Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: MARK #15 - 9:30-50)
J. 9:30-32 THIRD TIME JESUS FORETELLS DEATH AND RESURRECTION
a. 9:30 JESUS PRIVATELY TAKES LEAVE
Ka' 'KEIthen e-xelTHONtes, e-poREUon-to diA tes Ga-liLAIas;
And they went forth from there, andpassed through :Galilee;
kai ouk Ethe-len HIna tis gnoi.
and he would not that any one know it.
b. 9:31 HE AGAIN FORETELLS HIS DEATH AND RESURRECTION
eDIda-sken gar tous ma-theTAS auTOU, kai Ele-gen auTOIS [HOti] Ho huiOS
For he taught his :disciples, and said to them [that] The Son
tou anTHROpou pa-raDIdo-tai [3860]eis CHEIras anTHROpon kai a-pok-teNOUsin [615]auTON;
of :man is delivered up into men's hands and they shall kill him;
kai a-pok-tanTHEIS meTA treis heMEras a-naSTEse-tai [450].
and when killed shall after three days rise again.
c. 932 But they understood not the saying, and were afraid to ask him.
hoi de egNOoun [50]to 'REma [4487], kai e-phoBOUNto auTON e-pe-roTEsai.
K. 9:33-50 LESSONS ON A PROPER CHRISTIAN SPIRIT
1. 9:33-37 LESSONS ON HUMILITY
a. 9:33 JESUS QUESTIONS HIS DISCIPLES
Kai ELthon eis Ka-phar-naOUM: kai en te oiKIa geNOme-nos
And they came to Capernaum: and when he was in the house
e-peROta [1905] auTOUS, Ti en te hoDO di-e-loGIzes-the [1260]?
he asked them, What were you reasoning on the way?
b. 9:34 But they were silent: for they had disputed one with another on the way, who wasthe greater.
hoi de e-siOpon [4623]: pros alLElous gar dieLECHthe-san [1256] en tehoDO, tis MEIzon [3187].
c. 9:35 JESUS ADDRESSES THEIR UNSPOKEN QUESTION
kai kaTHIsas, ePHOne-sen tous DOde-ka, kai LEgei auTOIS,
And he sat down, andcalled the twelve, and says to them,
EI tis THElei PROtos EInai, EStai PANton EScha-tos, kai PANton diAko-nos [1249].
If any would be first, he shall be last of all, and minister of all.
d. 9:36-37 THE ANSWER BOUND UP IN A CHILD
kai laBON paiDIon, Este-sen auTO en MEso auTON: kai e-nag-ka-liSAme-nos [1723] auTO, EIpen auTOIS,
And he took a little child, andset himin the midst: and taking it in his arms, he said to them,
Hos an hen ton toiOUton paiDIon DExe-tai ePI to oNOmaTI mou, eME DEche-tai:
37Whoever receives one of such little :children in my :name, receives me:
kai hos an eME DEche-tai, ouk eME DEche-tai, alLA ton a-poSTEIlanTA me.
and whoever receives me, receives not me, but him that sent me.
2. 9:38-50 LESSONS ON SECTARIANISM AND OFFENSES
a. 9:38 JOHN'S CHALLENGE
Ephe auTO ho IoAnes, DiDAska-le, EIdaMEN ti-na en to oNOmaTI sou ekBALlon-ta [1544] daiMOni-a,
:John said to him, Teacher, we saw one casting out demons in your :name,
kai e-koLUo-men [2927] auTON, HOti ouk e-koLOUthei heMIN.
and we were hindering him, because he followed not us.
b. 9:39 JESUS' CORRECTION
ho de IeSOUS EIpen, Me koLUe-te auTON:
But :Jesus said, Hinder him not:
ouDEIS GAR es-tin hos poiEsei DUna-min ePI to oNOmaTI mou,
for thereis no onewho shall do a mighty work in my :name,
kai duNEse-tai taCHU ka-ko-loGE-SAI [2551] me.
and be able quickly to speak evil of me.
c. 9:40 For who is not against us is for us.
hos gar ouk EStin kath' heMON huPER huMON es-tin.
d. 9:41 WHAT DONE FOR DISCIPLES - AS IF DONE FOR CHRIST!
hos gar an poTIse [4222] huMAS poTEri-on [4221] HUda-tos,
For whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink,
en oNOma-ti HOti ChrisTOU es-te, aMEN LEgo huMIN, HOti ou me a-poLEse [622] ton misTHON auTOU.
because in name you are Christ's, Amen I say unto you, that he shall in nowise lose his :reward.
