Talk 28 Mark 9:30-50 Self-denial and total commitment
Welcome to Talk 28 in our series on Mark’s Gospel. Today we’re looking at Mark 9:30-50 where Jesus teaches his disciples lessons that are essential for all those who would follow him. The passage begins with the statement that Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, because he was teaching his disciples (vv30-31). And, as we look at the passage, we discover that what Jesus is teaching is self-denial and total commitment. But first, let’s read the rest of the passage, beginning in verse 31.
He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest. 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” 36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” 39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
42 “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where “‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ Everyone will be salted with fire. 50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Jesus begins by reminding his disciples what he has already told them more than once. He is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise (31). The disciples don’t understand this yet, but it will be essential that they do. The reason Jesus came to earth was to die on the cross to save us from our sins. It would involve self-denial and total commitment – saying No to self and Yes to God. And this would be the example he set for his followers (1 Peter 2:21). And now he is teaching his disciples in advance that following him will mean following his example of self-denial and total commitment.
And in today’s passage we see various ways how Jesus challenges us to do the same.
The challenge of self-denial
There is to be no self-seeking among the followers of Jesus (33-37)
In our last talk we saw how the disciples were arguing with the teachers of the Law. Now we discover them arguing among themselves (v33). And they’re arguing about who was the greatest. We’re not told the details, but it may well have been over who they thought would get the best positions in the Messianic kingdom Jesus was about to bring in. Perhaps Peter, James and John felt they had a claim to greatness because of the privilege they had had to be present at the transfiguration. We know that James and John had aspirations like that because of what we’re told in the next chapter where they ask Jesus:
Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory (10:37).
But to such ambition Jesus replies:
If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all (9:35),
and taking a little child in his arms he says:
Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:4) and adds:
Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me (Mark 9:37).
Selfish ambition may bring glory to oneself, but it doesn’t bring glory to Jesus. It only causes division and dissention among the followers. So there is to be no self-seeking among the followers of Jesus, but, closely connected to this, our passage also shows that there is to be no competition among them either.
There is to be no competition among the followers of Jesus (38-41)
In verse 38 John tells Jesus that they have seen a man driving out demons in Jesus’ name but that they stopped him because he was not one of us. But Jesus replies
Do not stop him. No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.
It’s certainly possible that the disciples’ reason for stopping the man was well intentioned. They knew that as his disciples they had been specially chosen by Jesus and that he had designated them apostles (Mark 3:14). They had been in his close company since he first called them to be fishers of men. What right had other people to think they could speak in Jesus’ name (i.e. with his authority)?
Their motivation could well have been like that of Joshua in Numbers 11:28, when out of loyalty to Moses he asks him to stop Eldad and Medad from prophesying because they had not been in the Tent of Meeting when the Spirit had come upon them as the rest of the elders had been. To which Moses replied, I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them.
Moses was secure in his God-given position of leadership and had nothing to fear from what may have appeared to be a challenge to his authority, and how much more secure was Jesus in the knowledge that he was God’s well-beloved Son. He had nothing to fear from a man who was not one of his immediate disciples driving out demons in his name. And a person using his name to do so could not possibly say anything bad about him (v38).
But what does he mean when he says, Whoever is not against us is for us? Did he not say on another occasion, He who is not with me is against me (Matthew 12:30)? Of course there is no contradiction in these two statements. In God’s sight there are only two kinds of people in the world – not Jew or Gentile, not male or female, not black or white, not rich or poor etc. – but those who are for Jesus and those who are against him. Neutrality is not an option. And on that hangs our eternal destiny.
But Jesus’ statement also implies that there are those who are actually for him whom we believe to be against him. The Lord knows those who are his. We’re reminded of Elijah in 1 Kings 19:10 who protested to God that he was the only one left who was following him and to whom God replied that there were 7000 in Israel who had not bowed the knee to Baal (v18). I’m sure that when we get to Heaven we’ll be surprised at some of the people we meet there!
So we need to be careful that we don’t assume that Christians who worship differently than we do, or who do things differently from us, are not really Christians at all. Of course we need to contend earnestly for the precious truths of God’s word, but our motivation in doing so should never be for the reputation or position of our own group or denomination. For example, I don’t believe that infant baptism is scriptural, but that does not mean that some of those who practise it are not being powerfully used in healing and evangelism. Jesus said that anyone who gives you a cup of water (i.e. seeks to help you in the simplest way) …because you belong to Christ, will certainly not lose his reward (v41). There must be cooperation, not competition, among the followers of Jesus.
But that brings us to the second major challenge that Jesus presents to his disciples in this passage – the challenge of total commitment.
The challenge of total commitment (vv42-50)
In these verses Jesus warns his disciples about the seriousness of sin. Our sin can, not only keep us out of Heaven, but also keep others out too. He challenges us to a life of total commitment, a life that pleases God.
Verse 42 contains a strong warning about causing anyone else to sin, especially those who are children, but it could also be taken to refer to those who are young in their faith. A spirit of competition among Christians or a personal ambition for greatness can easily do just that. Such attitudes are a poor example to set to new believers. There’s the twofold danger that they either follow the example we are setting, or that they will be completely put off the faith because of it.
Sin is so serious that in verses 43-47 Jesus uses what may seem like an extreme illustration to make his point. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off… if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off… if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. In other words, Get rid of anything that causes you to sin. If your sin is not dealt with, Jesus says, only hell awaits.
If this seems harsh, we need to remember that Jesus has already provided a way for us to get rid of our sin. That’s why he died, taking the punishment our sins deserved. We get rid our sin and its consequences when we receive Jesus as our Saviour. Heaven, not hell, is our destiny. But that does not mean that the moment we become Christians we start to live sinless lives. In fact, if we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves (1 John1:8), but, thank God, If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
But God’s promise of forgiveness does not mean that we should go on sinning. Our sins are forgiven, but sin is still serious. That’s why Jesus tells us to cut off anything that causes it. And cutting something off can be painful. Giving up something we enjoy or someone we love may well be costly, but if we know that it or they may lead us, or others, into temptation, we also know that it will be worth it in order to maintain our right standing with God.
As we’ve already pointed out, our sin can affect the eternal destiny of others if it leads them to follow our example or abandon the faith. That’s why Jesus says in verse 50:
Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.
As Christians we can make a real difference in the world we live in, rather like salt changes the flavour of food (Matthew 5:13), and just as salt preserves food from decay, we can counteract the moral decay we see in the world around us. If, like the disciples in today’s passage, we’re arguing and quarrelling among ourselves, how can we expect to influence the society in which we live? If we cannot live at peace with each other, we will lose our saltiness and we’ll be of little use in the Lord’s service. That’s why, as we’ve already seen, there must be no self-seeking or competition among the followers of Jesus. He challenges us to self-denial and total commitment.
And if that seems hard, just remember that that is exactly what Jesus did.