Read Today's Passage
Today's chapter is full of confusing items. From Jesus telling His disciples some of them would not die before seeing the Kingdom of God come with power, to Jesus telling His disciples to keep their mouths shut about the Transfiguration, to the followers being told it is better to mutilate themselves than to sin. But are they really all that confusing?
The Kingdom of God that Jesus is talking about is not a city, but God establishing His rule. A favorite expression amongst Bible scholars when they talk about this Kingdom is "already but not yet." This essentially means that the Kingdom is already here, but not completely. Jesus coming to earth set up the Kingdom to be here, but God has not finished that work yet. So was Jesus referring to a specific act, or was He just talking about His ministry?
I find it quite interesting that Jesus told His disciples not to tell anyone about the Transfiguration. But I find it even more intriguing that He put a time table on it. It was widely believed within Jewish circles that Elijah would come back from before the Messiah would come. Elijah comes first, then the Messiah. To which Jesus tells His disciples essentially "He was already here" and hints at the idea that Elijah is not going to come back. Is Mark missing something here, or are the ideas of Revelation taking place in the modern day, and one of the prophets being Isaiah just wrong? And with Elijah appearing there, could this possibly be a sign of the Kingdom that Jesus just referred to before this section was nearly here? Hmm...
I love when Jesus uses hyperbole to talk to His disciples. I also love that He took the time to state that children are indeed important and they need to be given time and attention as well. (That does not mean that they are always right, but we do need to listen for them). And to lead a child astray, whew. As a youth pastor that passage has sat with me for a long time, and it does not get any easier to read it now. Have I been responsible for teens going astray? Have I led youth down paths that they were not supposed to go down? Has my teaching been incompatible with Scripture? I really have to watch for these things as I walk on my Journey with Christ.
So what did you think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
did any1 notice that in mark 9:31 hes pbasically telling them that some1s going to betray the son of man inwitch they no its him so one of them will betray him
and i like how Jesus talks about him self as a thrid party haha
and it was kewl when God told them this is my son
This chapter has some very memorable passages for me. The ones that I think of often are:
Help me in my unbelief
If you want to be first you must be a servant
whoever is not against us is for us
the cutting stuff off verses
These are probably some of the things I struggle with the most as a Christian. I read about science a lot and there are a lot of dubious claims out right now-I have to remember to keep believing in the face of a critical scientific age. At work I have to remember to have a servant attitude so that people will see that I am not out to use them. I can be very critical about other churches and ministries so I have to be careful about that. And the cutting things off part-well that gets a little personal. In this society most men are lead around by a certain body part (it's not their brain) and it often leads to sin. According to society, that's the way it should be. To "cut off" the influence of that organ, or even to cut off the pressures of society to act upon certain urges, is social suicide for most men. But that's what being salt is all about. The Christian should not be concerned with how they are perceived, even if handicapped. "If I limp, then I will run with a limp..." even if it looks silly.
I truly believe that when it is all said and done, science will prove that Scripture was right all the time. And won;t that come as a shock to a lot of scientists.
Post a Comment