Mark 9:50-- Be at Peace

"Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

Two final “salt” sayings are attached to the end of the sermon about giving honor to the lowest.  Jesus speaks of the nature of his followers—that they are to be righteous.  But if the “righteous” have no righteousness, then they cannot be made righteous.  This is telling the disciples not to be like the scribes and Pharisees—if you are so convinced in your righteousness when you are doing evil, you cannot repent.  

Then Jesus tells them what this “salt” or righteousness is—it is peace among each other.  The peace Jesus is speaking of is summarized in what he had just been describing—Seeking to be the one of lowest honor; granting honor to the lowest; openly welcoming “unofficial” disciples; and not causing the lowest to fall away from the faith.  This is peace among the disciples.

Often we consider peace to be an experience of no stress.  Or we might think of it as a lack of conflict or war.  In the Bible, peace (Hebrew: shalom) is a community that supports each other, loves each other and is stronger together than apart.

If we are to be at peace, the peace that Jesus commands, we need to stop rejecting those who don't fit into our idea of who "really" belongs.

Sure, there are people who disrupt our order, but they are there to teach us that Jesus' true followers aren't of only one kind of order.  God establishes a different order in different people.

Sure, there are people who are sinners, but Jesus welcomed sinners so we could learn what is real sin and what just looks like sin, and to give the most severe sinners another chance to be with God.  And another.  And another.

And there are people who are wrong about God. Very wrong.  They can't discuss anything without being so, so wrong.  And sometimes we are those people.  And if we didn't include the "wrong" in our group, we would never learn how wrong we are.

Jesus' peace doesn't look like peace by our definition.  It might look like chaos, like a bunch of people who can't get their stuff together.  But if those very people love each other and support each other and welcome each other despite their differences and sins and disagreements, then Jesus is reigning.

Mark 9:42-49-- Which Side Are You On?

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire.”

The “little ones” Jesus is speaking of here are not children, but the “unofficial” disciples of Jesus.  Jesus is warning the leaders of the “official” group not to set aside the unofficial disciples.  To “cause to stumble” is to do anything to cause another to lose his faith in Jesus.  This could be to say, “You can’t be a disciple of Jesus until you join our group”, as above, or, as Paul, to tempt another to be involved in idolatry or serious sin (I Corinthians 8:9-13).  

The punishment against the one who causes another to lose faith is extremely severe—although it is not described, we know it is worse than drowning in the evil sea.  

Jesus then strongly emphasizes the seriousness of sin.  He repeats the passage three times, with little variety, to emphasize the importance of what he says.  Whatever it is, Jesus says, that causes you to stray from the faith—get rid of it.  Jesus is mentioning body parts, but we have no indication of any early Christian lopping off body parts.  Jesus is certainly speaking of whatever is very close to you.  It could mean specifically people in the church, who are to be separated from the church if they cause others to fall away from the faith (Matthew 18:15-17; I Corinthians 6).  Jesus again says that to fall away is to be punished in hell.   It is interesting that Jesus' strongest language in all the gospels is reserved, not for his enemies, but disciples or believers in God who judge or damage God's weak people.

The final statement Jesus makes is that everyone will be engulfed in fire.  Fire is being used as a symbol of judgement—everyone will be judged for what they do, whether that is a purifying fire, or a fire of condemnation, depends on one’s deeds (John 5: 29; I Corinthians 3:12-13; II Corinthians 5:10).  

Jesus never claims that eternal fire is for pagans or for Jews or for apostates.  I suppose that some of those who belong to those categories might experience eternal death (whatever it is-- Jesus is clearly using metaphors for the specifics).  But damnation is not meant for those who already expected it.

Rather, the full fire of God's heat is reserved for those who claim to be on God's side, but reject, hate, burn in effigy, or literally burn those who act like God's people.  The people of God is not a social group, or clearly marked lines.  There are many who the orthodox claim are outside that are really in.  And there are many who are clearly in all the proper lines, whom God will damn with the greatest damnation.

And the greatest punishment is reserved for those who call God's children heretics, for those who look straight into the eyes of those who are filled with the love of God and call them satanic.  We must all take care, for when we clearly delineate who is out and who is in that we not find ourselves on the wrong side of the line. 

Mark 9:38-41-- Stop, Heretic!

