Jesus could have answered the question, “ I’m the greatest.” But Jesus does not put the focus on Himself. For an example of greatness, Jesus puts forth the last and the servant.
i. Of course, Jesus is the greatest in the kingdom. So when He said last and servant, He was really describing Himself - and He accurately expressed His nature. He was truly first, yet made Himself last of all and servant of all for our sake.
ii. Jesus challenges us to be last of all. The desire to be praised and to gain recognition should be foreign to a follower of Jesus. Jesus wants us to embrace last as a choice, allowing others to be preferred before us, and not only because we are forced to be last.
iii. Jesus challenges us to be the servant of all. In the worldly idea of power, the great man is distinguished by how many people serve him. In ancient China, it was fashionable for wealthy men to grow their fingernails so long that their hands were unusable for basic tasks. This was to demonstrate that they did not need to do anything for themselves; there was always a servant there to wait on them. The world may think of this as greatness, but God does not. Jesus declared that true greatness is shown not by how many serve you, but by how many you serve.
iv. “It was not that Jesus abolished ambition. Rather he recreated and sublimated ambition. For the ambition to rule he substituted the ambition to serve. For the ambition to have things done for us he substituted the ambition to do things for others.” (Barclay)
v. “How easy a thing had it been for our Saviour, had he intended in any such primacy in the church as the papists contend for, to have said, Peter shall be the greatest!” (Poole)
Benson: Let him serve his brethren in all the offices of humility, condescension, and kindness. In other words, If any man desire to be the greatest person in my kingdom, let him endeavour to obtain that dignity by preferring others in honour, and by doing them all the good in his power. This he said, to signify that in his kingdom, they who are most humble and modest, and zealous in doing good, shall be acknowledged as the greatest persons.
Do you like to be looked up to?
Do you like to serve others?
Mar 9:36 MKJV And He took a child, and embraced it, and set him in their midst. And He said to them,
Guzik: He took a little child and set him in the midst of them: Jesus draws their attention to His nature by presenting a child as an example. In that day, children were regarded more as property than individuals. It was understood that they were to be seen and not heard. Jesus says that the way we receive people regarded like children shows how we would receive Him (whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me).
i. Children are not threatening. We aren’t afraid of meeting a five-year old in a dark alley. When we have a tough, intimidating presence, we aren’t like Jesus.
ii. Children are not good at deceiving; they don’t do a very good job at fooling their parents. When we are good at hiding ourselves and deceiving others, we aren’t like Jesus.
iii. Look at what the devil wants to do with children (Mar_9:17-27) and look at what Jesus does with children!
d. Because Jesus is last of all and servant of all and like a child, when we honor and receive a child - or someone who is a servant like Jesus - we honor and receive Jesus Himself.
Russell: And set him -- The manner is impressive and solemn; as though he would say, "I want you to take this lesson to heart and ponder it well."
Gill: And he took a child,.... Which was in the house, and which he called unto him, and set by him, as the other evangelists observe:
and when he had taken him in his arms; and embraced him, to show his great regard to humility, and humble persons:
Do you care for children?
Mar 9:37 MKJV Whoever receives one of such children on My name receives Me. And whoever receives Me does not only receives Me, but Him who sent Me.
Russell: Shall receive -- Recognize and show kindness to.
One of such children -- Simple of heart, meek, truthful, free from ambition and rivalry, faithful, trusting, loving, obedient, teachable, indifferent to social distinctions and popular opinions, without guile. The least and humblest of God's children. Such disciples as have this child-like character, the mark of true followers of Jesus.
In my name -- Because he is mine.
Receiveth not me -- Not me alone.
Him that sent me -- They were to receive each other as representatives of Jesus; and more, as representatives of the Father. Showing his disciples that it was not their own greatness that was to be considered, but God's favor.
Gill: in my name; on account that he belongs to Christ, is one of his, bears his image, partakes of his grace, is loved by him, and shall be glorified with, him: such is Christ's great regard to his humble followers, that he takes it all one as if done to himself: but him that sent me; for as showing respect to one of Christ's members, is showing respect to him; so showing respect to Christ, is showing respect to his Father, from whence he came, by whom he was sent, in whose name he acted, and whose work and service he was concerned in.
