At the end of Mark 8, Jesus was in Caesarea Phillippi far to the north of Jerusalem, north of the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. He had just told them plainly for the first time about how he must die, which entirely shocked Peter. Peter had tried to rebuke him for this and he rebuked Peter.

McGarvey's fourfold gospel

Mark 9

1And he said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power."

[There is a common misconception out there that there is going to be some sort of thousand year reign here on earth when Jesus returns. You have the book series, Left Behind, in which someone literally interpreted everything in Revelation. There is a lot of symbolism in the book of Revelation. To understand Revelation, you need to look carefully at other parts of the bible that are clearer and put it all together for a complete understanding so that you know which parts of Revelation are probably symbolic. Jesus says that some of them standing there wouldn't die before they had a chance to see the new kingdom. The kingdom is the spiritual kingdom of the church that started after the resurrection of Jesus on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Three thousand people were converted to Christianity on that day.]

The Transfiguration

2After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone.

[These 3 were sort of leaders among the apostles so they needed some special encouragement.]

There he was transfigured before them. 3His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them.

[You'd almost picture him glowing here.]

4And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus.
5Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah."

[How did the apostles know that these were Moses and Elijah? They'd never seen them in person, since this was long after the lives of Moses and Elijah. They must have had some miraculous knowledge to know that it was Moses and Elijah]

6(He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)

[Peter didn't know what to say, so he must have said the first thing that came into his mouth. Let's build 3 tabernacles! Just speaking out of fear and amazement at the situation.]


7Then a cloud appeared and enveloped them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"

[That is some endorsement isn't it? This was similar to the heavens being torn open during his baptism and a voice coming from heaven claiming Jesus as his son. It was the biggest endorsement anyone can get. God himself says that this is his son and they are to listen to him. He's more important than Moses and Elijah. God even lets them see these two figures from the old testament in person and then says, “THIS is my Son.” There had been some confusion about who Jesus was. In earlier chapters we saw that the disciples said that some thought he was Elijah the prophet. Others disputed his authority over the law of Moses. Well, there was no way that Peter, James and John would have any mistaken ideas about who Jesus was after this. That's very important because they will be helping to start the church later.]


8Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus.
9As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what "rising from the dead" meant.

[Again, they seem to have an incomplete understanding about things such as what it means to “rise from the dead”. This might be why Jesus told them to keep it secret. Maybe he didn't want them trying to tell and teach about the transfiguration when they didn't even know what it would mean for him to “rise from the dead.” Or, perhaps the people were not ready to hear about it and wouldn't have believed it anyway.]


11And they asked him, "Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?"

[The apostles might have been thinking about

Malachi 4

5 "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. 6 He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

Here Elijah had appeared right and front of them...seemingly to fulfill this prophecy. They thought he'd stick around longer. But Jesus shows them that they seem to have misunderstood the prophecy in Malachai.]

[continuing in Mark 9]
12Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah does come first, and restores all things. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? 13But I tell you, Elijah has come, and they have done to him everything they wished, just as it is written about him."


[My reference said that Jesus was probably talking about John the Baptist. Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind, not put to death. But John the Baptist was beheaded several chapters ago in Mark 6 and he definitely did restore things and prepare the way for Jesus. So, it seems the scribes had misunderstood the prophecy in Malachai about Elijah coming before that great and dreadful day of the LORD coming.]


The Healing of a Boy with an Evil Spirit

14When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them.

[This was only 3 of the disciples accompanying Jesus up on the mountain, so now they return to the other disciples to find the teachers of the law arguing with them.]

15As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him.
16"What are you arguing with them about?" he asked.
17A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."

[So, seeing the disciples separated from their master and unable to heal this man's son, the teachers of the law had swooped in thinking, “aha! We have them now!”.]


19"O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me."

[Jesus was again frustrated by the lack of faith in the people. How quickly the scribes were able to make people doubt. Here he had just had this wonderful experience of transfiguration with major figures from the old testament. And now to come down from the mountain to find petty grumbling and argument.]


20So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth.
21Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?"
22"From childhood," he answered. "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us."
23" 'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes."
24Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!"

[That's an interesting thing to say. I believe. Help my unbelief. Please. I want my son healed so badly. I believe you can do it. If I don't have enough faith, please make up for what I lack.]


25When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil[1] spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again."
26The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.

[It must have been a very rebellious, strong evil spirit if it had been with the boy from birth and Jesus forbade it from entering the boy again and it made him convulse as it came out.]


28After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?"
29He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer.[2] " [KJV prayer and fasting]
30They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31because he was teaching his disciples. 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." 32But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it.


[They would understand later what he meant. Again, it's interesting to think about how confused the disciples were even when they had Jesus in their midst.]


Who is Greatest?

33They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, "What were you arguing about on the road?" 34But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
35Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, "If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all."
36He 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."

[There was apparently a problem of envy among the apostles. They were arguing who among them would be more prominent when in heaven. It reminds you of standing in a long line for something for some big event. As you get closer to the time for the event to begin, this sort of selfish panic happens where people begin to push and shove and cut in line. Kind of what was happening here. Jesus tells them the first thing they must think of is the other person. The best thing you can do is to be a servant. A big contrast between the way people think and the way God thinks. Jesus shows them the humility of this child as an example. It was probably very humbling to them. They had been talking about how each of them deserved to be on Jesus' right hand in heaven and he tells them, “you need to be more like this child here.”]

Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us

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, 40for whoever is not against us is for us. 41I 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.


[Mat 12:30"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”

In verse Mark 9:40 he had said that whoever is not against us is for us. If you put those two together, you know there is no neutral stance toward being a Christian. You either do it or you don't. You're either completely for him or completely against him. There's now half-way. Jesus also goes back to humility in his name. Things that you do in the name of Christ, however small, will be rewarded in heaven.]



Causing to Sin

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. 43If 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.[3] 45And 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.[4] 47And 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, 48where
   " 'their worm does not die,
       and the fire is not quenched.'[5] 49Everyone 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 talked about the seriousness of causing a little one to stumble. Just as there is a great reward for a seemingly small righteous act in Jesus' name, there is a great penalty for what people might consider a small act of causing one of his children to sin. In general, Jesus is making the point that in God's eyes, there are not great and small sins. A sin is a sin. It's evil. Jesus talks about the punishment that awaits evil. It is more severe than we can imagine. In the end, Jesus talks about salt, a preservative. We can either face this salt of fire that would preserve us for eternal punishment or see that we are voluntarily preserved with the good salt.]