Mark
Copyright © 2008 Darroll
Evans
CHAPTER 9
Mark 9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death,
till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
The first verse in chapter 9
actually belongs at the end of chapter 8!
Then (after the things of
chapter 8), Jesus said to His followers, “Verily (Gr. ameen-amhn), truthfully I tell you
that there are some standing here who shall not taste of death till they have
seen the kingdom of God come with power.”
That came to pass immediately
following the resurrection! He was seen by over 500 people as He walked among
them in His resurrection! They witnessed
the power of the resurrection!
1 Cor 15:4-6
4 And that he was buried, and that he
rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the
twelve:
6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom
the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
Mark 9:2-13
2 And after six days Jesus taketh
with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them
up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before
them.
3 And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on
earth can white them.
4 And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with
Jesus.
5 And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is
good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and
one for Moses, and one for Elias.
6 For he wist not what to say; for they were sore
afraid.
7 And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the
cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him.
8 And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more,
save Jesus only with themselves.
9 And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should
tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the
dead.
10 And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.
11 And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes
that Elias must first come?
12 And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of
man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought.
13 But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him
whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.
Six days after what happened
in chapter 8 through 9:1, Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up
into a high mountain. There, He was
transfigured (Gr. metemorphoothee-metemorfwqh) before them.
Just think about that. Those three were allowed to see Christ in His
glory. They saw the “real” Christ Jesus!
His clothing became shining
to the point of being “exceeding white as snow,” so that nothing on earth was
as white. True righteousness has nothing
that can compare!
And, Elijah and Moses
appeared, were talking with Jesus. I
have no doubt that they were offering praises to the Lord of Lords!
Peter spoke up, “Master, it
is good for us to be here. Let us make three tabernacles (Gr. skeenas-skhnaV/tents), one for You, one for
Moses, and one for Elijah.” Mark tells us, “Peter said that since he did not
know what else to say, because he and the others were afraid!”
Then, a cloud enveloped them,
and they heard a voice saying, “This is my beloved Son! Hear him!”
Suddenly, as they looked
around, Moses and Elijah disappeared.
They saw only Jesus! If we look to God, we will see only Christ Jesus!
As they came down the
mountain, Christ Jesus ordered them to tell no one what things they had seen,
until He was resurrected. With instructions
so simple and straight ward it is difficult for us to understand how they could
not have believed.
As they descended the
mountain, the three apostles questioned what Jesus meant when he spoke of being
raised from death.
Resurrection, as we now
understand it was almost unheard of in those days.
Finally, they asked Jesus,
“Why do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?”
Jesus told them, “Truthfully,
Elijah came, and restored all things! He taught how it is written of the Son of
man, that He must suffer many things, and be treated with contempt.”
Jesus continued, “Elijah has
come, and they have done to him all those things that are written concerning
him.”
In this matter, Jesus spoke
of John the baptist as having the spirit of Elijah.
Mark 9:14-27
14 And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great
multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.
15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed,
and running to him saluted him.
16 And he asked the scribes, What question ye with
them?
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee
my son, which hath a dumb spirit;
18 And wheresoever he taketh
him, he teareth him: and he foameth,
and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth
away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should
cast him out; and they could not.
19 He answereth him, and saith,
O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how
long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit
tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since
this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and
into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any
thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all
things are possible to him that believeth.
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears,
Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul
spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of
him, and enter no more into him.
26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as
one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.
When they came upon the other
disciples, they saw a great multitude with them. The scribes were questioning
the disciples that remained at the base of the mountain.
When the crowd saw Christ
Jesus, they ran to Him. And, He asked the scribes, “What are you asking them?”
Then, one in the crowd spoke
up, “Master, I brought my son to you. He has a dumb (Gr. alalon-alalon/mute) spirit. No
matter where I take him, he “teareth” (Gr. reessei-rhssei/convulses), he ‘foameth’
(Gr. afrizei-afrizei/suffers epilepsy), “gnasheth”
(Gr. trizei-trizei/grits) his teeth, and “pineth
away” (Gr. xeerainetai-xhrainetai/withers away).”
The father continued, “I
spoke to Your disciples and they attempted to cast the
spirit out, but they could not.”
The situation called for a
healing, but in those days, and under those circumstances, a demon was
responsible for the problem. Many
so-called “faith healers” attempt a one size fits all approach to dealing with
demons. They look for a demon under
every rock.
Christ knew the difference. I
remember listening to a person who is known a “faith healer,” he told of a
woman who asked him to deal with the “demon” buffeting her. He prayed about it and was told that she had
a vitamin deficiency. She took the
necessary vitamins and corrected the situation.