How do you treat those brethren who don’t quite fit in—are a little slow, a little timid and shy, not quite as knowledgeable?
Mar 9:38 MKJV And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out demons in Your name, and he does not follow us. And we forbade him, because he does not follow us.
Clarke It can scarcely be supposed that a man who knew nothing of Christ, or who was only a common exorcist, could be able to work a miracle in Christ’s name; we may therefore safely imagine that this was either one of John the Baptist’s disciples, who, at his master’s command, had believed in Jesus, or one of the seventy, whom Christ had sent out, Luk_10:1-7, who, after he had fulfilled his commission, had retired from accompanying the other disciples; but as he still held fast his faith in Christ, and walked in good conscience, the influence of his Master still continued with him, so that he could cast out demons as well as the other disciples.
We forbade him - I do not see that we have any right to attribute any other motive to John than that which he himself owns - because he followed not us - because he did not attach himself constantly to thee, as we do, we thought he could not be in a proper spirit.
Guzik: Teacher, we saw someone: It had to frustrate Jesus’ disciples that these other followers of Jesus successfully cast out demons, when they had just failed (Mar_9:18). No wonder John wanted them to stop!
For he who is not against us is on our side: There are many that may be wrong in some aspect of their presentation or teaching, yet they still set forth Jesus in some manner. Let God deal with them. Those who are not against a Biblical Jesus are still for Him, at least in some way.
Russell: One casting out devils -- This one forbidden by John would correspond well with some now holding meetings other than those which we attend.
He followeth not -- We can be workers in the harvest, and yet not followers of the Lord. To be followers of the Lord, we must not only be workers in the harvest, but also must be workers according to his will.
The Lord makes use of various characters as agents in healings, even as Judas was one of the twelve who worked miracles.
We forbad him -- "What authority have you to cast out devils? Jesus did not send you out as one of the twelve, or as one of the seventy. You have no business in this work.
Are you guilty of forbidding someone or not recognizing someone as a Christian because they don’t hold all the same beliefs as your or go to your church?
Mar 9:39 MKJV But Jesus said, Do not forbid him. For there is no one who shall do a work of power in My name who can lightly speak evil of Me.
Clarke Forbid him not - If you meet him again, let him go on quietly in the work in which God owns him. If he were not of God, the demons would not be subject to him, and his work could not prosper. A spirit of bigotry has little countenance from these passages. There are some who are so outrageously wedded to their own creed, and religious system, that they would rather let sinners perish than suffer those who differ from them to become the instruments of their salvation. Even the good that is done they either deny or suspect, because the person does not follow them. This also is vanity and an evil disease.
Russell: Forbid him not -- Each spirit-begotten child of God has a right to speak, to preach, to declare his Heavenly Father's Word and message. None has a right to interfere. We are to keep strictly in mind that the Lord has not given any of us a right to supervise his work nor to forbid another to preach the Gospel.
Conscience is always to be respected; nor is any one who stands faithful to his conscience to be disesteemed therefor by his brethren, even if their consciences view the matter differently. R5501:6
If any person is doing a miracle in the name of Jesus, we are not to interfere. If the Lord wants to stop him, he can stop him. It is not our business to stop him. Whenever we find anyone doing a good work we should be sympathetic to the extent we see they have good hearts, but this does not mean that we should follow with them and leave our special commission of teaching the truth.
In my name -- If they recognize Jesus and the value of his death, if they trust in him for eternal life and seek to walk in his steps, they are our brethren, whether they follow with us or whether they do not.
Can you accept this?
Mar 9:40 MKJV For he who is not against us is for us.
Clarke He that is not against us, is on our part - Or rather, Whosoever is not against You, is for You. ... This reading is more consistent with the context - He followed not us - well, he is not against You; and he who is not against you, in such a work, may be fairly presumed to be on your side.