John said to Him, "Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us." But Jesus said, "Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in my name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. For he who is not against us is for us. For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.

Another example of giving honor to those who might receive dishonor is given.  A non-disciple is caught using Jesus’ name to cast out demons.  The disciples want to protect Jesus name from “unofficial” use.  Jesus approves of work that has not been approved of officially, for, he says, that such a one is working with them.  Anyone who uses Jesus’ name appropriately—whether they are in the “right” group or not—is accepted by him.  Jesus says that even the least action of commitment to Jesus—even the smallest action of hospitality in Jesus’ name—would be honored by God on the final day.

I have a Mormon friend who brings joy everywhere she goes.  She has raised a large group of kids, some of whom are adopted, she is full of real curiosity and appreciation about others, and she is generous with whatever she has.  As an evangelical, I was taught that she was part of the "wrong" group, and so she is "damned."  I am also friends with some great atheists who are generous and full of grace to all they know, even Christians who try to teach them of the hellfire that awaits them.

When Jesus teaches about the judgment day, he notes that many of those who are welcomed into his kingdom, as well as those who are surrendered to death are surprised at which side of the line they are on.  This is because Jesus (nor any part of the Bible) says that the final judgment is based on which church we are a part of, or on whether we believe all the right things.  The oft-repeated statements about the judgment is, "we are judged according to our deeds."  What we really believe will be seen in how we act, specifically if we act in accord with God's mercy and compassion to those who need it most.

Membership means nothing.  Jesus doesn't want us if we belong to the "right" group, but we act like people who have never experienced the Spirit of love, peace and gentleness.  And no matter what group another person belongs to, if they display God's mercy, they are our family.

Mark 9:33-37 -- Most Ignored, Most Honored

They came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, "What were you discussing on the way?" But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, "If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me."

The disciples are caught in a conversation that would not be appropriate—especially in light of Jesus’ recent claims that he would be killed.  They were all arguing about who would be Jesus second-in-command—the one among them who would gain the greatest honor beside Jesus himself.  

Jesus does not rebuke them for being presumptuous.  Rather, he just explains what is required to be the highest honored.  He says that to be honored in the future, they must be the least honored in the present.  Both the servant and the child have in common that they receive the lowest honor in contemporary society.  A little child was mostly ignored and not thought of until they were ready to be taught.  This is the same principle Jesus is using when he is saying that he would die as a criminal and then God would give him the great honor of being risen from the dead.  

When Jesus is speaking about “receiving” children, he is speaking about offering hospitality—which in ancient Mediterranean society is only given to those who have privilege or those whom one is offering honor.  Jesus is telling his disciples to give honor and resources to the least of them.

In my church we have a gal who, for the last eight years, has gotten up in the middle of the night two nights a week to wash towels and clothes for the homeless, so that they might have showers and clean clothes for the rest of the week. This isn't a glamorous job, and she wouldn't appreciate the pulpit even if she got it. But her faithfulness and humility is worthy of greater glory than most pastors.

Being a pastor is a tough job, sure.  No one listens to you, and you don't get paid as much as other professionals.  Trying to lead a church is often like trying to direct the ocean with a shop-vac.  A really frustrating job.  But, let's face it, the pastor or elder or church leader, while not a cushy job, is an honored position.  More often than not, pastors complain about having too much to do, too much attention, not enough rest and not enough meditation time.  That's because the pastor is the center of attention in the church world. They get a lot of respect, so everyone wants to hear their opinion.  Their opinion, in the end, doesn't count for much more than anyone elses' but it's always sought.

In Jesus' church, the leader who gets the attention doesn't necessarily get God's attention.  Those who are the least significant, the people who fall between the cracks, the suffering and struggling, the ones who don't really fit into the normal church-- they are Jesus' people.  They are the great ones, the powerful ones, the ones whom Jesus really pays attention to.

In God's world, power belongs to those least equipped to wield it. 

Mark 9:30-32-- How Can We Accept This?

From there they went out and began to go through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know about it. For He was teaching His disciples and telling them, "The Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise three days later." But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him.

Jesus is speaking of his death and resurrection for a second time.  In this prophecy, he proclaimed that he would be “delivered” or placed under the authority of men.  Jesus is right then under no authority except God’s law, but he would be offered to others who would have authority to kill him.  The text mentions that the disciples did not understand him.  In Hebrew idiom to “not understand” often means to refuse to understand.  The disciples here understood his clear words—but they could not accept them.

