The disciples were in a battle—-but what Jesus now says to them implies that they don’t know. There is serious business afoot, which will have serious consequences; and unless they realize this they will be in real danger.
How and why does a battle suddenly make differences of class or race or opinion among soldiers irrelevant?
Read Mark 9:30-37.
What does Jesus teach His disciples about coming events?
Why don’t the disciples (perhaps) want to understand the plain meaning of what Jesus is telling them?
Earlier, Jesus said things to them in code, and they didn’t get it. They have struggled to get their minds round the fact that He often says things that have a clear meaning at the surface level, but what he wants is for them to look under the surface and find a hidden meaning somewhere else. And now he tells them something which we, the readers, realize he means quite literally; and they, not surprisingly, are puzzled because they are looking for a hidden meaning and can’t find it.
What is on the disciples’ minds as they travel to Capernaum that is preventing them from understanding Jesus (vv. 33-34)?
What does this argument tell us about their understanding of Jesus and His mission?
How does Jesus define greatness (vv. 35-37)?
How does His attitude toward children illustrate His point about greatness?
How can our concerns for status get in the way of both understanding Jesus and participating in His mission?
Read Mark 9:38-50.
How does Jesus’ attitude toward the man casting out demons in Jesus’ name differ from the disciples’ attitude?
How is the disciples’ attitude similar to how Christians react today toward other Christians who worship with another local group?
What does Jesus teach about discipleship with His use of these graphic pictures (9:42-48)?
There’s a war. God is at work in our world; so are the forces of evil; and there really is no time or space for self-indulgent disciples that shirk the slightest personal cost , or even resist it on the grounds that all the desires and hopes one finds within one’s heart must be God-given and so must be realized. Gehenna, the word in this passage that some translators render as “hell,” is the valley that runs past the southwest corner of the old city of Jerusalem. In ancient times it was Jerusalem’s place to dump trash, smoldering perpetually; by Jesus’ day it had already become a metaphor for the fate, after death, of those who reject God’s way.
How does Jesus’ final command in verse 50 tie back to the issues raised in verses 33-34 and 38?
In what ways can we better work with other Christians and peacefully share in Jesus’ mission together?
Trent Dean
dean008@gmail.com