There is a parallel case to this mentioned in Num_11:26-29, which, for the elucidation of this passage, I will transcribe. “The Spirit rested upon Eldad and Medad, and they prophesied in the camp. And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. And Joshua, the servant of Moses, said, My lord Moses, forbid them! And Moses said unto him, Enviest Thou for My sake? Would God, that all the Lord’s people were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them.” The reader will easily observe that Joshua and John were of the same bigoted spirit; and that Jesus and Moses acted from the spirit of candour and benevolence.
Russell: Is on our part -- A general principle which none should lose sight of. We are to love all and wish God-speed to all loving the Lord and manifesting his Spirit, whether they associate with us or not.
JFB: For he that is not against us is on our part — Two principles of immense importance are here laid down: “First, No one will readily speak evil of Me who has the faith to do a miracle in My name; and second, If such a person cannot be supposed to be against us, ye are to consider him for us.” Let it be carefully observed that our Lord does not say this man should not have “followed them,” nor yet that it was indifferent whether he did or not; but simply teaches how such a person was to be regarded, although he did not - namely, as a reverer of His name and a promoter of His cause.
Benson: And John answered him — As if he had said, But ought we to receive those who follow not us? Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name — Probably this was one of John the Baptist’s disciples, who believed in Jesus, though he did not yet associate with our Lord’s disciples. And we forbade him, because he followeth not us — How often is the same temper found in us! How readily do we also lust to envy! But how ill does that spirit become a disciple, much more a minister, of the benevolent Jesus! St. Paul had learned a better temper, when he rejoiced that Christ was preached, even by those who were his personal enemies. But to confine religion to them that follow us, is a narrowness of spirit which we should avoid and abhor. Jesus said, &c. — Christ here gives us a lovely example of candour and moderation. He was willing to put the best construction on doubtful cases, and to treat as friends those who were not avowed enemies. Perhaps in this instance it was a means of conquering the remainder of prejudice, and perfecting what was wanting in the faith and obedience of these persons. Forbid him not — Neither directly nor indirectly discourage or hinder any man, who brings sinners from the power of Satan to God, because he followeth not us, in opinions, modes of worship, or any thing else which does not affect the essence of religion. For he that is not against us, is for us — Our Lord had formerly said, He that is not with me, is against me: thereby admonishing his hearers that the war between him and Satan admitted of no neutrality, and that those who were indifferent to him now, would finally be treated as enemies. But here, in another view, he uses a very different proverb; directing his followers to judge of men’s characters in the most candid manner; and charitably to hope, that those who did not oppose his cause wished well to it. Upon the whole, we are to be rigorous in judging ourselves, and candid in judging each other.
Mar 9:41 MKJV For whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, truly I say to you, He shall not lose his reward.
Benson: For whosoever shall give you a cup of water, &c. — Having answered John, our Lord resumes the discourse, which was broken off at Mar_9:37. And to show the apostles further, that they had been in the wrong to discourage this person, who must have entertained a great veneration for their Master, and was in a fair way to become his follower, he told them, that the lowest degree of respect which any one showed him, though it were but the giving a cup of cold water to one of his thirsty disciples, would be acceptable to him, and should not lose its reward: whereas, on the other hand, the least discouragement of his servants in their duty, come from what quarter it might, should be severely punished. For he added, Whosoever shall offend: και ος αν σκανδαλιση, whosoever shall cause to stumble one of these little ones — The very least Christian. It is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck — See note on Mat_18:5-6.
Clarke -- The most indigent may exercise the works of mercy and charity; seeing even a cup of cold water, given in the name of Jesus, shall not lose its reward. How astonishing is God’s kindness! It is not the rich merely whom he calls on to be charitable; but even the poor, and the most impoverished of the poor! God gives the power and inclination to be charitable, and then rewards the work which, it may be truly said, God himself hath wrought.
It is the name of Jesus that sanctifies everything, and renders services, in themselves comparatively contemptible, of high worth in the sight of God.
