Mark 9:38-50
(A Bible Study Led by Dr.
Larry Reynolds)
September 13, 2012
In our journey through Mark's Gospel, have come to
passage which has much to say about the disciplines of the Christian life...
Mark 9:43-50 is a very difficult passage...it's challenging...it makes us
uncomfortable....would be easy to skip over and move along to something
else...but to do that would be to ignore an important part of the teachings of
Jesus...I see in this passage six disciplines which followers of Jesus should constantly
be cultivating…
The
discipline of tolerance toward others
(vv.38-41)
1. In verse 38 John is spokesman for
the group...amazing statement for two reason...
·
context - Saw last week that Jesus had
just warned disciples about danger of pride...just told them way to greatness
was to serve, to be willing to be last...as if didn't even hear...immediately
brought up subject of man they felt was usurping their place, their power,
their authority...
·
content - Man in question was obviously
doing something good...was casting out demons...was doing it in Jesus name or
under His authority...but disciples were bothered because he wasn't "one
of them" and probably wasn't doing it their way...suspect also bothered
because as we saw earlier in this chapter their way wasn't working very
well...tried cast demon out of sick boy and was unable to do it...now this guy
comes along, and he wasn't even one of them, doing something they were unable
to do...suspect that really irked them!
2. In response to John's statement
Jesus instructed the disciples in verses 39 and 40 not to hinder the man
ministering in His name...in effect, He told them to view the man and others
like him not as enemies but as allies...if He's ministering in my name, He is
one of us...just because not doing it in way you do it, just because his style
is not your style, no reason to discredit him or attempt undermine what he's
doing...[all kinds of applications of that to Christians today...must never
forget we're not in competition with each other...we are servants of the same
Lord...should not be pitting one church against another church or one Christian against another
Christian...certainly shouldn't be sad when other Christians do well and
certainly shouldn't secretly be glad with other Christians struggle!]
3.
Unfortunately
that little verse could be the motto for many people in our world, including
many of us who claim an allegiance to Jesus Christ...
"Believe
as I believe, no more no less,
That
I am right, and no one else confess.
Feel
as I feel, think as I think,
Eat
what I eat, and drink but what I drink,
Look
as I look, do always as I do,
Then
and only then, I'll fellowship with you."
[Hughes,
Jesus, Servant and Savior, v.2, pp.33-34]
The
discipline of being a good example to others
1. Jesus issued a strong warning about the danger of harboring an
intolerant spirit which invariably will cause a person to become a stumbling
block to others ...look again at what He told them in v.42 - "...whoever
causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for
him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the
sea."...several things about that statement need be said...
--"little ones"
doesn't mean children as the verse is sometimes interpreted...literally the
phrase is "humble ones" which is description of what
every Christian should be...talking about danger of becoming stumbling block to
fellow believers...
--"heavy
millstone" is significant...not just millstone because that could
be interpreted several ways...more than one kind of millstone...was small hand
held type which could find in every home...then there were the large grinding
stones which were so heavy had be turned by mule or oxen... referring to the
latter here...saw some of those while in Israel, and certainly large enough to
make any person sink...
--"into the sea"
- Jews not by nature seafaring people...had natural fear of the sea...viewed
death by drowning as symbol of utter destruction and complete annihilation...
drowning was sometimes a Roman punishment, but never a Jewish punishment...
2. Wm. Barclay tells of story written by O. Henry, the famous
American literary figure...about young girl whose mother died...stayed home
alone all day waiting for father to come home from work...when father came
home, same thing happened day after day...the girl, who was lonely and starved
for attention, would ask her father to play with him...the father would tell
the girl he was tired, to leave him alone, and go out and play in the
streets...well, over time the inevitable happened and girl became a person of
the street, living a very immoral life...died and stood before gates of
heaven...Peter saw her and said to Jesus, "Master, here's a bad
girl. Should we send her to hell?"...and
Jesus gently answered, "No, let her in. Let her in."...but then with
sternness in His voice Jesus added, "Go look for the man who refused
to play with this girl and sent her out into the streets and send him to
hell."
3. After recounting the story, Barclay makes this comment: "God is not hard on the sinner,
but God will be stern to the person who makes it easier for another to sin, and
whose conduct, either thoughtless or deliberate, puts a stumbling block in the
path of [another]..."...and that's the primary reason an
intolerant spirit is dangerous...it is hurtful to others...
The
discipline of maintaining personal holiness
1. Verse 43 is one of those difficult verses we
would just as soon ignore…notice the personal pronoun "your"
in the phrases "if your hand causes you to stumble" (v.43)..."your
foot" (v.45)..."your eye" (v.47)...the
hand, foot, and eye represent the totality of life...the hand represents what
we do...the foot where we go...the eye what we see...