Jesus speaks plainly that which could not be accepted by any human.  Jesus speaks to the disciples of the death of their hopes.  He says that their commitment was in vain.  That the very one on whom they completely relied and trusted would just be gone.  And he planned it that way.

How can any of us endure the dashing of our hopes?  We all live in some sort of fantasy.  The discples' dreamed that they would go with Jesus to Jerusalem and just take over.  God would be with them and bless their efforts.  Perhaps we have a dream about God blessing our efforts.  A ministry plan we hope will succeed.  A love we want to marry.  A new direction for our life.  They are a fantasy, but perhaps they could be done, with God's help.

What we need to understand is that God has a direction for our lives that we cannot imagine or fantasize about. And our future is not a straightforward line toward our dream, or even a wobbly one.  Our future is our dreams being destroyed, dashed to pieces.  We won't see a single piece of it come to pass.  Sometimes God will tell us ahead of time, and sometimes not.  But one day we will wake up and find out that our dream was ethereal, untouchable. 

Yet God gives us shattered hopes in order to help us live in a brand new world. 

Mark 9:14-29-- Unseen Resources

When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were amazed and began running up to greet Him. And He asked them, "What are you discussing with them?" And one of the crowd answered Him, "Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it." 

And He answered them and said, "O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!"  

They brought the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. And He asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" 

And he said, "From childhood. It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!" 

And Jesus said to him, "'If You can?' All things are possible to him who believes."

 Immediately the boy's father cried out and said, "I do believe; help my unbelief." 

When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and mute spirit, I command you, come out of him and do not enter him again." After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, "He is dead!" But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, "Why could we not drive it out?" And He said to them, "This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer."

This is Mark’s second story that strongly connects faith and healing—the first being the dual story of Jairus and the woman with the hemorrhage (Mark 5).  The boy was being violently attacked by a demon.  The man asked the disciples to cast the demon out (which, supposedly, they have already done—Mark 3:14-15), but they couldn’t do it.  Jesus immediately speaks of the disciples lack of faith.  

In the discussion with the father of the boy, Jesus discovers that the man is hedging his bets—he wasn’t fully sure that the boy would be healed.  Jesus confronts this and makes a general statement—“All things are possible to him who believes.”  This statement would be repeated to the disciples later.   On the surface it would seem to be that any statement of faith would be fulfilled by God.  But Jesus is assuming an object of belief—God’s promises.  So the more complete statement would be, “God will do anything for one who shows faith in his promises.”  This statement is confirmed by almost every healing in the book of Mark.  

The boy’s father replies with remarkable humility that he has faith, but his faith is limited—he requests assistance to fill out the rest of his faith.  

Whether this statement was acceptable to Jesus or not, we never find out, for Jesus heals the boy in a hurry before the crowds arrived.  The boy had another seizure and he seemed dead, but again Jesus rose him up, and he was not dead.  This makes for another possible “rising from the dead” in Mark.  

The disciples are also asking how to fill out their faith and heal the boy.  Jesus replies that their faith would be strengthened by prayer.  Prayer and faith are connected in other places in the gospels (Mark 14; Luke 18:1-8)

The faith that Jesus confirms is not speaking the doctrinally correct words, or belonging to the right church, or expressing our love of Jesus with enough conviction.  Faith is not belief, not an intellectual assent to a spiritual truth.

Faith is resting in the palm of God.  It is being at peace with a God-directed way of life.  It is speaking what God assures us can be spoken.  It is reliance on the resources of God which cannot be seen.  Faith is stepping on the unseen bridge which Jesus assures us is there.

Faith doesn't just change our minds, it changes our actions.  Faith doesn't make us more religious, but more loving.  Faith gives us access to a whole realm of resources we can use to help others that most people can't see.  Faith isn't the backlog of the weak, but the support of the stronger.  Faith is the assurance that God is at your back, because you rely on Him.

Mark 9:10-13- Opening the Bible

They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant. They asked Him, saying, "Why is it that the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" And He said to them, "Elijah does first come and restore all things. And yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him."

The disciples and Jesus were coming down from the mountain, when Jesus told them to not speak of the transfiguration until the Son of Man had been raised from the dead.  Again, the disciples did not understand that Jesus meant a specific raising from the dead three days after he would be killed—they thought he meant the resurrection at the end of the age.  Thus, they thought he intended for them never to tell anyone until the judgement day.  