Russell: For whosoever shall give -- Including the worldly man. Whosoever is a big word, and takes in men of all characters. Including the thief on the cross who spoke kindly to the suffering Savior.
Not lose his reward -- In the Millennial age. It would indicate their sympathy, and no doubt would bring them eventually, either in the present or in the coming life, some recognition and reward.
Guzik: Nothing could seem more petty than giving a mere cup of water. But God remembers the heart, not only the gift itself.
Do you appreciate those outside your fellowship who are attempting to serve the Lord?
Do you accept that service rendered to you?
Mar 9:42 MKJV And whoever shall offend one of these little ones who believe in Me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck and he were cast into the sea.
Russell: Whosoever shall offend -- Greek: skandalon; scandalize, stumble, entrap, injure, hurt spiritually, thus subjecting himself to certain losses beyond the present life. Beguile and lead astray--from the truth, or holiness of life.
When leaders of church unite to force people to accept or reject their views by restraining the liberty of speech and the liberty of the press, to prevent the publications of doctrines of the Bible according to other men's views, they have departed from the rational ideal of dealing with the subject.
These little ones -- These that are little or humble minded, meek and loyal of heart,
Guzik: If a small act of kindness towards others done in Jesus’ name will be eternally remembered, so will any cause for stumbling. And the punishment is severe: it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were throne into the sea.
i. In that day, there were two different sizes of millstones. The smaller one was used by a woman to grind a small amount of grain. The larger one was turned by a donkey to grind a larger amount of grain. Jesus refers to the larger kind of millstone here.
ii. Most Christians don’t take this statement of Jesus seriously enough, and don’t appreciate the great danger there is in doing something to cause another to stumble - especially one of these little ones.
Some Christians think nothing of drawing young, weak Christians into their own little squabbles and divisions. They themselves emerge without much damage, but the little ones they brought with them into the squabble often end up shipwrecked.
Are you careful on how you treat or think about your brethren?
Do you think about how your controversies or actions my stumble another?
Mar 9:43 MKJV And if your hand offends you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than to have two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched
Mar 9:44 MKJV where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.
Guzik: If your hand makes you sin, cut it off: Tragically, some have taken these words of Jesus in a sense He did not intend, and have cut off their hands, or mutilated themselves in some other way in a mistaken battle against sin.
i. The problem with taking Jesus’ words literally here is that bodily mutilation does not go far enough in controlling sin. Sin is more a matter of the heart than of any particular limb or organ, and if I cut off my right hand, my left is still ready to sin. If I completely dismember my body, I can still sin in my mind and in my heart.
ii. “This was not a demand for physical self-mutilation, but in the strongest manner possible Jesus speaks of the costliest sacrifices.” (Lane)
b. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having two hands, to go to hell: With this exhortation, Jesus tried to correct a big misunderstanding on the part of the disciples. They thought of the kingdom mainly in terms of reward, not in terms of sacrifice.
i. Essentially, Jesus restates what Mark recorded in 8:34-35: that if we try to save our lives, we will lose them, and to follow Jesus means to pick up our cross and follow Him.
c. To go to hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched: the word hell is an ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew “Valley of Hinnom,” a place outside Jerusalem’s walls desecrated by Molech worship and human sacrifice, thus turned into the dump where rubbish and refuse were burned. The smoldering fires and festering worms made it a graphic and effective picture of the fate of the damned.
Clarke The fire that never shall be quenched - That is, the inextinguishable fire. This clause is wanting in L, three others, the Syriac, and later Persic. Some eminent critics suppose it to be a spurious reading; but the authorities which are for it, are by no means counterbalanced by those which are against it. The same clause in Mar_9:45, is omitted in BCL, seven others, Syriac, later Persic, Coptic, and one Itala. Eternal fire is the expression of Matthew.
Meyer: Let us strive to cut off whatever causes us to stumble. It may be a friendship, a pastime, a pursuit, a course of reading; but there must be no quarter given, no excuse accepted. As soon as the soul dares to make this supreme renunciation, there is an accession of life. Whenever the body loses the use of one member, such as the eye, there is an accession of vigor in others; so, to deny the lower is to open the door to the higher, and, though maimed, to enter into life. Mar_9:44-48 evidently refer to the valley of Hinnom, where fires were kept burning to consume waste.