2. And when Jesus speaks of cutting off the hand
(v.43) or foot (v.45) or casting out the eye (v.47), He is not advocating self
mutilation as some radical people in Christian history have actually
practiced... instead, Jesus is saying if there is anything in your life
--anything you are doing, any place you are going, anything you are seeing--
which is causing you to be out of the will of God, you should remove that thing
immediately...
4. Three times in these verses Jesus warned that
if we're not willing to make such a commitment, we are in danger of being cast
into hell...important not misinterpret that...doesn't mean if behave badly go
to hell and if good enough go to heaven... message of entire NT is that way to
heaven, to eternal life is by faith and faith alone in Jesus Christ...but if
we're not demonstrating personal discipline and holiness in our lives, if not
careful about what we do, where we go, and what we see, that's telling
indication our faith is not genuine and therefore would be in danger of hell...
The
discipline of enduring hardship with grace
1. Notice what Jesus said in v.49 - "For
everyone will be salted with fire."...on surface rather difficult,
confusing statement... seems Jesus mixing two different images - salt and
fire...key to understanding is remembering that OT required that all sacrifices
be salted before being offered on the altar to God...in NT Christians are
described as living sacrifices to God...and just as sacrifices in OT were
salted and placed in the fire of the altar, so Christians will invariably be
salted by fire...
2. In this verse "fire" does not mean the fires of eternal punishment
as in the previous verses...it means the fires of trials and testing...can't
read Scripture without seeing that some suffering will be part of our
experience in this world...was true for Jesus and will be true for any who
follow after Him...listen to some things Scripture says:
I Peter 4:12 - "Beloved,
do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for
your testing..."
II Timothy
3:12 - "...all who desire to live a godly life will be
persecuted."
I Thess. 3:4 - "...For
indeed ... we kept telling you in advance that we were going to suffer
affliction, and so it came to pass, as you know..."
4.
And one of the disciplines we need cultivate in our lives
is the discipline of enduring suffering with grace...and we can better do that
when understand that God can use the experiences of suffering to make us better
people...In book Supreme Happiness Nelson Price tells of walking along
Pebble Beach on coast of California...said discovered two very different types
of rocks on beach...one type had been exposed to the relentless pounding of the
waves...had become round and polished and were greatly desired by tourist as
ornaments...other type had been protected from waves in small coves...had not
felt the force of the waves...were rough and unpolished...
5.
As our lives are buffeted by waves/storms of life, the
rough edges are being knocked off and beautiful qualities can be
displayed...understanding that can help us develop discipline of enduring
trials with grace...
The
discipline of being useful to God
1. Were two kinds of salt in ancient middle
east...there was good salt which had salty flavor and there was salt which had
been mixed with impurities which made it stale and flat...nothing more useless that
salt which is not salty...
2. Using that illustration, Jesus said in v.50
Christians should be like the good kind of salt...salt served several functions
in first century world...for example, salt --
--was
purifying agent...Romans viewed it as purist of all elements...Christians
should be examples of purity for the
world...
--was
preserving agent...used to keep food from decaying ...Christians should have a
wholesome, preserving influence in the world...
--was
seasoning agent...made bland food taste better... Christians should be winsome
and attractive to the world...
3. Point of all that is we should be useful to
God...never a time in our lives when we should stop serving...never a time when
we don't have something to offer...God can use us in His service if cultivate
the discipline of making ourselves available to Him...
4. That little song, "Take my life,
lead me, Lord; Take my life, teach me, Lord; Here am I, send me Lord; Make my
life useful to Thee..."should be our prayer everyday of our lives in
this world...we should cultivate the discipline of being useful to God...
The discipline
of maintaining good relationships with each other
1. Notice the last phrase of this paragraph...it
brings it all together...'...and be at peace with one another..."...points
back to the issue which sparked this entire discussion...had been fighting
among themselves about who was the greatest... and had been fighting with a man
who was not one of them but who was ministering in Jesus' name...
2. Jesus told them don't quarrel among
yourselves and don't quarrel with other people...don't be contentious...don't
be difficult...don't be angry...don't be impossible to please...don't be
looking for a fight...instead, be at peace with one another...
3. That single little phrase could be basis for
entire study...when we fail in this area...when we fail to maintain good
relationships in the fellowship, every other area of our lives individually and
collectively is impacted...if we're not at peace with each other there is no
way we will be the person or the congregation God wants us to be...
4. That's why the Bible instructs us over and
over again to love one another...be gracious one to the other...be kind to one
another...and live in peace and harmony together...much depends on our
willingness and ability to do so...
CONCLUSION
Anything in life that is good, valuable, worthwhile
requires discipline...and that is certainly true of the Christian life...while
the Christian life is the best life in the world, it is also the most
demanding...I want to challenge you to continually be cultivating the
disciplines of--
·
Having tolerance toward others
·
Being
a good example to others
·
Maintaining personal holiness
·
Enduring hardship with grace
·
Being useful to God
·
Maintaining good relationships
with each other
That is the
wonderful, demanding life to which Jesus calls us!
