Mark 10:13-16 - Like a child

This is one of the most well-known incidents in Jesus' life. The people were bringing little children to Jesus to be blessed, but the disciples tried to stop them. We need to beware of trying to stop Jesus blessing people, something the church has been all to good at sometimes.

The kingdom of God is not complicated. The simple fact is that God loves us and if only we will come to Him with a simple openness and willingness to trust and receive, then we will discover the depths and truth of this. But when we complicate things, when we try to exalt our own importance we exclude ourselves from the kingdom. 

Mark 10:1-12 - Divorce

Again crowds followed Jesus, and again He taught them. Teaching was central to Jesus' ministry.

Pharisees came and tested Jesus. They were not interested in learning the truth, only in trying to trap Him in some way. This time they did this by asking Him about divorce. They maybe hoped that Jesus would come out strongly against divorce (which in fact He did) and thus incur the wrath of Herod and suffer the same fate as John the Baptist.

As He often did, Jesus responded by asking them what Moses said. Now the Pharisees prided themselves on their adherence to the Law, so Jesus is playing on this fact. The Pharisees responded by quoting from Deuteronomy 24:1-4. Now the debate at the time was such that divorce was accepted, the argument was over what constituted sufficient grounds for divorce.

Jesus pointed them back to the original purpose of marriage. Some were looking for an excuse to divorce. The emphasis should have been on how to make marriage work. 

Jesus final words here may seem as though they are virtually ruling out divorce altogether.However, I do not think that this is the case. There was a practice of a man divorcing his wife for almost any reason. So if he was fed up with his wife, or just fancied another woman, he would declare that he had divorced his wife, marry the other woman, and think he was still a good Jew. Jesus is declaring that this is nonsense. In God's eyes the man was still committing adultery.

Mark 9:42-50 - Hell - a place to be avoided

The "whoever is not against us is for us" injunction is not a licence for an easy going approach. We need to be careful that we do not cause anyone who belongs to Jesus to fall away, for this will bring severe judgement upon us. This is also a counter to anyone who thinks it is all "gentle Jesus meek and mild". Jesus spoke an awful lot about judgment, and in the harshest terms.

Lest we then start judging others or blaming others for our own sins ("he made me do it"), Jesus immediately warns us to make sure that we deal with sin in our own life in the firmest terms. If something causes us to stumble we are to take action to stop it. The bits about cutting off feet and gouging out eyes is hyperbole, but it does mean that we are not to mess about with temptation. It is wise not to stay in the same house or flat alone with your girlfriend. If something causes financial temptation, avoid it.

There is a severe judgment coming. Hell is real. There are all sorts of silly arguments about the nature of hell. The truth is that no one knows exactly what hell will be like, but there is no way that we want to go there. It is to be avoided at all costs.

More positively, we have a function in this world, to be salt to the world, bringing Godly flavour. We need to ensure that we maintain our godliness.

Mark 9:38-41 - For and against

John raised the question of someone who was not one of the disciples, but was casting out demons in Jesus' name. The disciples had told him to stop. It is not clear why John asked this question. He may have thought they had done the right thing and was looking for confirmation, or in the light of what Jesus had just said he may have been reconsidering the wisdom of their action.

Jesus corrects John. If someone does a miracle in Jesus' name then they are "for us". Moreover, anyone who  does anything to help the disciples will be rewarded. We are not to have an exclusive attitude, but an inclusive one. The name of Jesus is a "measuring line" not whether someone belongs to our particular group or denomination. How much trouble could we have saved ourselves if as the church we had only observed this instruction?

Mark 9:30-37 - Not understood

Jesus continued to seek to find time alone with the disciples so that He could teach them. We need to spend time alone with God, praying, studying and meditating. For the way that we are meant to live is that we are directed, inspired and fed by God through His word, and then this dictates how we interact with the world. Instead, all too often our lives are dictated by circumstances. This the difference between living by the Spirit and living by the flesh.

Now what Jesus had to teach them about was not music to their ears, for He continued to tell them about the fact that He would be killed and then rise again.  However, the disciples continued to fail to understand. So why did Jesus continue to try and teach them, given their failings? Maybe because it would all become clear after the resurrection and Pentecost. The lessons God teaches us are not always immediately learnt.

In fact, not satisfied with failing to understand what Jesus was on about, they were arguing about who was the greatest, even though they knew they really should not be doing this. Jesus then instructs them that the kingdom of God operates on very different principles to the kingdom of the world.

Mark 9:14-29 - Only by prayer

They came down the mountain and were immediately confronted with the reality of life. There was a crowd and they ran to Jesus. 

A boy kept having fits, possibly epileptic, possibly demonic. The crowd thought they were demon related, and the disciples who had not gone up the mountain were unable to deal with the problem.

Jesus' reaction is one of almost despair, despair at the lack of faith of the people. Notice the implication that Jesus wants us to have faith to deal with issues like this. The implication is that if we believed and obeyed Jesus properly we would not need Him here in order to sort out the problems.

The boy was brought to Jesus and the evil spirit threw the boy into a fit. Notice that Jesus' remains calm, there is no "added drama". Exorcism is simple exercise of Godly authority, it does not need a big show. The boy's father asks Jesus to have pity on them "if He can do anything". Jesus tells him to believe. Like most of us, the father is in a state somewhere between belief and unbelief. 

Jesus commanded the spirit to leave the boy for good.

Later the disciples asked why they failed to get anywhere. Jesus replies that this sort only comes out by prayer. In Matthew it says prayer and fasting. Now what does Jesus mean here? For Jesus did not pray on the spot, He simply told the evil spirit where to go! I think the lesson is that we need to have a lifestyle of prayer if we are to increase our effectiveness.

Mark 9:2-13 - Go transfigure

We can look at this passage in two ways (at least). One is to look at the theological significance, the other is to view it from the perspective of the three disciples.

Looking at it theologically it is highly significant in what it tells us about who Jesus is, His relationship to the Father, and His relationship to the Old Testament scriptures  (and no doubt much more besides). 

First, He is transformed, or transfigured, and took on a brilliant white appearance, showing that something special is happening. Then Elijah and Moses appear with Him, and they are talking to Jesus. Moses and Elijah represent the Law and the Prophets from the OT. This shows that Jesus is indeed the messiah spoken of in the OT, and that who He is and all that He does is consistent with the OT revelation.

Next a cloud appears and a voice from heaven affirms that Jesus is God's Son, and that we should listen to Him. This affirms the deity of Christ, and His relationship to the Father.

Now consider how the disciples were feeling. Probably pretty confused by what Jesus had said to them, the issues we considered in the last day or two. They needed some encouragement, some affirmation that Jesus really was the messiah. So Jesus takes the three closest disciples with Him up the mountain. Note also that the revelation takes things further. We all go through times when we are confused about what God is doing in our lives, or about how or where our lives are going. When we go through these times we will often find that afterwards we will have an increased revelation of who Christ is.

Peter, as always, opens his big mouth. Later, when Jesus spoke about rising from the dead it continues to go right over their heads. So they ask Jesus a question that they knew something about, namely that Elijah was supposed to come. Jesus' answer indicates that John the Baptist was the Elijah figure.