Bible Commentaries
Mark 9

Verse 1

1 This statement of Jesus denotes that the kingdom of heaven was not yet set up, and also it was to come in the lifetime of some men then living. Since all of the people living then are dead, we know that the kingdom of heaven has been in existence for centuries and that much teaching on that subject today is false.

Verse 2

2 Six days after the conversation of the preceding verse is what is meant. These are the three apostles whom Jesus frequently took with him on special missions. To be transfigured means to take on another appearance.

Verse 3

3 White raiment indicates purity and heavenly splendor. A fuller is a cleanser of cloth and no man in that occupation could put a garment into the condition of whiteness that appeared upon the body of Jesus.

Verse 4

4 Elias is the same as Elijah of the Old Testament who went to heaven in a whirlwind (2Ki 2:11) and hence never died. Moses was the lawgiver of the Old Testament and died (Deu 34:5). Peter, James and John had not died and were therefore still in the flesh. So at this event the three states of man were represented, the fleshly, the intermediate and the eternal.

Verse 5

5 Peter had a feeling of hospitality and wished to provide for the guests, which indicates they had the appearance of men who could be cared for in earthly housing.

Verse 6

6 Wist is an obsolete word meaning he knew not what to say, or, he did not realize what he was saying. Sore afraid means they were exceedingly amazed.

Verse 7

7 The announcement from the cloud was like the one heard at the baptism of Jesus except it had the words, hear him. The earthly work of Jesus was virtually completed and the authority of the Son of God over Moses and the prophets was thus announced in this important assembly.

Verse 8

8 The purpose of the visit of the special guests was accomplished, and when the apostles rallied from their amazement they noted the absence of Moses and Elias.

Verse 9

9 This vision was so special that the public in general was not yet ready for its announcement. (See the comments on chapter 8:30.)

Verse 10

0 The restriction Jesus placed on them which was connected with the resurrection confused the apostles. They discussed the subject among themselves and then decided to ask Jesus a question.

Verse 11

1 The apostles did not realize that Elias was used figuratively only.

Verse 12

2 Jesus affirmed the prediction that Elias was to come first and restore all things, which means to get things in readiness for Christ.

Verse 13

3 Jesus then explained that the prediction had been fulfilled. This matter is explained in more detail at Mat 17:10-12.

Verse 14

4 Came to his disciples means the ones Jesus left waiting while he was in the mount. The scribes were generally at hand with their critical questions, and when they could not approach Jesus they contacted his disciples.

Verse 15

5 The people means the crowd in general who were usually in a favorable frame of mind toward Jesus. Their attention was called to him and they were greatly amazed or surprised. But they were favorably impressed by his sudden appearance for they came and saluted him.

Verse 16

6 Jesus asked the scribes why they were questioning the disciples. As far as the text goes they never answered the question put to them by Jesus.

Verse 17

7 One of the multitude (not one of the scribes) announced to Jesus that he had brought his son unto him. That denotes that he came with his son expecting to meet Jesus. But as he was not with the disciples the father had turned the case over to them. A dumb spirit is stated because it had that effect on the boy. We know it does not. literally mean the devil that was dumb for when Jesus commanded it to come out (verse 26) it cried which shows the spirit itself was not dumb.

Verse 18

8 These symptoms were the effects this particular spirit had on the boy. The possession of evil spirits did not always work the same, the reason for which is not made known in the text. The father then stated that the disciples could not cast the evil spirit out of his son.

Verse 19

9 This charge of faithfulness was meant for the disciples (Mat 17:20).

Verse 20

0 These terrible symptoms were the results of being possessed with a devil. The devils knew Jesus and feared him, but as a desperate piece of vengeance when this one saw Jesus he overcame the boy and inflicted the injuries mentioned.

Verse 21

1 This son had been possessed with the devil most of his life.

Verse 22

2 The child evidently would have lost his life had it not been for friends.

Verse 23

3 All things are possible as far as the Lord's power is concerned, but he does not bestow that power unless the case is regarded worthy, and that point is frequently (not always) determined by the degree of faith manifested.

Verse 24

4 Believe and unbelief seem like opposite terms. The man said he did believe, so the request meant that his faith should be made stronger.

Verse 25

5 Jesus did not want the commotion to become too great so he did his work promptly. The devils are intelligent beings is the reason the Lord could command them.

Verse 26

6 The spirit cried which shows it was not dumb, but it had produced dumbness at times in the boy. Having suffered these attacks from early childhood the boy was exhausted when the devil was cast out so that he appeared to be dead.