Russell: Cut if off -- As God will not accept a divided heart, if a part of your powers symbolized by "hand" offend, it would be better to have a single one, than two working in opposition.
It is better -- It would be better to endure the loss of members than lose all in gehenna. The future life is of inestimable value, and it will richly pay you to make any sacrifice to receive and enjoy that life.
Enter into life maimed -- Everlasting life, which is the opposite of the everlasting destruction symbolized by gehenna.
Go into hell -- Greek: gehenna; everlasting destruction. "Valley of Hinnom." This valley lay just outside the city of Jerusalem and served the purpose of sewer and garbage-burner to that city. No living thing was ever permitted to be cast into gehenna nor were the Jews allowed to torture any creature. A figure used by our Lord and the Prophet Isaiah (66:24) to represent the utter destruction of the second death.
Jerusalem was a figure of the kingdom of God, the New Jerusalem; hence its valley was an appropriate symbol of the second death, the utter extermination of all things abominable at the close of the Millennial age. The Jews knew it to refer to the valley outside their city, which was not a place of torment, nor a place where any living thing was cast, but a place for the utter destruction of whatever might be cast into it. R2602:6
Kimchi says that brimstone was thrown in to continue the fires and that the condemnation of the wicked in a parabolic way, is called Gihinnom.
Do you believe that Second Death is real?
Do you understand what Second Death is?
Are you allowing sin in your life?
Mar 9:45 MKJV And if your foot offends you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame than to have two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched
Mar 9:46 MKJV where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.
Mar 9:47 MKJV And if your eye offends you, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes to be cast into hell fire
Mar 9:48 MKJV where their worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.
Russell: And if thine eye -- Anything as precious as a foot or an eye. Any sin we may cherish, be it as precious as a right eye.
There are eyes of the understanding as well as natural eyes. Eye is representative of design or purpose.
A literal eye, hand or foot, could not cause one to stumble in such a way as to affect his eternal welfare. There are eyes of understanding as well as natural eyes. Eyes are also used as representative of design or purpose.
Offend thee -- It is not an uncommon thing for many who have professed to have an eye for the glory of God, to have a much larger eye for business, for literature, for fame, etc.
Pluck it out -- As God will not accept a divided heart, if part of your powers symbolized by "eye" offend, it would be better to have a single one than two working in opposition.
It is better -- Paul echoed the same spirit when he said, "I count all things but loss"; "Let us lay aside every weight--and run." (Phi_3:8; Heb_12:1)
Expositor’s: If the hand be capacity, resource, and possession, the foot is swift perilous impulse, and also fixed habitude, monotonous recurrence, the settled ways of the world.
Cut off hand and foot, and what is left to the mutilated trunk, the ravaged and desolated life? Desire is left; the desire of the eyes. The eyes may not touch the external world; all may now be correct in our actions and intercourse with men. But yet greed, passion, inflamed imagination may desecrate the temple of the soul. The eyes misled Eve when she saw that the fruit was good, and David on his palace roof. Before the eyes of Jesus, Satan spread his third and worst temptation. And our Lord seems to imply that this last sacrifice of the worst because the deepest evil must be made with indignant vehemence; hand and foot must be cut off, but the eye must be cast out, though life be half darkened in the process.
He added that in such cases the choice is between mutilation and the loss of all. It is no longer a question of the full improvement of every faculty, the doubling of all the talents, but a choice between living a life impoverished and half spoiled, and going complete to Gehenna, to the charnel valley where the refuse of Jerusalem was burned in a continual fire, and the worm of corruption never died.
The metaphors of Jesus, however, are not employed to exaggerate His meaning, but only to express it. And what He said is this: The man who cherishes one dear and excusable occasion of offense, who spares himself the keenest spiritual surgery, shall be cast forth with everything that defileth, shall be ejected with the offal of the New Jerusalem.
