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Mark 9 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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0:00Markapter 9:1 [music]
0:02And Jesus was saying to them, "Truly I
0:04say to you, there are some of those who
0:07are standing here who will not taste
0:10death until they see the kingdom of God
0:14after it has come with power."
0:186 days later, Jesus took with him Peter
0:21and James and John and brought them up
0:24on a high mountain by themselves,
0:27and he was transfigured before them.
0:30and his garments became radiant and
0:33exceedingly white as no launderer on
0:36earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared
0:39to them along with Moses and they were
0:42talking with Jesus.
0:44Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good
0:47for us to be here. Let us make three
0:50tabernacles, one for you and one for
0:53Moses and one for Elijah."
0:56for he did not know what to answer, for
0:59they became terrified.
1:03Then a cloud formed overshadowing them,
1:06and a voice came out of the cloud. This
1:09is my beloved son. Listen to him. All at
1:14once they looked around and saw no one
1:16with them anymore except Jesus alone.
1:20As they were coming down from the
1:21mountain, he gave them orders not to
1:24relate to anyone what they had seen
1:27until the Son of Man rose from the dead.
1:31They seized upon that statement,
1:33discussing with one another what rising
1:36from the dead meant.
1:39They asked him, saying, "Why is it that
1:42the scribes say that Elijah must come
1:44first?"
1:46And he said to them, "Elijah does first
1:50come and restore all things. And yet,
1:54how is it written of the Son of Man that
1:56he will suffer many things and be
1:58treated with contempt?"
2:01But I say to you that Elijah has indeed
2:04come, and they did to him whatever they
2:08wished, just as it is written of him.
2:14So in the first verse
2:16Jesus makes a statement
2:19that is one of the most critical
2:21statements in our understanding of the
2:23kingdom.
2:26We know that the Jews were expecting a
2:28political kingdom, the Davidic dynasty.
2:31We know they were wanting the Messiah to
2:34overthrow the Roman oppression that they
2:37were suffering under, including the
2:39oppression of the Edomite King Herod.
2:43And we know that they were fixated on
2:46Jesus as the possible answer for this
2:49political problem. And yet everywhere he
2:53goes, he seems to be telling them that
2:56the kingdom is not what you think.
3:00It is not political. It is not physical.
3:03It is spiritual. But it is real. And it
3:07is for today.
3:09This verse in Mark 9:1 is one of the
3:12clearest places where Jesus
3:15unequivocally establishes
3:18that the kingdom that he came to bring
3:20is not going to come in a thousand
3:22years. It's not going to come after some
3:26future event. It is going to come before
3:28the disciples die. So he says, "Truly I
3:33say to you, he really wants them to get
3:36this. There are some of those who are
3:39standing here who will not taste death
3:42until they see the kingdom of God after
3:46it has come with power."
3:50Now this word power is the word he uses
3:52in Luke 24 when he says wait in the city
3:55of Jerusalem until you be clothed with
3:57power. This word power is the word he
4:00uses in Acts
4:025-8 when he says after the Holy Spirit
4:05has come upon you will receive power.
4:09So the kingdom event, the power event
4:13that launches the new nation is
4:17Pentecost. They did not die until they
4:20saw the reign and dominion of God come
4:24with power. That reign and dominion was
4:28real and present on Jesus Christ as one
4:31individual, but it was not real on a
4:34multitude. So he was the king, but he
4:37did not yet have a kingdom until the day
4:39of Pentecost. And when he returned in
4:42the mode and form of the spirit, that's
4:46when he started and launched the
4:48spiritual kingdom. And never again the
4:52did the disciples question about the
4:54kingdom.
4:55On the Mount of Olives just before he
4:57ascended, they asked him, "Is it at this
4:59time you will restore the kingdom to
5:02Israel?" and he pointed them to
5:04Pentecost. The answer to when is the
5:07kingdom coming is go and wait in the
5:10city of Jerusalem until you receive
5:12power.
5:14That was the power event. That was the
5:16day that celebrated when Moses came down
5:19from the mountain carrying the tablets
5:21of stone
5:22and that was the launch of the holy
5:25nation. Well, this it became the launch
5:27of the kingdom, the new holy nation that
5:30Jesus was establishing.
