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1. Mark 9:1 actually is the final verse in the previous section. Peter has confessed Jesus as the Messiah. Then Jesus has told them that he is going to die. Then he talks about the exchange between this moment and the coming kingdom. To gain the whole world now means to lose it then. Similarly, to be ashamed of Jesus now is for him to be ashamed of you when he comes with his angels (8:38).
That paragraph concludes then with the shocking statement that some of them would not taste death before the arrival of the kingdom of God with power (9:1). On its face, this statement is confusing. It is similar to the statement in Mark 13:30 that the generation of the disciples would not pass until all the events of Mark 13 had taken place.
Several options have been suggested beyond a sense that Mark did not understand. The versification may suggest that Stephen Langton, who made the chapter divisions in the early 1200s, may have seen the Transfiguration as the fulfillment of the statement. It immediately follows in chapter 9.
Probably the easiest suggestion is that this is a reference either to the resurrection or the Day of Pentecost. The kingdom of God did come in power at the resurrection, and we see it in full swing on the Day of Pentecost.
2. Mark 9:2-8 is a curious event -- The Transfiguration. Jesus, Peter, James, and John are with Jesus on a high mountain. Suddenly, Jesus becomes intensely white. Moses and Elijah appear with him. Peter doesn't seem to know what to say. He suggests maybe putting up three tents.
But he hears a voice from the sky saying that Jesus is God's beloved Son. It is a similar statement to the one that Jesus hears at his baptism in 1:11. But in Mark's presentation, only Jesus hears the pronouncement then.
It is a revelation of Jesus' glory. The presence of Moses and Elijah suggests that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. The pronouncement of Jesus as the Son of God is a declaration that he is in fact the Messiah.
In keeping with the theme of the messianic secret, Jesus commands them not to tell anyone what they have just witnessed until after the resurrection (9:9). They of course don't understand what he means in keeping with the them of the dullness of the disciples.
The event gives them reason to ask about the coming of Elijah, understood to be a prophecy about the coming of the Messiah, based in Malachi 4:5-6. Jesus hints that Elijah has already come. As in Matthew, he seems to refer to John the Baptist (cf. Matt. 11:14).
3. This stretch of Mark, from Peter's confession to the beginning of Passion Week, seems to focus on the cost of discipleship. Jesus will tell his disciples three times that he is going to the cross to die. Three times, they will say or do something that shows they do not understand.
In this chapter, Jesus tells them a second time that he is headed to the cross (9:30-32). They do not understand him, again in keeping with Mark's "disciples don't get it" theme. So what do they do? They debate over who will be the greatest in the coming kingdom (9:33-37). They are thinking earthly kingdom. They are thinking ruling.
Jesus' response is that the one who wants to be first (which was what they wanted) must become last (9:35). That is to say, the person with the highest honor in the kingdom is the one who is a servant of others. He takes a child on his lap and instructs them to receive them in his name (9:36-37). Unlike our world where children are cherished, children were low in status in that world. When Jesus says to receive children in his name, he is saying to watch out for the lowest in status.
At the end of the chapter, Jesus warns against those who might cause any "little one" who believes in him to sin. While it is certainly possible to apply this teaching to literal children, it seems likely that Jesus is thinking of any lowly follower of him. We must not be the cause of other's stumbling. Jesus says it would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around our neck than to face the judgment of causing others to stumble in their faith.
Jesus then speaks of things that might cause us to sin. Speaking hyperbolically, he says it would be better to chop our own hand off than to let it be a source of temptation for us. The same is true of our feet or our hands. If they are a source of temptation, a cause of our sin, then it would be better to cut them off or pluck them out.
The point seems clear enough. Do not put yourself in contexts where you are tempted to sin. Cut those parts of your life off, so that you will remain faithful to Christ. The end result of the other path is to be thrown into Gehenna (9:47). This is the only passage where hell is mentioned in Mark's Gospel.
Jesus alludes to Isaiah 66:24 where the image of a worm not dying and fire not ending seems to refer to the rotting corpses of the dead outside of Jerusalem. In Mark 9, it certainly refers to the eternal consequences of causing others to stumble. Whether it refers to a literal fire is unclear from Mark itself although this seems to be how Matthew interprets it.
The statement about salt seems a little odd in the train of thought. It may very well have been a free-floating saying of Jesus that Mark decided to put here. In Matthew, it is incorporated into the Sermon on the Mount.
It does fit, however. Salt cannot chemically lose its identity, but it can be corrupted. In other words, it can become something other than salt. As the warning about temptations to sin, Jesus warns us not to lose our saltiness and to remain salt. When we are salt in the world, we season everyone's life, and we live at peace with each other (9:50).
4. An interesting event earlier in the chapter is when the disciples are unable to cast out a spirit. The description sounds somewhat like epilepsy, which perhaps at the time would have been seen as having a spirit. The spirit does not speak and -- in the end -- Jesus heals the boy no matter how they might have conceptualized the situation. Jesus meets us where we are.
Jesus is upset with his disciples, another instance of the theme of the disciples lack of faith. Jesus will later indicate that this was a very difficult case, one that required prayer. (Later manuscripts added "and fasting" in 9:29) Interestingly, the father of the boy also struggled with faith. But he gave us the prayer for all of those disciples who struggle with faith -- like the first twelve.
"I believe. Help my unbelief" (9:24).
5. The final piece of the chapter is when John the son of Zebedee discovers someone else casting out a demon in Jesus' name. The incident reminds us of John 10:16 where Jesus says he has other sheep not of this fold. There, he is probably referring to later Gentile believers.
Here, Jesus indicates that those who are not against him are for him. These are actually individuals who are doing good in his name. Whoever gives a cup of water to Jesus' missionaries will find favor with the Lord. They may not be formally following Jesus, but they are following Jesus. And God will treat them as such.
Mark 1:1-13
Mark 1:14-15
Mark 1:16-45
Mark 2
Mark 3
Mark 4:1-34
Mark 4:35-5:43
Mark 6
Mark 7
Mark 8
Mark 11:1-11 (Palm Sunday)
Mark 11:12-25 (Temple Monday)
Mark 11:26-12:44 (Debate Tuesday)
Mark 13 (Temple Prediction)
Mark 14:1-52 (Last Supper)
Mark 14:53-15:47 (Good Friday)
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