Mark · chapter 9 of 16
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Mark 9 tells of Jesus' transfiguration before Peter, James and John, with Moses and Elijah and the Father's voice. Coming down the mountain, Jesus frees a boy with a mute spirit whose father asks for help with his unbelief. Jesus then announces his death again and teaches about humility, tolerance and the seriousness of sin.
Six days after Peter's confession and the announcement of the cross, Mark 9 gives a vision of Jesus' glory that sustains the disciples on the road. The rest of the chapter shows what following him costs: imperfect faith, the ambition to be greatest and the need to serve the little ones.
Jesus takes Peter, James and John up a high mountain. There his appearance changes: his clothes become dazzling white, and Elijah and Moses appear talking with him. Peter suggests building three shelters, not knowing what to say because they are terrified. A cloud overshadows them and a voice says that Jesus is the beloved Son and that they should listen to him. Suddenly they see only Jesus. On the way down he orders them to tell no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead, and they discuss what that means. Jesus clarifies that Elijah has already come, referring to John the Baptist.
Below, a crowd surrounds the other disciples, who have been unable to cast out a mute spirit from a boy. The father describes how the spirit throws him into fire and water. He asks Jesus to help if he can; Jesus replies that all things are possible for one who believes. The father cries out that he believes and asks for help with his unbelief. Jesus rebukes the spirit, which comes out with convulsions, and lifts the boy up. Alone with the disciples, he explains that this kind comes out only by prayer.
Through Galilee, Jesus announces a second time that he will be delivered up, killed and rise, but they do not understand. In Capernaum he finds that they had been arguing about who was greatest; he takes a child and teaches that whoever wants to be first must be servant of all, and that whoever receives such a child receives him. John tells him they saw someone casting out demons in his name and stopped him; Jesus says not to forbid him, for whoever is not against them is for them. He warns about causing little ones to stumble, about cutting off what causes sin, about Gehenna and about salt.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
From the cloud, the Father says that Jesus is his beloved Son and commands them to listen to him. Peter had proposed staying on the mountain with Moses and Elijah, but God points to Jesus as the voice to follow.
Jesus says all things are possible for one who believes, and the boy's father answers by asking help for his unbelief. It is an honest prayer showing that one can believe and doubt at once, and bring both to Jesus.
Jesus teaches the twelve that whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all. He reverses the idea of greatness they had been arguing about on the road.
Jesus promises that whoever gives a cup of water to his disciples because they belong to Christ will not lose his reward. Small acts of kindness toward his people do not go unnoticed by God.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Peter, James and John. — Mark 9:2
Answer: Elijah and Moses. — Mark 9:4
Answer: That Jesus is the beloved Son and that they should listen to him. — Mark 9:7
Answer: I believe; help my unbelief. — Mark 9:24
Answer: Jesus said this kind can come out only by prayer. — Mark 9:28-29
Answer: That the first must be last and servant of all, and that whoever receives such a child receives him. — Mark 9:35-37
Mark 9 combines the summit and the valley: glory on the mountain and struggle below. In a small group you can talk about how to remember what God showed us in moments of clarity when hard times come. Jesus is the same in the valley.
The father's prayer, I believe; help my unbelief, is a way of praying within everyone's reach: you do not need perfect faith to come to Jesus. And the argument about who is greatest invites us to ask what role we seek in the church, that of serving or that of being recognized.
Mark 9 closes with serious warnings about sin and with the invitation to be salt and to live at peace with one another. In Mark 10 Jesus teaches about marriage, children and riches, and again announces his road to Jerusalem.
Moses represents the law and Elijah the prophets. Their presence with Jesus suggests that all of Israel's Scripture points to him. The Father, however, commands them to listen to Jesus, which places him above both.
It is not a formula for getting anything, but a statement about God's power at work in the one who trusts Jesus. The father does not have perfect faith, but he brings it to Jesus, and Jesus responds. The faith that counts is the one that rests on him, even when weak.
It is hyperbole meant to teach that sin must be treated with total seriousness, and that we should turn from what makes us fall even when it costs a great deal. No serious interpreter takes it as literal mutilation; Jesus says it to stress that entering life is worth more than anything one clings to.