And it was not addressed to the outcast or the Pharisee, but to His own. They were called to the highest life…Therefore they needed solemn warning, and the counter-pressure of those awful issues known to be dependent on their stern self-discipline. …And since the need of this solemn warning sprang from their rivalry and partisanship, Jesus concludes with an emphatic charge to discipline and correct themselves and to beware of impeding others: to be searching in the closet, and charitable in the church: to have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
Mar 9:49 MKJV For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
Guzik: a. For everyone will be seasoned with fire: Jesus declared His followers will be seasoned with fire, and that every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt, that the salt must retain its flavor, and that it will bring peace among us.
b. What is Jesus talking about? This passage has led to many different interpretations.
i. The first main interpretation is that fire refers to tribulation and suffering; these things accompany the “living sacrifice” (Rom_12:1) of the disciple. Since Old Testament sacrifices always included salt (Lev_2:13), Jesus is saying “just as every sacrifice under the law required salt, so the living sacrifice My followers bring to Me must be seasoned with suffering and tribulations.”
Russell: For -- Connects the first clause of verses 43, 45 and 47 with the first clause of verse 49. We must not fail to notice the intimate connection between the 49th verse and the former verses by the little word "for," which shows the relation of the statements to each other.
Salted with fire -- May we not only submit to, but volunteer to be "salted with fire," then we shall be prepared to offer an acceptable sacrifice "salted with salt." Forsaking all to be a disciple of Christ, we understand to be the salt of fiery trial and separation.
Every sacrifice -- In the type, salt was required to be offered with the sacrifice. "With all thine offerings thou shalt offer salt." (Lev_2:13) If we become careless and neglect the salt, the sacrifice will become offensive unto God.
Salted with salt -- A symbol of fidelity, loyalty and incorruption
Mar 9:50 MKJV Salt is good; but if the salt becomes saltless, with what will you season? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
Clarke Have salt in yourselves - See that ye have at all times the preserving principle of Divine grace in your hearts, and give that proof of it which will satisfy your own minds, and convince or silence the world: live in brotherly kindness and peace with each other: thus shall all men see that you are free from ambition, (see Mar_9:34), and that you are my disciples indeed. That it is possible for the salt to lose its savor, and yet retain its appearance in the most perfect manner, see proved on the note on Mat_5:13.
Matthew 5:13 KJV Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
Salt is good -- Salt signifies a purifying quality, it gives flavor to whatever it is attached and seems to signify a preservative quality that is a detriment to corruption. There are few, if any, words in the Bible that have a wider range of symbolism than the word salt. It is used as a symbol for fidelity, friendship, incorruption, barrenness, perpetual desolation, preservation, etc.
Have lost his saltness -- By clinging to the world, and worldly ways, to anything that is foreign to the word and spirit of Christ. If the Christian should persistently fall way from his righteousness, he is "thenceforth good for nothing." (Mat_5:13) How important that we not only have salt in ourselves, but that we continue to retain its healthful properties.
If you are clinging to the world and worldly ways, thoughts and associations, or to a worldly church organization, then the salt is losing, if it has not already lost, its savor. If we lose the quality of being separated from the world and have the spirit of pride, we would lose our Christianity and cease to be the Lord's representative.
Wherewith will ye season it? -- There is no way to restore saltness to salt once it has gone. So if we lose the holy Spirit, there is no way by which we could be renewed again.
Have salt -- Purity, righteousness.
In yourselves -- If we have not the salt in ourselves, how can we be the salt of the earth? If we are not truly and sincerely righteous, how can we exert upon others the cleansing and healing influences?
Barnes: Have salt in yourselves - Have the preserving, purifying principle always; the principles of denying yourselves, of suppressing pride, ambition, contention, etc., and thus you will be an acceptable offering to God.
Have peace - Avoid contention and quarrelling, struggling for places, honors, and office, and seek each other’s welfare, and religion will be honored and preserved in the world.
Are you the salt of the earth?