5:32And then we have this story of the
5:35transfiguration
5:38which in a sense is showing them what
5:42the glorified king is going to look
5:44like.
5:46So there's not an accident here. Mark
5:48isn't randomly putting this promise of
5:50the kingdom next to the transfiguration
5:54because if there's going to be a
5:56kingdom, there needs to be a crowning
5:58moment for the king. there needs to be a
6:00coronation. And so they're picturing
6:04some kind of triumphal entry. They're
6:06picturing some kind of great ceremony of
6:09pomp and circumstance, royal robes and
6:13horses and trumpet blasts. Instead, what
6:16he wants them to understand is that he
6:19has a glory with the presence of God. He
6:23has an access and fellowship with the
6:26father and with those who are in heaven
6:29who have gone before him. That is the
6:32glory of the kingdom. So what they see
6:35on the mount of transfiguration is a
6:38taste that the kingdom and the king is
6:41not political, it is not physical, it is
6:45spiritual and it is glorious.
6:49So then the first thing that Peter does
6:53when he is standing on this holy
6:55mountain, he's terrified.
6:58He doesn't know what to do. And so he
7:01says, "It is good that we should be
7:02here. Let us build three tabernacles.
7:05One for you, one for Moses, and one for
7:07Elijah." And this is a protottypical
7:11response to carnally-minded people when
7:14they encounter something special of the
7:17spirit of God. Let's build a shrine.
7:20Let's build a box. We don't know what to
7:23do. This scares us. So, let's build a
7:26really big box that we'll call a
7:27tabernacle and try to fit this
7:29experience into that. And then we'll
7:31understand it better. We'll be able to
7:32relate to it better. And Jesus doesn't
7:35even answer him. Nobody answers him.
7:37It's just such a meaningless statement
7:40that it falls to the ground. On their
7:43way back down the mountain, he tells
7:45them, "Don't tell anybody about this
7:46until after
7:49the son of man rises from the dead." And
7:52Mark tells us that they be they fixated
7:54on this phrase rises from the dead and
7:56asked each other, "What could this
7:58possibly mean?" Again, Mark is showing
8:02us that they had a construct, a mental
8:05expectation.
8:07They knew what was going to happen. And
8:10so, when he said things like rises from
8:12the dead, what on earth could that mean?
8:14I mean, it can't obviously mean that
8:15he's going to rise from the dead cuz
8:18he's not going to die.
8:20Their expectations were the problem.
8:22Their expectations were so fixated. They
8:26were like these tabernacles. They were
8:28like these boxes.
8:30and they were not going to be able to
8:31contain the glory of God.
8:34And then they ask him about Elijah and
8:36he tells them that Elijah did have to
8:38come first. Again, their construct
8:41expects Elijah coming in a certain way,
8:44but he's saying Elijah has already come
8:47in the life of John the Baptist. And
8:49they say and he says that they did to
8:52him whatever they wanted to do. And he
8:56says that the son of man is going to
8:58suffer just as it is written. Again, the
9:01whole picture is the kingdom's coming.
9:03It's spiritual. It doesn't fit in your
9:06boxes and your boxy expectations.
9:11And when they came back to the
9:12disciples, they saw a large crowd around
9:14them and some scribes arguing with them.
9:19Immediately when the entire crowd saw
9:22him, they were amazed and began running
9:25up to greet him. And he asked them,
9:28"What are you discussing with them?" And
9:31one of the crowd answered him, "Teacher,
9:34I brought you my son possessed
9:36[clears throat]
9:37with a spirit which makes him mute. And
9:40whenever it seizes him, it slams him to
9:43the ground and he foams at the mouth and
9:46grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I
9:49told your disciples to cast it out and
9:52they could not do it.
9:56The language here is very interesting.
9:59Jesus is telling them the kingdom is
10:01going to be real, but the kingdom is
10:03going to be spiritual glory.
10:06And then immediately we see what the
10:09kingdom should be. The kingdom should
10:12look like the disciples able to cast out
10:15the power of the devil because he's
10:18already said in Matthew, if I cast out
10:21demons by the spirit of God, then the
10:23kingdom of God has come upon you.
10:26So he's frustrated that the disciples
10:29can't cast it out. What's interesting is
10:32that the man brought his son while Jesus
10:35was away on the mountain.
