Scripture reading – Mark 9; Matthew 18
After He descended the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John (Mark 9:1-13; Matthew 17:1-13; Luke 9:28-36), Jesus found His other disciples embroiled in a controversy with scribes (experts in the Law of Moses), who were “questioning,” and mocking the disciples’ failure to cast a demon out of a father’s son (Mark 9:14; Matthew 17:14-16).
Rebuking His disciples for their lack of faith (Matthew 17:17), Jesus commanded the demon to depart from the son, “and the child was cured from that very hour” (Matthew 17:18). The disciples, embarrassed by their failure and humbled by Jesus’ rebuke, questioned why they had been unable to cast the demon out of the child. Christ’s answer reveals the power of faith and prayer:
“This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).
We are reminded in Mark 9:30-32 that Christ told His disciples on many occasions that He had come, not to establish an earthly kingdom but to be “delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day” (Mark 9:31). We learn they could not comprehend His revelation and were afraid to inquire what He meant by that statement (Mark 9:32). (In Mark 10 Jesus distinctly declared His resolve to go to Jerusalem to die, and promising on the third day that He would be resurrected, Mark 10:33-34).
Who is Number One? (Mark 9:33-37)
So how did His fickle, self-centered disciples respond to Jesus’ prophecy that He must fulfill the prophecies of Isaiah of a suffering Messiah (Isaiah 53)? They turned their thoughts to the question of who would be first, number one, in Christ’s kingdom (Mark 9:33-37; Matthew 20:20-28).
Looking at today’s world, we realize nothing has changed, and most of those who identify with Christ are no different. The words “servant” and “humility” are foreign to 21st-century citizens. In today’s world, self-promotion, striving to be #1, climbing the “ladder of success,” and counting the number of people who serve your beckoning call is the essence of success. Such was not the case in our LORD’s definition of success. He taught His disciples, “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).
When Jesus spoke of His death in Mark 8, Peter rebuked Him (Mark 8:32). In Matthew 20, a parallel passage to Mark 10, Jesus was confronted by the disciples’ desire for power and position when the mother of James and John approached Jesus and requested, “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom” (Matthew 20:21). The other disciples’ response to her request evidenced their self-centered motivation for following Jesus—earthly power [influence] and position (Mark 10:41; Matthew 20:24).
Closing thoughts – Let me suggest two spiritual lessons from today’s Scripture.
The first lesson is that self-centered ambition blinds one to spiritual truth. Though Jesus spoke plainly of His death, the disciples were blinded by their ambition for thrones in Christ’s kingdom (i.e., “they understood not…and were afraid to ask Him” Mark 9:32).
A heart with divided loyalties wrestles with fear (they were “afraid to ask Him” – Mark 9:32). Of what were they afraid? I believe they were afraid to ask questions because the answer Jesus would give them would contradict their ambitions. When your heart has the wrong focus, you will struggle with fear and anxiety (Matthew 6:24; 1 John 2:15). John wrote in his first epistle, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).
The second spiritual lesson is that Humility reigns in God’s kingdom. Someone has observed that humility is portrayed “when a believer takes off a bib and dons a servant’s apron.”
Friend, how many are you serving?
Copyright © 2024 – Travis D. Smith
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