Category: Uncategorized

Mark 9:38
The disciples apparently had not told the Lord about this incident before. Surely, they thought, it was natural to take themselves as the sole proprietors of the truth they had been receiving from Christ. We have this tendency, to think that we are unique among God’s ministers. Elijah had this same malady, thinking he was the last that would worship Almighty God. But, we must remember, as the disciples were about to learn, that this world is a big place. God has ministers all over the place, and they don’t all look, sound, and talk alike. However, they are all alike in one thing: Christ. He is the common denominator.

Heavenly Father, we will endeavor to remember that we are only a small part of your world. We are only a few of the myriads of your ministers. There will be differences, but all must be one in Christ. He is the goal, he is the Master, he is the Banner, and he is the theme. May Christ be our song forever! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 9:35
Jesus immediately decides it is time for some teaching. He was always teaching. He called all of the twelve. It may be that not all of them were involved in the dispute. But Jesus knew that all of them would need to hear this lesson.
Interestingly, Jesus does not condemn the desire to be first directly. However, he turns the whole thing upsidedown. So, having this desire becomes harmless due to the self-efacing method of gaining it. Brilliant! Maximum ambition with maximum humility!

Heavenly Father, you are so smart! You understand us so well. We don’t seem to remember that you made us. You know everything about us becuase of that. You know how we are wired. Thank you for taking such good care of us, giving us your truth to guide us. Jesus is such a great teacher! He is the Master! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 9:34
Now how do you hide something from God? Of course you  don’t, so any attempt to do so is rather comical. I mean how did they go about this holding of their peace? My guess is Jesus got one of those blame game glance parties we are so good at. Maybe he looked at Peter, so Peter glanced at John. John glanced at James, who glanced at Philip. Philip glanced at Andrew who glanced at Matthew, and so forth. Just a guess, but it probably was something like that.

Heavenly Father, sometimes we communicate so much with our eyes that we won’t say with our mouths. Yet, you know everything we think. You are to be honored not only with our lips, but with our thoughts. We can think about the things of you all through our day. Thinking about your great glory and mighty power reassures us as we face the circumstances of life. You are so faithful, and your working in each of our lives is a blessing we will never be able to thank you enough for. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 9:33
Ah, so rather than ask Jesus more about the resurrection, they devolved into their favorite subject. Jesus, knowing that they didn’t ask him about what he has said for fear of embarrassment, embarrassed them now by asking about their new subject. They had thought it was safely hidden from him, but of course it was not.

Heavenly Father, we can always be transparent with you. You already know it all anyway. You know our limitations, our hangups, our misconceptions. We are not hiding anything from you, so why should we try? Thank you for your mercy in spite of all that you know about us. Thank you for forgiveness in Christ! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 9:32
Alas, they still did not understand. Though we can lament this lack, the worse circumstance appears next. They would not ask Christ to help them understand. They were embarrassed of their ignorance, and were afraid of asking. What a sad condition! Here they were, seated before the repository of all truth, paralyzed by selfish fear. Yet, are we not often just like them?

Heavenly Father, thank you for your truth! May we always turn to your Word to find our answers. We need truth for our lives. We must seek for what we need from Christ. Jesus has all that we need. Thank you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 9:31
Notice how Jesus says that the son of man ‘is delivered’ into the hands of men. As Jesus makes plain elsewhere, this is all in God’s plan. Otherwise, it would never have happened. Jesus could not have been caught or killed by man if it had not been God’s will.

Heavenly Father, we know that everything works according to your will. We may think that our plans are all up to us, but they are not. You are the one who knows what will happen next. Thank you for your goodness! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 9:30
Jesus wanted some private time with his disciples. He wanted to prepare them for what was about to take place. Galilee was his home base, not just the place where he did much of his ministering.
Why would Jesus spend so much time preparing his followers for his death if he knew they wouldn’t understand anyway? Well, there are several answers to this. Jesus always works to prepare us, if we are listening. It is consistent with his character, not our choices. And, Jesus knows that we actually understand things pretty well most of the time. We just don’t accept what we understand, and so we rely on other sources for the answers. Also, Jesus is a person just like us, and he wanted to share what was on his mind.

Heavenly Father, thank you for telling us so much, regardless of our choices. It is a glory to you that you have made the truth available to us. But, it is also a glory that some truth is held back and reserved for those who will accept the truth they already understand. Thank you! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.

Mark 9:29
And what exactly does that mean? Well, in Matthew we get a bit more. Jesus tells them there that the first cause of their failure was their own faithlessness. Then, as here, we see the part about prayer and fasting.
The fact is that we tend to jump to conclusions. For example, we may have a disease, and we pray and ask God to remove it from us. But, if he doesn’t remove it right away, we assume he just isn’t going to. However, he may still be going to remove the problem, only a bit later.
The disciples assumed that if they couldn’t cast the demon out immediately, they wouldn’t be able to do it at all. Well, they in their own power could do nothing. It had to be the Lord doing it in any case. Prayer and fasting is what Christians use to move God to do something. It shows our devotion to him.
This demon had inhabited this boy since a young age, and his father was less than confident that Jesus could help. This kind of situation would only be alleviated by a group of Christians fasting and praying over the problem. And, as a result, the body of Christ may do anything Christ may do.

Heavenly Father, help us to understand that our faith is not to be based upon our limited understanding, but your limitless ability. Even when we see no way, you already have the way cleared. The path is open before us, we must walk it in your will. Thank you for your deliverance! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise you, Amen.