10:37[clears throat]
10:38But the man says, "I brought my son to
10:41you
10:44and your disciples were not able to cast
10:47out the spirit." So the man saw the
10:50disciples
10:51as an extension of Jesus. He brought his
10:54son to them as if he were bringing it to
10:58Jesus. But clearly Jesus wasn't there.
11:01He's just showed up.
11:04I brought you my son possessed with a
11:06spirit which makes him mute. But then he
11:08says, "I told your disciples to cast it
11:11out and they could not do it."
11:16And he answered them and said, "Oh
11:18unbelieving generation,
11:21how long shall I be with you? How long
11:25shall I put up with you? bring him to
11:28me.
11:30They brought the boy to him, and when he
11:33saw him, immediately the spirit threw
11:35him into a convulsion, and falling to
11:37the ground, he began rolling around and
11:39foaming at the mouth.
11:42And he asked his father, "How long has
11:45this been happening to him?" And he
11:47said, "From childhood.
11:50It has often thrown him both into the
11:52fire and into the water to destroy him.
11:56But if you can do anything, take pity on
11:59us and help us.
12:01And Jesus said to him, "If you can,"
12:06he repeats back the man's statement, "If
12:10you can, if you can, all things are
12:14possible to him who believes."
12:17So he's just called the disciples a
12:20unbelieving generation.
12:23Now he says to the father, "You don't
12:25believe.
12:27All things are possible to him who
12:29believes."
12:31Immediately the boy's father cried out
12:33and said, "I do believe.
12:37Help my unbelief."
12:41When Jesus saw that a crowd was rapidly
12:43gathering, he rebuked the unclean
12:45spirit, saying to it, "You deaf and mute
12:48spirit, I command you, come out of him,
12:51and do not enter him again."
12:55After crying out and throwing him into
12:58terrible convulsions, it came out, and
13:00the boy became so much like a corpse
13:03that most of them said, "He is dead."
13:06But Jesus took him by the hand and
13:08raised him up. And he got up. When he
13:12came into the house, his disciples began
13:14questioning him privately, "Why could we
13:17not drive it out?" And he said to them,
13:20"This kind cannot come out by anything
13:24but prayer."
13:26Matthew says, "Prayer and fasting."
13:30In the equation, he blames unbelief the
13:33whole time.
13:35unbelieving in generation and unbelief
13:37in the father,
13:39the boy's dad. But then he says it can
13:42only come out through prayer. So what
13:45does that tell us is the purpose of
13:48prayer?
13:50To build up our faith. Jude would say,
13:55"Build yourself up in your most holy
13:58faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep
14:01yourself in the love of God." A huge
14:04part of prayer is to build your faith so
14:09that you can be obedient and active for
14:12the purpose of God. This is a powerful
14:16statement from the young man's father.
14:18It's something that we often quote
14:21where he responds to the rebuke, "Lord,
14:24I believe. Help my unbelief."
14:29And we can ask, would God have been able
14:32to help him if he had not had belief?
14:36No. He needs to have something. And the
14:39boy's father claims what he does have.
14:42Even though he senses it's not enough.
14:45Even though he accepts the rebuke that
14:47he's part of the unbelieving generation,
14:50he says, "I do have faith. Please help
14:53me with my unbelief." And that's the way
14:57to grow in our faith. It's not to
14:59confess our unbelief. It's to confess
15:02our belief and say, "God, I'm claiming
15:05that now. Help me with that part of me
15:08that doesn't believe."
15:13From there, they went out and began to
15:15go through Galilee. And he did not want
15:17anyone to know about it. For he was
15:20teaching his disciples and telling them,
15:22"The Son of Man is to be delivered into
15:25the hands of men, and they will kill
15:28him, and when he has been killed, he
15:30will rise three days later." But they
15:33did not understand this statement, and
15:36they were afraid to ask him.
15:40Here it is again. They have an
15:42expectation of what Messiah means, of
15:45what his ministry is going to look like.
15:47It's only been going for 3 years. Why is
15:51he talking about rising from the dead?
15:53And they're too scared to even ask him.
15:56They came to Capernaum and when he was
15:58in the house, he began to question them.