Jesus acted in response and
said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I
suffer you? Bring him to me.”
When all else fails try
Jesus!
That young man was brought to
Jesus and straightway (Gr. euthus-euquV), immediately, the
spirit attacked him, and the young man had an epileptic seizure.
Jesus asked his father, “How
long has this been going on?”
Asking questions is not a
sign of unfaithfulness!
His father said, “Since he
was a child! And many times it has ‘cast him into the fire, and into the
waters, in an attempt to destroy him.’ But, if You can
help, please have compassion on us, and help us.”
Notice that the demon not
only effected the young man, it effected the lives of
his entire family. Because of that the father used the word “us.”
Jesus said, “If you can
believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
The father responded
immediately! He cried out with tears,
and said, “Lord, I believe! Help (Gr. boeethei-bohqei/aid)
my unbelief!” In essence, the man was asking Christ to relieve or take away
his disbelief or unfaithfulness!
Worry is a form of disbelief! Many worry about tomorrow because they do not
trust Christ to work on their behalf tomorrow!
That is perhaps one of the
better known exchanges in the entire Bible!
When Jesus saw how the crowd
reacted, He rebuked the foul spirit saying, “You dumb and deaf spirit, I
command you to come out of him, and do no more harm to him!”
The spirit cried, made one
last effort at rebellion, and came out of him. The young man lay there very
quietly. His father asked if he was
dead.
Then, Jesus took the boy by
the hand, lifted him up; and he arose.
He was healed, delivered, and whole!
Mark 9:28-32
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples
asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?
29 And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by
nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
30 And they departed thence, and passed through
31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered
into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he
shall rise the third day.
32 But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.
When Jesus and the Apostles
come into a house, Jesus’ disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast
him out?’
Some demons have greater
power than others.
Jesus told them, “This kind
comes out only through prayer and fasting.”
Many do not understand that there
is a hierarchy within the demon world.
Lucifer is the highest ranking demon, but he has an order to his world
of rebellion. Or at least as much order
as rebels can muster.
Then, Jesus and His disciples
left and secretly traveled throughout
At this point, Jesus taught
his disciples, “The Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men. They
shall kill him, and afterward He shall rise the third day.”
Surprise! They did not
understand, and furthermore they were afraid to ask what He meant.
The fear of appearing
ignorant is perhaps the greatest obstruction to spiritual understanding!
Mark 9:33-37
33 And he came to
34 But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among
themselves, who should be the greatest.
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith
unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and
servant of all.
36 And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken
him in his arms, he said unto them,
37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth
me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me,
but him that sent me.
Jesus and the Apostles
finally came to
But, they kept quiet because
they had debated among themselves who should be the greatest.
They did not debate who “was”
the greatest, but who would be the leader after Christ died. That is the way with men.
Jesus told them, “If any man
desires to be the leader, he shall actually be the least, and servant of all.”
Jesus took a child, set him
in the middle of them, and when He had taken the child in his arms, He said
unto them, “Whosoever shall receive one such children in my name, receives me,
and whoever shall receive Me, does not just receive Me, but also Him that sent
Me.”
In John 10:30, Jesus reminds
us that, “I and my Father are one.”
If we worship the Father, we
shall worship the Son, and all that is accomplished through the Holy Spirit!
Anybody who does not accept
Christ Jesus also does not accept the Father!
Mark 9:38-50
38 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy
name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him,
because he followeth not us.
39 But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle
in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.
40 For he that is not against us is on our part.
41 For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye
belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.
42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it
is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast
into the sea.
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into
life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched:
44 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt
into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is
better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two
eyes to be cast into hell fire:
48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched.
49 For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted
with salt.
50 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness,
wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with
another.
The Apostle John said,
“Master, we saw someone casting out devils in Your name, and he did not
‘follow’ us, so we rebuked him, because he did not follow “us.”
How did John mean that?
Did he mean that the man was
not following the Apostles or was John referring following Christ?
How did Jesus respond?
Jesus said, “Forbid him not!
Because there is no man who shall do a miracle in My name that can lightly
speak evil of me. He that is not against us is acting on our part. Because,
whoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong
to Christ, shall not lose his reward. But, whoever shall offend one of these
little ones that believe in Me, it is better for him that a millstone were
hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea. And, if your hand offends
you, cut it off. It is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having
two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched. Where
their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. And, if your foot
offends you, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame, than
having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be
quenched, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. And, if
your eye offends you, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter into the
Christ closes by saying,
“Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”
Remember, as Christians, you
are the salt of the earth! (Matthew 5:13)