LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for January 24: How to get along with others

One of the key traits God desires in his children is the ability to live in community with other believers within God’s kingdom and in harmony with people outside God’s kingdom. Relationships are central to God’s kingdom, so that even greatness in the kingdom is measured in terms of service to others.

The last third of Mark 9 shows Jesus’ concern that his followers have a proper view of service in his kingdom. Jesus stretched the boundaries of acceptable service and spoke to the seriousness of influencing others. Jesus’ followers were expected to present rightful influences for his kingdom. On the other hand, presenting wrongful influences had serious consequences.

Show others you care (Mark 9:33-37)

Jesus’ question in verse 33 may indicate something about life on the road for him and his disciples. Perhaps Jesus was visiting with other travelers or with people who had flocked around him with requests as he passed by. Perhaps his disciples had kept their distance, keeping their Master in view, while they argued about a matter out of earshot. At any rate, it appears Jesus was only aware they had argued.

It is curious that the disciples had been arguing about who was the greatest among them. Recent events indicated they all had little to crow over. In the previous episode, nine of the disciples had been unable to help the father of a demonized son. The irony was that the disciples had been given authority over demons (Mark 6:7) and actually had practiced driving out demons (Mark 6:13), but by the time this father had come, they were at a loss to help him. Thankfully Jesus saved the day.

Peter, James and John had been with Jesus on the mountain, experiencing Jesus’ transfiguration. So perhaps they thought of themselves as having greater importance, because they alone had been selected for this privilege. Certainly Peter had a golden moment when he declared Jesus’ true identity as the Christ in Mark 8:29. Nevertheless, we are not told the various claims the disciples made for themselves.

Jesus “sat down,” which was the sign of a rabbinic teaching moment and called the Twelve to himself. Their appointment as members of the Twelve had importance, but not in the way they thought. Jesus had no need to know the details of the argument, however, because the whole discussion was worthless in light of a particular operating principle of God’s kingdom.

Jesus’ corrective to the disciples’ argument was the principle that the “first,” or most important in the kingdom, was the one who was “last,” or the servant of all. Life in God’s kingdom focused on serving others, not being served. In fact, Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” So Jesus explained his ministry on earth and especially his passion on the cross as service to mankind. It soon would be evident to the disciples that Jesus had established a standard of kingdom service no one ever could surpass. Instead, Jesus’ followers would be inspired by his selfless service to serve and care for others.

To press this lesson farther, Jesus took a child and declared that welcoming a child was indicative of the type of service Jesus sought. Children were taught to serve their elders just as disciples were expected to serve their masters. Nevertheless, Jesus turned custom on its head. In some ways, children were servants to all, but servants in God’s kingdom would serve even children. With so much life ahead of them, and vulnerable to a variety of influences, children need special assistance to guide them into God’s kingdom. Therefore, Jesus placed great importance on serving children so they could be influenced by God’s kingdom.

See others as coworkers (Mark 9:38-41)

When the disciples did speak, they revealed they had discouraged an apparent kingdom worker from service. This one had been casting out demons in Jesus’ name. The disciples did not know this man and assumed he was not a follower of Jesus and not connected to God’s kingdom.

In the case of casting out demons, a clear line of demarcation exists between the realm of evil and kingdom of God. Jesus stated miracles done in his name are not copy-cat feats. God’s power is not applied blindly when Jesus’ name is invoked. Jesus stated his wisdom for this situation: those who are not against God are for him. There is no neutral ground. If a man performed a miracle in Jesus’ name, he must be known to God and approved for his service. The miracle is evidence the man belongs to God’s kingdom. In fact, even the merest act of courtesy, like offering a cup of water in Christ’s name, is indication of involvement in Christ’s kingdom.

This episode is evidence that others unknown to the disciples were participating in Christ’s kingdom. The burden, then, is upon Christ’s followers to recognize other coworkers as they serve God’s kingdom. Casting out demons is no easy task and requires God’s power. The invocation of Christ’s name has no effect if Christ is not personally known. Therefore this man must have known Jesus and had been given the authority to serve Jesus in this manner.

Sacrifice for others’ sake (Mark 9:42-43, 47-48)

Wielding proper influence is an important factor in God’s Kingdom. Likewise, wrongful influence strongly is condemned.