16:02What were you discussing on the way? As
16:04they kept silent, for on the way they
16:08had discussed with one another which of
16:11them was the greatest.
16:16It's kind of tragic.
16:18He's telling them three times in a row,
16:21I'm going to be betrayed. I'm going to
16:23be abused. I'm going to be crucified.
16:28And they're asking which of us is the
16:30greatest.
16:32Sitting down, he called the twel and
16:34said to them, "If anyone wants to be
16:37first,
16:39he shall be last of all and servant of
16:42all." Taking a child, he set him before
16:45them. And [clears throat] taking him in
16:47his arms, he said to them, "Whoever
16:50receives one child like this in my name
16:54receives me, and whoever receives me
16:57does not receive me, but him who sent
16:59me."
17:01So in this equation, he's telling them
17:05that the kind of great that they want to
17:08be is not available.
17:12There's not going to be lording it over
17:15people. There's not going to be
17:16controlling people. There's not going to
17:19be this status that the Romans and
17:22Gentiles have. Instead, if you want to
17:25be great, you're going to have to shift
17:27your paradigm of great from great
17:30position to great love, to great faith,
17:35to great service.
17:37And so if you're looking for great love,
17:40great faith, great service, then be last
17:44and be the servant of all. And he takes
17:47a child and he put puts him before the
17:50disciples and he says, "This is what I
17:52want you to be more like because whoever
17:56receives this child receives the one who
17:58sent him. And I just want you to be
18:01children who can go to others in the
18:04humility
18:06of service and love and then they won't
18:08be receiving you. They'll be receiving
18:11me and the one who sent me. He's
18:14basically saying it's not about us in
18:17our flesh and it can never be.
18:21So the less conscious you are of your
18:22ego in that sense the more like a child
18:25you are the more able you are to channel
18:28the one who sent you. John said to him
18:32teacher we saw someone casting out
18:35demons in your name and we tried to
18:36prevent him because he was not following
18:38us.
18:40Now Jesus has just said whoever receives
18:43a child receives me.
18:46And John's thinking, hm, maybe we should
18:50ask him to weigh in on this thing that
18:52we did to this poor guy outside of town
18:54because we might have just done
18:56something that is in contradiction to
18:58what he's suggesting here. Maybe this
19:01man who is casting out demons is one of
19:03these children and we should have let it
19:05be. So John says, "Uh, teacher,
19:08[clears throat]
19:08we saw someone casting out demons in
19:10your name and we tried to prevent him
19:12because he was not following us. He
19:14sounds like a normal Christian.
19:17He doesn't go to our church, so he
19:20shouldn't be doing any of this. But
19:22Jesus said to him, "Do not hinder him,
19:25for there is no one who will perform a
19:28miracle in my name and be able soon
19:32afterward to speak evil of me." For he
19:36who is not against us is for us.
19:40Elsewhere he's going to say whoever is
19:42not for us is against us. And here he
19:44says whoever is not against us is for
19:47us. What he's saying is there's no
19:48neutral ground. There's no meridian
19:51people. You're either for or you're
19:54against. This is fulfilling what was
19:56spoken by Simeon the prophet when he
19:58blessed Jesus and he said he will be a
20:01sign to be spoken against and he will
20:03cause the rising and falling of many in
20:07Israel. But he's not there's no neutral
20:09ground. You're going to make a decision.
20:11You're going to be for or against. But
20:14he says something. He says, "No one who
20:16performs a miracle in my name will soon
20:19afterward be able to speak evil of me."
20:22So Jesus was very conscious that one of
20:25his biggest hindrances was slander.
20:28Slander was spreading. Slander that was
20:31rooted in competition, that was rooted
20:32in envy, that was rooted in religious
20:35pride. It was spreading everywhere. And
20:38he thought, well, this is a step in the
20:40right direction. If somebody can benefit
20:43and participate in the grace that we're
20:46bringing, at least they'll stop
20:48slandering.
20:50For whoever gives you a cup of water to
20:53drink because of your name as followers
20:55of Christ, truly I say to you, he will
20:58not lose his reward.
21:01Whoever causes one of these little ones
21:03who believe in me to stumble, it would
21:06be better for him
21:08if with a heavy millstone hung around
21:10his neck, he had been cast into the sea.