e. 9:42 SERIOUSNESS OF STUMBLING LITTLE ONES
kai hos an skan-daLIse [4624] HEna ton miKRON TOUton ton pi-steuONton,
And whoever should stumble one of these :little ones that believe,
kaLON es-tin auTO MALlon ei peRIkei-tai MUlos [3037] o-niKOS [3457] peRI ton TRAche-lon [5137] auTOU,
better for him if a great millstone hang about his :neck,
kai BEble-tai [906] eis ten THAlas-san.
and he were cast into the sea.
f. 9:43 A SERIOUS SAFETY STEP
kai eAN skan-daLIse se he CHEIR sou, aPOko-pson [609] auTEN:
And if your :hand cause you to stumble, cut if off:
kaLON esTIN se kulLON [2948] ei-selTHEIN eis ten zo-EN, e tas DUo CHEIras
it is good for you to enter into the life maimed, rather than having two :hands
Echon-ta a-pelTHEIN eis ten GEen-nan [1067], eis to pur to ASbe-ston [762].
to go into :geenna, into the unquenchable :fire.
g. 9:45 AN ADDITION TO THE ABOVE
kai eAN ho POUS sou skan-daLIze se, aPOko-pson auTON:
And if your :foot cause you to stumble, cut it off:
kaLON esTIN se ei-selTHEIN eis ten zo-EN choLON [5560],
it is good for you to enter into the life halt,
etous DUo POdas Echon-ta bleTHEnai eis ten GEen-nan.
rather than having two :feet to be cast into :geenna.
h. 9:47-48 A THIRD ADDITION
kai eAN ho oph-thalMOS sou skan-daLIze se, EKba-le auTON:
And if your :eye cause you to stumble, cast it out:
kaLON se esTIN moNOPHthal-mon [3442] ei-selTHEIN eis ten ba-siLEIan tou TheOU,
it is good for you to enter into the kingdom of :God with one eye,
eDUo oph-thalMOUS Echon-ta bleTHEnai eis GEen-nan;
rather than having two eyes to be cast into geenna;
HOpou ho SKOlex [4663] auTON ou te-leuTA [5053], kai to pur ou SBENnu-tai [4570].
48 where their :worm dies not, and the fire is not quenched.
i. 9:49 For every one shall be salted with fire. pas gar puRI ha-lisTHEse-tai [233].
j. 9:50a :Salt is good: but if the salt become saltless, how will you season it?
kaLON to HAlas [217]: eAN de to HAlas Ana-lon GEnetai, en TIni auTO arTUse-te?
k. 9:50b Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace one with another.
Eche-te en he-auTOIS HAla, kai ei-reNEUe-te [1574]en alLElois.
NOTE: 9:33-37 - We are snaredby the words of our mouth according to Solomon in the Proverbs. What the disciples discussed on the way - Jesuswas aware of! Godis aware of our words! He is aware of our thoughts also; but if we are discreet and do not expressour thoughts, it is better. I reasoned with a sailor during World War II days concerning taking the Lord's Name in vain, and constantly using foul language. His response: “But if I think it, and don't express it, then I'd be a hypocrite!” “No,” I responded, “because then you'd have regard for the earsof others, for they then wouldn't have to listen to what offends them.” He confessed that he had not thought of that.
In the context of this subsection, the disciples were ashamed to confess to Jesus their words concerning who among the 12 was the greatest. In response to their silence, Jesus used an object lesson of a little child. If we look to helping believers less mature than ourselves, Jesus counts it as if we did it unto Him! And then He points out that what is done to Him as God's Son, our Heavenly Father counts it as if done to Him! How often do we consider that if we seek God's thinking on our pointless conversations, He today can still spell out for us the same wisdom by the Spirit - that He - Jesus - gave His chosen disciples 2000 years ago.
9:38-50 - I like this subdivision. Jesus pays little attention to our different backgrounds! Denominational differences mean little to Him! We often hinder possible fellowship between different churches - just as John and his friends strove to stop a believer from another group from using Jesus' Name in casting out demons. Jesus didn'tsee it this way at all, and put an immediate stop to such divisions. Remember, John's nick-name with his brother was - Son of Thunder! He wasn't gentle, meek and mild! But we should be open, tolerant and receptive to others not of our background. As a new believers and members of the Sailors, Soldiers and Airman's Christian Fellowship during World War II, and then of the Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship - we were so few in number in comparison with all service men and University students; that we paid little if no attention to our religious background differences. We were just glad to have fellowship with any fellow believers!
Then Jesus goes on to warn against being an offense to new and young believers. His suggested moves to avoid being an offense are drastic! The way He brings Gehenna into this, is equally serious. Think of sex sins today against children! Is this truly our Savior speaking? Indeed it is. Does He know what He's talking about? His Words are really the Father's words - according to His own testimony! J.A.W.