Then the disciples refer to Malachi 4:1-6 which speak of the final day and of the fact that Elijah would come first.  Having just seen Elijah, they wondered why he did not come, if the judgement day is so near.  Jesus affirmed the prophecy of Malachi.  

Then he offers them another mystery—if the judgement day is so near, why do the Scriptures say that the Christ would suffer so much?  Isn’t that supposed to happen?  The disciples do not understand this.  

Then Jesus mentions that the Elijah that “is to come” has already come, and that he suffered, just as the Son of Man is to suffer as well.  Here we have our first hint that Jesus is speaking of John the Baptist as the fulfillment of Elijah’s coming.  Since John wore the garb of Elijah, and suffered at the hand of a Jewish king like Elijah, and called for repentance like Elijah, the comparison seems apt.

Here, the disciples listen to what the Father had just told them, and they pay attention to the Son.  So they ask him questions about the Scriptures and pay attention to his answers. But Jesus' answers are somewhat mystifying and don't make a lot of sense.  They require thought and come at the Scriptures from a new direction.

Jesus is the one teacher, the only one to truly interpret the Scriptures.  We hear the standard theories about the Bible and we can know all the basic answers.  But we do not truly understand the Scriptures until Jesus has laid them out for us.  The Scriptures are contradictory, and confusing.  Then Jesus speaks, and we are even more confused because our initial interpretation is destroyed.  Then, when we consider his words carefully and think again what the Scriptures mean, it all becomes clear.

Mark 9:1-9- Listen To Him

And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power."  Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah." For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified.  Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is My beloved Son, listen to Him!" All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.

Chapter 9 begins with the end of the last speech Jesus made about the cross.  At the end of the speech, Jesus was speaking about his disciples and he standing before the Father in heaven.  Mark then breaks the speech with the statement “Jesus was saying to them” and gives a saying which supposedly summarizes a longer speech.  The promise is very stark to us who know that the disciples and apostles are long since dead, and Jesus has not come in power.  However, given the placement of this saying so connected with the following story, it seems that the chapter-divider of the Bible may have not made a mistake (for a change).  Jesus was probably referring to this incident in the last remark—so I have divided it at the chapter.  

This incident is named “the transfiguration” and it has some similarities to Moses meeting with Yahweh on Mt. Sinai.  In that story, Moses was able to see Yahweh as he truly is and came down the mountain with his face shining (Exodus 34).  Jesus is also shining—or at least his garments.  In this way, Jesus is displayed before them in glory, as he would be before the Father—which he was just talking about in chapter 8.  Elijah is also meeting with Jesus and Moses on the mount, which makes sense, since he has been central to the story from the beginning of Mark.  

Peter’s statement seems innocent enough.  But he was speaking about establishing places of worship, like the tabernacle in the wilderness, one for each of them.  The Father then rebukes Peter, commanding him to listen to Jesus, his Son.  Either he was telling Peter to not do anything rash without hearing a command from Jesus, or, more likely, he is saying that Moses and Elijah is not to be listened to on the same level as the Son.  The tabernacle in the wilderness is the place where Moses would go to listen to God’s command.

"The kingdom is come with power" in this incident not because of the shiny robes or because of Moses and Elijah, but because the Father confirms the preeminence of the Son by commanding the disciples to listen to him.

There are those rare times when we obtain a "mountain-top" experience with God.  We get emotional and feel an important experience and really feel close to God.  We are at some kind of mystical pinnacle.  When we have these experiences, it is unique to us, and others may not understand it, if we tried to tell them.

When this happens, the temptation is to try to take control of it, just like Peter does here.  To guide it, to have it meet our needs or expectations, to direct the outcome of it.  What we need to remember is that an experience with God must be directed by God or else it won't have any benefit to us at all.  God is the major player, we are the minor players.  God is the Lover, we are the Beloved.  We must allow God to direct our experiences with Him, or else the experience won't have as much benefit to us.

It is interesting that the greatest benefit the three apostles obtain from this experience is the importance of listening to the Son.  The Father directs their attention back to the Son, to obeying him.  When we have a true experience with God, He will always direct us to pay attention to the Son, to listen to Him, to do what He says.