Verse 27

7 Jesus then cured the boy of his weakness so that he arose.

Verse 28

8 The disciples were baffled over their failure to cast out the devil, and when they had a chance alone they asked Jesus to explain this failure.

Verse 29

9 The account that Mark gives is very brief. For a fuller treatment of the subject see the text and my comments at Mat 17:20-21..

Verse 30

0 This verse means that Jesus wished to have as much privacy as possible. His public work was about over and it was unnecessary to meet the public as he had.

Verse 31

1 Jesus warned his disciples of what was coming, and the same things had been prophesied in the Old Testament.

Verse 32

2 The language of Jesus was plain and he used words that were in common use. The reason the disciples did not understand them was their delusion of an earthly kingdom they thought he was going to set up.

Verse 33

3 Jesus did not need to ask questions for information (Joh 2:25), but this was his way of bringing the subject before the disciples, for he knew they had been disputing about it as they were going to Capernaum.

Verse 34

4 They held their peace because they felt ashamed as well as surprised that he could read what had not been intended for him even to hear. They had an earthly form of kingdom In mind that Jesus was to set up, and were contending among themselves about who should be in the highest position as a member of it.

Verse 35

5 True greatness is the subject of this speech of Jesus. In earthly kingdoms it is usual for men to seek prominence and try to become great from the standpoint of authority over others. In the kingdom of heaven it is just the opposite of that. One reason is that this kingdom is an absolute monarchy, and in such a government any attempt of the citizens to attain to greatness in the nature of authority must be interpreted as an infringement upon the king.

Verse 36

6 This child was small for Jesus took him in his arms, after he had placed him in full view of the apostles.

Verse 37

7 Receiving a little child in the name of Christ means to do so because of the comparison between them. A man who will do that is bound to have a humble attitude, and humility is what constitutes true greatness in the kingdom of Christ. Receiveth not me, but him, etc. This denotes the close association between Christ and his Father. No person can obtain any favor from one of them if he ignores the other.

Verse 38

8 We notice that no denial was made as to whether the man actually was casting out devils. The complaint was that he was not walking along bodily in the same crowd with Jesus and the twelve. John did not understand that only the apostles were required to "be with him" in that sense. (See chapter 3:14.)

Verse 39

9 The fact the man was actually casting out devils proved that he was a true disciple. Had he been a mere pretender he would have failed as did the men reported in Act 19:13-16 who were brought to such shameful defeat.

Verse 40

0 There is no actual neutrality with regard to matters pertaining to Christ. A man may not be very active in an unrighteous life, but unless he is active in the service for Christ he is counted as being "on the other side" (Oba 1:11).

Verse 41

1 This is to be understood in the same light as verse 37.

Verse 42

2 When a man becomes like a little child he is then classed as a little one in the sense of the word here. This is evident from the truth that he can be offended which means to stumble or do wrong, and that is possible only with a person of responsible age and mentality.

Verse 43

3 Offend means to cause to stumble or do wrong. The hand is a valuable member of the body and is used to illustrate anything one might be cherishing but that causes him to do wrong. One would give up the hand if it became diseased and endangered the whole life of the man. Likewise, we should sacrifice any practice or associate however dear, if our spiritual welfare should be endangered by it. A description of hell as it is defined In the lexicon may be seen with comments on Mat 5:30.

Verse 44

4 All of the illustrations that are ever used here or elsewhere as to the duration of punishment, must be interpreted to mean that the unsaved will be in punishment that will be conscious and endless: Their worm dieth not is commented upon by another writer in better language than I can produce as follows: "The awfully vivid idea of an undying worm, everlastingly consuming an unconsumable body." The reason the worm will not die is that the body will not be consumed, even though in the midst of an unquenchable fire, and hence there will always be something to keep the worm alive.

Verse 45

5 The foot is used instead of the hand, otherwise the lesson in this verse is the same as that in verse 48 on the subject of making self-denials.

Verse 46

6 Worm dieth not is explained at verse 44.

Verse 47

7 This is the same lesson as in verses 43 and 45.

Verse 48

8 See verse 44 for the explanation of this.

Verse 49

9 Salted with fire. Here we see fire used figuratively for salt. Salt, through its preserving qualities, tends to perpetuate an object brought into contact with it. It is thus connected with the fire of perdition because of the perpetual duration of that fire. Salt is used with the idea of perpetuation in Num 18:19.

Verse 50

0 Just as salt is used to illustrate the perpetuation of the punishment of the wicked, so it also can preserve and perpetuate the good qualities of man. Jesus exhorted the disciples not to let the salt of their good lives lose its strength. They could have peace one with another by using the salt of brotherly love.