The term “little ones” refers to the same people as the word “child” in verse 36 and “children” in verse 37. These people are weak, immature and also could refer by extension to new believers. To cause these to sin would expose one to serious judgment.

The point is that God’s followers should be leading people away from sin, not into sin. Those who are young or new to Christ’s kingdom have no defenses against an apparent brother or sister in Christ who should be trusted, but in fact is teaching them how to mix sin with their new faith.

The serious judgment is vividly portrayed as tying a large millstone around such a violator’s neck and casting them into the sea. The large millstone is of the type turned by a work animal. By casting such a one into the sea is symbolic of permanent removal from the presence of God, since the millstone would deliver the violator to the irretrievable depths of the sea.

Jesus goes even farther with his precautions against wrongful influence. Jesus’ followers are not even to tolerate wrongful influence to enter their own lives. Jesus used exaggeration, or hyperbole, to make his point. When handling hyperbole, one must determine the point of emphasis and set aside the exaggeration. Not realizing the presence of exaggeration in this passage, many have condemned the use of graphic maiming imagery in this passage being as non-Christlike. Others, sadly, have maimed themselves as they attempted to remove sinful action from their lives.

Verse 43 speaks of a hand that causes one to sin. For Palestinians, the hand represented the activities people engaged in. Involvement in an activity could be blamed, so-to-speak, on the hand involved in such activity. In a sense, the hand led, or caused, a person to sin. To combat the hand’s influence, Jesus graphically states it should be severed. Since this is a case of exaggeration, wooden or blind compliance is not intended.

Ceasing involvement in the offending activity is the real cure. For some, to cease sin-compelled activity would require something very similar to cutting off a hand. Therefore, Jesus’ graphic statement is not far from the truthfully intense reality of ceasing compulsory involvement in sin. Radical measures are necessary to sever involvement in sin. Nevertheless, followers of Christ are expected to undertake such radical measures as necessary.

The severity of the offense of allowing sin to influence the life of one in God’s kingdom is seen in Jesus’ description of the punishment that awaits one who influences another to sin. The word “hell” found in verses 43 and 47 translate the word “gehenna.” This was Jesus’ special word for the place of eternal punishment, being described as the place where fire never is extinguished. “Gehenna” is to be distinguished from “hades” which is merely the place of the dead. Both terms are translated by the word “hell” in some translations. Jesus, however, was not exaggerating that when he said influencing others to sin was answerable by eternal punishment. Thus radical measures were necessary on the part of those who were offending Jesus by their wrongful influence toward others.

The quotation in verse 48 derives from Isaiah 66:24 and is remarkably descriptive of the Valley of Hinnom, which was the garbage area for the city of Jerusalem and famous for its continuous smoldering fires and worms that consumed the refuse that had been cast there. The ugly specter of this valley inspired Jesus to use the term “gehenna” as his term for a place of eternal punishment.

Christ’s followers then should carefully note the Lord’s strong aversion to wrong influences and correct their lives accordingly. At the same time, right influences are expected, as with receiving children. Therefore service in God’s kingdom is a critical matter because kingdom gains can be offset by poor influences.

Season others’ lives (Mark 9:49-50)

In verses 43 and 48, fire is a symbol of punishment. But in verse 49, the purifying aspect of fire is in view. So Jesus’ followers will be “salted” with fire, purified from sin and unrighteousness so that they will not be consumed by the deadly fires of punishment.

In turn Christ’s followers are to become salt in other people’s lives. The preservative quality of salt is in view in verse 50. Believers are to serve others in such a way that their lives are preserved, or in other words, nonbelievers are to be led into Christ’s kingdom.

The salt of ancient Palestine was extracted from the waters of the Dead Sea by blockading the shallow south end and harvesting the salt left behind after the water had evaporated. The substance left behind was not pure salt, however. The impurities in the salt, combined with humidity, would eventually leach the salt out of the salt compound. Thus Palestinian salt could lose its taste. This trait of Palestinian salt presented a rich image to Jesus who warned about the dangers of his followers losing their effectiveness (or saltiness). Christ’s people are meant to be effective in their service, but if they lose their effectiveness, what good are they to Christ’s kingdom? The corrective then was for Christ’s followers to be ever aware of their effectiveness in service in Christ’s kingdom.