Mark 9 -- All Together In One Boat

One of the greatest revelations of the New Testament occurred here, when Moses & Elijah appeared with Jesus and Jesus' glory was unveiled to Peter, James, and John.  They heard God say, "This is My Son, whom I love.  Listen to Him!"  Yet right after that, several unfortunate things happened.

 

When they returned to the other disciples, they found a great crowd gathered and the teachers of the law picking a verbal fight with the other disciples because they hadn't been able to cast out a demon from a boy.  Jesus stepped in and ordered the demon out.  When the disciples asked why they had been unable to do so, Jesus replied that this type of spirit can only be forced out by prayer.  Since Jesus hadn't prayed before forcing out the spirit, my commentary indicated that they had been careless in their own personal spiritual walk and had neglected prayer and fasting.  That certainly makes me want to improve my prayer life!

 

As they walked to another place, Jesus noticed the disciples were arguing about something, and He later asked what was going on, but they DIDN'T answer Him!  (They had to have known that He knew!  Why hide it?)  They were arguing about who among them was the greatest.  So Jesus told them that whoever wants to be the most important must be last of all and servant of all.

 

Wanting to be the most important sounds like pride is an issue, and if so, it needs to be dealt with.  So perhaps the best way Jesus knew to do so was to tell them to become like a servant, putting yourself last.

 

Finally, I noticed the disciples telling someone "not in their group" to stop casting out demons in Jesus' name.  Jesus' answer was, "Don't stop him ... whoever is not against us is with us."  "He went on to explain the danger of causing others to stumble and therefore STOP serving The Lord.... The disciples did not get along with each other, nor did they get along with other believers!" my commentary said.

 

Jesus knew their hearts.  He knows OUR hearts, too.  It is vitally important in His kingdom today to make sure, first, that we know our own hearts the way He does.  We also need to make certain that we operate on a servant basis as He taught them.  And we also need to remember that their IS danger in causing others to STOP serving The Lord because of our own actions.

 

Father, help all of us to examine these things in our hearts and lives.  Remind us that we all are part of one kingdom, and there is only one King.

 

Your Brother in Christ,

 

Gary Ford