Mark 9:30-50

Humble, obedient servants get the good seats
Mark 9:30-50

Jesus and His disciples were walking back to Capernaum.  On the way, Jesus predicted his death a second time.  I’m sure they were shocked.  Knowing now that Jesus might soon be gone, what did they do?  They started vying for power as Jesus’ right-hand man!

After Jesus predicted His death, the disciples spent their time deciding who among them was the greatest.  When they get to Capernaum, Jesus asked the disciples what they were talking about, since He wasn’t with them the whole time.  They remained silent because they knew that Jesus would be mad at them if He knew what they were talking about.  Jesus, being God, of course already knew, so he gave them His answer to their debate; “Whoever is to become the greatest must be the least on earth and a slave to all”  To further emphasize His point, Jesus then grabbed a child and said that anyone who received a child in His (Jesus’) name received God into his heart.  This “receiving” of the child involved recognizing the child as an equal, and since children were without status, as were lepers, prostitutes and to some extent women, this would have involved a great deal of humility and attitude adjustment.  Jesus was asking a lot from His disciples!

Wanting to deflect this issue, John mentioned that someone was casting out demons in Jesus’ name who was not a follower of Jesus.  Jesus responded with “That’s great!  Once that person sees the power of God, he won’t speak against us.”  Jesus then stated that famous line “For he who is not against us is for us.”  Jesus further elaborated that the man casting out demons, or anyone else doing work in Jesus’ name would receive his reward in Heaven.

Wow, that was a lot to take in, but Jesus didn’t stop there.  He then stated that NOT doing the will of God could cause them and those around them to stumble into sin and wind up in hell.  Hell is a bad place AND it’s eternal.

Jesus then finished up with a note on preservatives: salt.  All of us will be preserved for eternity somewhere.  Those who wind up in hell will be salted with fire.  Earthly salt doesn’t last forever and isn’t much of a preservative — it leads to that “hot salt.”  Jesus would rather have us be preserved in His grace which dwells in us, gives us peace, and lasts forever.  While on earth, we must try to preserve as many people as we can by using the power of God and by being servants to all.  That’s the “good salt” that will preserve us for a heavenly eternity!