21:13So now he's saying, "This guy that you
21:15stopped, he's one of the little children
21:18and he believes in me and he's serving
21:21my grace to others. And if you stop him,
21:25if you make him turn against us when he
21:27should be for us, you ought to have a
21:29millstone hung around your neck and
21:30thrown into the sea. Don't quench
21:34childlike faith. Protect it, guard it,
21:37celebrate it. It's going to receive the
21:39reward of those who serve the Lord. And
21:42then he begins to speak about the sin
21:46that the disciples need to overcome, the
21:49sin
21:50that causes them to stumble.
21:52If your hand causes you to stumble, cut
21:54it off. It is better for you to enter
21:57life crippled than having two hands to
21:59go into hell into the unquenchable fire.
22:03Right here, we know that stumbling
22:06without repentance leads to judgment.
22:10There's no way around it. Stumbling
22:13without repentance leads to judgment.
22:16So, stop tolerating stumbling and get
22:18radical and cut it off.
22:22We also know that hell is the
22:24unquenchable fire.
22:27So this is powerful disturbing
22:31theology from Jesus about sin and
22:35eternal judgment.
22:37He does not say if you stumble get used
22:39to it. You're human. He says if you
22:42stumble cut it off. And he uses this
22:45idea that our hand is causing us to sin.
22:50And what it really is saying is that our
22:52hand is the occasion for sin. We are
22:57touching something that we shouldn't be
22:59touching. We are looking at something
23:02that we shouldn't be looking at.
23:04We are walking somewhere that we
23:06shouldn't be going. And he's not
23:09suggesting self mutilation. He's not
23:13actually suggesting that our hand is the
23:15cause in itself. He's saying it's the
23:18occasion. And so he's using this
23:21metaphorical language to say, "Cut off
23:24your contact points with sin.
23:28Cut off those occasions in your life
23:31where you keep stumbling in the same
23:32way.
23:34Those aren't causing you to do it, but
23:37they are the occasion, and you could cut
23:39them off. You could show seriousness
23:42that would reveal humility that God
23:44would give grace to.
23:48If your hand causes you to stumble, cut
23:50it off. It is better for you to enter
23:51life crippled than having your two hands
23:54to go into hell into the unquenchable
23:56fire where their worm does not die and
24:00the fire is not quenched. If your foot
24:03causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is
24:05better for you to enter life lame than
24:06having two feet to be cast into hell.
24:10And the word that he's using here refers
24:12to Gehenna, which was the garbage dump
24:14outside of Jerusalem. It's where people
24:18brought their garbage and the fire never
24:19went out and the maggots were always
24:22squirming. It's a place of filth, but it
24:25was named after hell. Hell was not named
24:28after it. So he is using that as a
24:32figure and type of hell. But he's
24:34clearly [music] not saying that people
24:35are going to end up in the garbage dump.
24:37He's saying that garbage dump is a
24:40symbol of eternal judgment. If your foot
24:44causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is
24:46better for you to enter life lame than
24:48having your two feet to be cast into
24:50hell, where their worm does not die and
24:53their fire is not quenched. If your eye
24:56causes you to stumble, throw it out. It
24:58is better for you to enter the kingdom
25:00of God with one eye than having two eyes
25:02to be cast into hell where their worm
25:05does not die and their fire is not
25:07quenched. For everyone
25:10will be salted with fire.
25:14Everyone will be seasoned with fire. So
25:19he's saying you're going to go through
25:21painful, agonizing things and they're
25:24either going to be a seasoning influence
25:27on you or they're going to be hell.
25:29Don't let it be the latter. Let your
25:32life be affected by pain. Don't let it
25:35be your [music] destination.
25:38Salt is good, but if the salt becomes
25:41unsalty,
25:43with what will you make it salty again?
25:46Have salt in yourselves and be at peace
25:49with one another.
25:52Seasoned with fire may refer to how they
25:54used salt [music] and smoke to cure
25:57meats,
25:59to keep flesh from rotting.
26:02And so he's saying, "Let there be
26:05something in you that stops the decay of
26:09becoming part of this world. Stops the
26:13rot of contamination in this
26:15[clears throat] fallen world.
26:18[music]
26:29>> [music]

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