Mark 9
v.1
And he said to them, āI tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.ā
It seems most natural to interpret this promise in Matthew 16:28; Mark 9:1; and Luke 9:27) as a reference to the transfiguration, which āsomeā of the disciples would witness only six days later, exactly as Jesus predicted. In each Gospel, the very next passage after this promise from Jesus is the transfiguration, which shows Jesus in all His glory which will be seen again in the Kingdom of God. The contextual links make it very likely that this is the proper interpretation.
v.19
āO unbelieving generation,ā Jesus replied, āhow long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me.ā
Itās chilling for us to realize that if we do not live in faith of God, we can be lumped together with false teachers who reject Jesus. God does invite us into His work, but not because He needs our own skill or power. We need faith in His power and direction, and we need to be in prayer (Mark 9:29). An effective prayer life reminds us how much we need Him, acknowledges His work around us, and keeps us open to His guidance.
See more in Maclaren on Mark 9 19 Mark9 v 19.
v.23
ā āIf you can?ā ā said Jesus. āEverything is possible for him who believes.ā
Weak faith is faith. The tremulous hand does touch. The cord may be slender as a spiderās web that binds a heart to Jesus, but it does bind. The poor woman in the other miracle who put out her wasted finger-tip, coming behind Him in the crowd, and stealthily touching the hem of His garment, though it was only the end of her finger-nail that was laid on the robe, carried away with her the blessing. And so the feeblest faith joins the soul, in the measure of its strength, to Jesus Christ.
https://biblehub.com/commentaries/mark/9-24.htm research
v.24
Immediately the boyās father cried out and was saying, āI do believe; help my unbelief.
The man felt the implied rebuke in the Saviourās 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.
Give me strength and grace to put āentireā 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.
v.29
He replied, āThis kind can come out only by prayer and fasting.ā
v.30-31
They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want to anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, āThe Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.ā
Jesus withheld certain teachings from the crowd for his disciples. He knows what revelation we are capable of stewarding. As we are held accountable to āconsider carefully how we listenā, Jesus also considers carefully what he says to us.
v.35
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, āIf anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.ā
v.40
for whoever is not against us is for us.
This verse may be the clearest objection to competitively ambitious ministries striving to claim enough soil to show off the most fruit.
Casting out demons definitely demonstrated that the man was not against Jesus and āwhoever is not against us is for us.ā How does this relate to Mt 12:30, āhe who is not with me is against meā? Jesus did not want to force people quickly into a decision about himself. He desired to give them plenty of time to decide, during which the principle in Mk 9:40 applies. But when the critical moment for decision arrives, then the principle laid down in Mt 12:30 takes over.
There is no formal contradiction between this verse, āHe who is not with me is against me,ā and Mark 9:40, āWhoever is not against us is for usā (or, as Lk 9:50 has it, āWhoever is not against you is for youā). In a situation where no neutrality is possible, people must be either on one side or on the other, so that those who are not for are against, and those who are not against are for. But there is difference in emphasis between the two ways of expressing this. The former saying comes in a context where Jesus is speaking of the conflict between the kingdom of God and the forces of evil. This is a conflict in which no one should be neutral. Since Jesus is the divinely appointed agent for leading the battle against the forces of evil, those who wish to see the triumph of Godās cause must follow him. If they do not, then whatever they may think themselves, they are effectively on the enemyās side. As for the added words about gathering and scattering, gathering is the work of God, while scattering is the work of Satan. God is the God of peace; Satan is the author of strifeā¦ The latter saying is related to the same subject, although it comes in the course of a narrative, as the punch line in what is sometimes called a āpronouncement story.ā The story is told, that is to say, for the sake of the pronouncement to which it leads up. Here, then, we have such a punch line. John, one of the two āsons of thunderā (as Jesus called him and his brother James because of their stormy temperament), tells Jesus that he and his companions saw someone casting out demons in Jesusā name, āand we told him to stop, because he was not one of usā (Mk 9:38). In other words, he was not one of the regularly recognized disciples of Jesus. But he was showing clearly which side he was on in the spiritual warfare; moreover, he was acknowledging the authority of Jesus, because it was in his name that he was casting out demons. This was a far cry from the spirit that ascribed Jesusā demon-expelling power to the aid of Beelzebul. By his words and actions he was showing himself to be on Jesusā side.
v.49
Everyone will be salted with fire.
Brethren, for a man by his own unaided effort, however powerful, continuous, and wisely directed it may be, to cleanse himself utterly from his iniquity, is as hopeless as it would be for him to sit down with a hammer and a chisel and try by mechanical means to get all the iron out of a piece of ironstone. The union is chemical, not mechanical. And so hammers and chisels will only get a very little of the metal out. The one solvent is fire.
v.50
āSalt is good, but if it loses it saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be a peace with each other.ā
Salt keeps dead things dead and enhances what is living.
Jesusā last phrase brings us back around to Mark 9:33ā35 when the disciples are arguing about who is greatest. While they are worried about their position in Jesusā kingdom, He is concerned with the church reaching new believers (Mark 9:36ā37, 39ā40) and the personal sacrifices required for obedience (Mark 9:42ā47). Matthew and Luke add that the un-salty will be thrown out and trampled on, which is basically what the disciples wanted to do to the man who was exorcising demons in Jesusā name (Mark 9:38). Jesus explains that position and authority are not necessarily markers of how closely we follow Him. The ability to bring out the best in others and bring peace is a much better test.
Jesus was warning his disciples not to lose that characteristic in them that brought life to the world and prevented its decay, that is, not lose their spirit of devotion and self-sacrifice (cf. v.49) to Jesus Christ and the Gospel. Jesusā disciples could only be at peace with one another where that kind of devotion instead of self-interest prevailed (cf. v.34).
The second half [be at peace with each other] interprets the first and states that when salt characterizes Godās people, they will remain āat peace,ā unlike the disciples who were just debating the crowds (9:14) and especially in conflict with each other (9:33, 38).