Mark 9:42-50, Temptations to Sin

GOSPEL MEDITATION #205

Mark 9:42-50

Temptations to Sin

  1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. The identity of “the little ones” is key: perhaps the child in the question of who is the greatest (see Mark 935-37) or maybe the unknown exorcist in 38-41, both and more. My idea is “more.”
  8. The millstone for offenders, above, tie the mill stone around their own neck, and this per the obvious Greek grammar.
  9. Cutting off a hand or a foot – if such cause one to sin. Gouging out an eye if such causes one to sin – we would all be blind and crippled.
  10. Jesus’ use of hyperbole, or exaggeration, to make a dramatic point is characteristic of His method of teaching. If Christians throughout the ages were to take such statements literally, then what a horrid state of affairs. And this is a point Jesus makes.
  11. To the people of Jesus day, to be without a hand, a foot, or an eye would render them unable, mostly and usually, to make a living, care for a family, and even survive. (Did Muhammad take this passage literally?)
  12. Undying worms, unquenchable fire – idioms that described Ghenna, a large garbage dump just outside the walls of Jerusalem, that was kept burning, always, and had nevertheless organisms that consumed rotten matter. This was not a place to be and meant that a person was without usefulness.
  13. It must be noted that verses 44 and 46, identical to verse 48, do not have the best manuscript support.
  14. Salt, and are we are the salt of the earth, (see Matthew 5:13) for salt is necessary to life, and it would be lost by striving for power, position, and scandalizing each other. This is Jesus’ teaching for those who follow Him.

 

Mark 9:38-41, Gospel Meditation # 204 Anyone Not Against Us is For Us

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 204

Mark 9:38-41

Anyone Not Against Us is For Us

  1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. John, the youngest of the disciples, reports to Jesus that “we” had seen someone casting demons out of some person who did so “in the name of Jesus.”
  8. Motivated by some impulse, sectarian spirit, clannish prejudice, jealousy, who knows, and they tried to stop it, apparently unsuccessfully, and complained to Jesus.
  9. It is assumed that the unknown person was able to do the “mighty work”; but was not amongst the immediate twelve.
  10. Could it be that the unknown person had seen Jesus cast out demons and had been with the large groups who had heard Jesus preach and teach? It is highly likely.
  11. This unknown disciple was not, like the sons of Sceva, doing paganistic exorcism. (see Acts 19:11-20). Apparently, he was emulating Jesus.
  12. Jesus is sharp and clear: “do not stop him.” It is strong enough to end the conversation.
  13. Jesus recognized the man was going a mighty work and it met the criteria of authenticity. The trouble is that the man was not a part of the Twelve, but he was for them nevertheless.
  14. Imagine if the disciples had not been taught such a lesson. Division, factioning, bias, jealousy, competition — all these and more might have dominated the early church. At least it took some couple of centuries for all this to emerge.
  15. Giving a “cup of water” – an idiom meaning the work of a servant – characterized or described what the man we doing.
  16. “A reward” – the unknown disciple would enjoy His presence in heaven as would the Twelve. There is no greater thing than to enjoy the presence of God for eternity.

 

Gospel Meditation # 203 Mark 9:30-37, Jesus Again Foretells His Death, Resurrection & Who is the Greatest

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 203

Mark 9:30-37

Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection &

Who is the Greatest

  1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. Now for a second time Jesus tells His followers that He will be killed and for a second time they did not understand. And why they were afraid to ask Jesus about it, we can only guess.
  8. The apostles were men of their time with the usual expectations of who the Messiah would be and what He would do. It would be much later that they would get it.
  9. Clues were all through the Hebrew Scripture and perhaps the best of it all are found in Genesis 22:1-14, Psalm 22, and Isaiah 53. The earliest hint is in Genesis 3:15.
  10. The writer of Hebrews (9:22) put it succinctly: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
  11. Since sin “brings forth death’ nothing is of greater importance. (see James 1:15)
  12. The “will to power” seems to continually ensnare us all. At the core of dangerous and cultic human affairs, including that which is religious and political and economic, is the lust for power. The apostles were not immune either.
  13. The religious leaders of Judaism saw Jesus as a threat to their power. The values of the kingdom of God run exactly counter to all else. The first is last, and even then the first are servants only.
  14. To receive a child was not highly regarded in that era, but was lowly work. This is what we are called to.

Gospel Meditation # 202 Mark 9:14-29 Healing of a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

GOSPEL MEDITATION # 202

Healing of a Boy with an Unclean Spirit

Mark 9:14-29

  1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. Jesus, Peter, James, and John descend the mountain and find the nine apostles arguing with religious leaders. Perhaps the issue was the debacle of a failed exorcism.
  8. Jesus asks a questions and learns of the trouble. (Jesus asks other questions in this story. A clue to his humanness?)
  9. The boy seems to be an epileptic; the father, and Jesus as well, believe the physical problems have a demonic root cause.
  10. The unclean spirit appears to be attempting to kill the boy.
  11. When the boy is brought to Jesus, there is another terrible episode with the boy, and that perhaps convinces Jesus the problem really is a demonic one.
  12. The father is not sure he has enough faith for there to be a cure. He pleads with Jesus that whatever faith he has is enough. Jesus has compassion upon him.
  13. The crowd that had witnessed the argument between the nine and the scribes rushed over to the main event, which prompts Jesus to act. He commands the unclean spirit to come out. A spiritual battle takes place, but the demon leaves. The boy is so exhausted it seems he is dead.
  14. Jesus refreshes the boy and he is is restored to his family.
  15. The disciples are wondering why they were not able to help. Jesus says such a demon cannot be driven out except by prayer, a direct appeal to God and not by any magical ministrations. (Fasting in some manuscripts is absent in the oldest and best.)

 

Gospel Meditation # 201 The Transfiguration Mark 9:2-13

AGOSPEL MEDITATION # 201

The Transfiguration

Mark 9:2-13

  1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. Peter, James, and John, the ‘inner three’ accompany Jesus on the mountain. (Mt Hermon?) (see Exodus 24:15-18)
  8. Suddenly Moses and Elijah are present, and present in body not a ghostly or soulish presence. Here resurrected, come from the presence of God, indicated by the whiteness and the overshadowing cloud, Moses likely representing the Law and Elijah likely representing all of that which is prophetic, they are speaking with Jesus.
  9. Peter is so clear about the real and actual presence that he wants to provide shelter for the three.
  10. “This is my beloved Son, listen to him” is the central message and reason for the transfiguration. (see Mark 1:9-11) The words are for the three apostles as well as for Jesus Himself; they are words of affirmation and confirmation.
  11. Once the words from the Father are heard, the glory cloud as well as Moses and Elijah are suddenly gone.
  12. It is probable that the ‘inner three’ needed the experience given the recent announcement of the killing of Jesus by the religious leaders. The ‘three’ were vulnerable and given to error as we see in many places in Scripture. But they would never forget what happened on the mountain.
  13. Typical of Jesus, He did His best to keep the three from broadcasting what they now knew.
  14. They did as told, yet wondered about the incredible truth of resurrection they had just witnessed. Obviously, Moses and Elijah had been raised form the dead.
  15. The question about Elijah indicates the three did not yet fully understand so Jesus patiently explains more to them. It is not surprising such would be most difficult to grasp.