And He came to Capernaum: and being in the house He asked them,
“What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?”
But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. 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.”
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,
“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.”
Mark 9:33-37
Mark 9
It Is A Serious Matter To Offend One Of Those Who Have Faith In Jesus Christ
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. 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: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 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: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 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: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. 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.
Mark 9:42-50
How do people offend those who believe in Jesus? By false testimony, accusing us of doing things we did not do, or reminding us of things that we did wrong, but we have already received forgiveness from the Lord. By torture, and by death, and many otherr ways.
Any one who offends one of these; do you see how serious Jesus takes this matter? If your offense is done with your hand, you are to cut it off. If offense is done with your foot, it too, must be cut off. If the offense is done with the eye, then, that eye is to be plucked out. These drastic measures of showing repentance are not necessary, but show to us the extremities that would keep the offender from experiencing eternal death. If you have offended one of those who believe in Jesus, there is no need to cut the offending hand, the offending foot, or the offending eye and that is for you to believe Him too.
There is only one way to avoid the destruction of sin and death; and that is by way of the cross of Jesus Christ where He died in our place, taking the whole wrath of God upon Himself paying our sin debt. A debt he did not owe. He was also buried, and He rose up from the grave very much alive. Ask Him for forgiveness and He will give it.
Hear Jesus
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.”
And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and He was transfigured before them. And His raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus. 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.” For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son: hear Him.”
And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves. 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. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean. Mark 9:1-10
Jesus states it many times in the Gospels that if we hear Moses and the prophets we will hear Him. He has also taught that if we hear Him we hear the prophets and Moses.
The Father tells us in the above passage that we are to “Hear Him”, but that does not mean the words of Moses and the prophets are null and void; it does mean all that Jesus says is to hear all that has been spoken of Him.
Hear Jesus today. He is the only way of salvation and eternal life (John 14:6).
Rise Again
“And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know it. 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.’
But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask Him.” Mark 9:30-32
Death and Resurrection
“And He began to teach them, that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” Mark 8:31
“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.” Mark 9:9
“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.’ ” Mark 9:31
Three times in two chapters Jesus tells them. How could they have missed it? There is one way and maybe two or three, but Jesus taught the disciples clearly that He was going to die at the hands of evil, and that on the third day He would rise again.
The first way they could have missed is because of their preconceived ideas of what the Messiah was supposed to do. The second way it was missed; not by the disciples but by the religious leaders was their unbelief. The third way it was missed by many, and this would include Judas Iscariot, just plain ole selfishness and greed.
Do not miss the fact, the truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was and is the Messiah of Israel and of the whole earth. If you miss this truth, you will miss out on eternity with Him.
Words of Jesus; Son of God, God the Son – 081720
“And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know. 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.’
But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask Him.” Mark 9:30-32 (KJB)
He Shall Rise Again
In a great mountain top experience Jesus and three of His disciples had on the Mount, came down, and found a man with a demon possessed son had asked the other disciples of Jesus to deliver the child. They could not. Jesus did.
Now they are going through Galilee, and Jesus is teaching them, reminding them of a perilous time ahead. It was in motion. It was going to happen. Nothing could stop it.
“And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and He would not that any man should know it. 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.’ But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask Him. Mark 9:30-32 (KJB)
We can see what Jesus means. We have twenty twenty vision; because it has happened just as He said. Let us not judge the disciples too harshly. They loved Jesus and could not stand the thought of His death, because they did not understand that that is why He came. They were still of the mindset that He was going to overthrow the Romans, and be King of the Jews at that time. Jesus was reminding them otherwise.
As Christians in 2019 we need to remember that this same Jesus who died on the cross, was buried, and rose again just as He said; that He will come again, take those who are His unto Himself, and will, after much tribulation set up His kingdom on earth.
Believe Him. Call on His name.
The Fire and Hammer 