Mark 9:30 - Meaning and Application

Here, Christ tells of his coming sufferings. He hurried through Galilee more quickly than usual and did not want anyone to know it (Mark 9:30). He had done many great and good works among them, but many had used them poorly, so he did not invite fresh attention from them. The time of his suffering was near, so he chose to be private for a while and speak only with his disciples. He wanted to prepare them for the trial ahead (Mark 9:31).

He told them, “The Son of Man is being handed over,” by the fixed plan and foreknowledge of God, “into the hands of men” (Mark 9:31), and they will kill him. It would not have seemed so strange if he had been handed over to demons and troubled by them, but it is shocking that men, who have reason and should have love, would act so cruelly toward the Son of Man, who came to save them. Still, notice this, when Christ spoke of his death, he always spoke of his resurrection too. That removed the shame of his death from himself, and it should have lessened his disciples’ grief.

But they did not understand what he said (Mark 9:32). The words were clear enough, but they could not fit them with what they expected. So they imagined he must mean something hidden, something they could not yet grasp, and they were afraid to ask him. It was not because he was hard to approach or harsh with those who asked him questions. It may have been because they did not want to know the truth, or because they expected rebuke for being slow to accept it. Many stay ignorant because they are ashamed to ask.

He also rebukes his disciples for exalting themselves. When he came to Capernaum, he asked them privately what they had argued about on the way (Mark 9:33). He knew the dispute already, but he wanted them to confess their fault and foolishness. We should all expect to answer to the Lord Jesus for what we do while we are on the way through this life. We must answer especially for our words, for by our words we will be justified or condemned. Our conversations, and especially our arguments, will be brought up again, and we will give an account for them.

Of all disputes, Christ will certainly question his disciples about quarrels over rank and superiority. That was the issue here, who was the greatest (Mark 9:34). Nothing could be more against the two great laws of Christ’s kingdom, humility and love, than wanting status in the world and arguing about it. He kept checking this wrong spirit because it came from a false idea of his kingdom, as if it were worldly. It also hurt the honor and purity of his gospel, and he knew it would damage the church.

They tried to hide this fault, and so they kept silent (Mark 9:34). They would not ask, because they were ashamed to admit their ignorance, and here they would not answer because they were ashamed to admit their pride. But he wanted to correct the fault in them and lead them to a better spirit. So he sat down for a serious talk with them and called the twelve to him. He told them that wanting to be first would not bring them ahead in his kingdom. It would only put them last. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and human pride brings people down.

He also told them that there is no rank under him except more work and more service. If anyone wants to be first, then he must be even more active and more ready to serve everyone. He who wants the office of a bishop, that is, a church overseer, desires a good work, because he must labor more and make himself the servant of all, as Paul did. Those who are most humble and self-denying are the ones who most resemble Christ, and he will own them most tenderly.

He taught this with an example. He took a child in his arms, a child with no pride or ambition. “Whoever receives one such child,” he said, receives me. Those with a humble, meek, and gentle spirit are the people I will approve, and I want others to treat them with honor too. What is done to them, I count as done to me. My Father does the same, because whoever receives me receives the one who sent me, and that person will be counted as having done it for God and will be rewarded.

He also rebukes them for looking down on everyone except themselves. While they were arguing about which of them was greatest, they would not allow anyone outside their circle to matter. John told him about the restraint they had put on a man who was using Christ’s name to cast out demons, because he was not part of their group. Though they were ashamed to admit their fight over rank, they seem to have taken pride in this act of authority, and they likely expected Jesus to approve it and even praise them for it.

“Teacher,” John said, “we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we stopped him because he does not follow us” (Mark 9:38). It was surprising that a man who was not one of the known disciples could still cast out demons in Christ’s name, since that seemed to belong to those Jesus had sent out. Some think he was a disciple of John the Baptist, who used the name of the Messiah as the one who was coming, not knowing that Jesus was that Messiah. It seems more likely that he used the name of Jesus and believed him to be the Christ, just as the other disciples did. Why could he not receive that power from Christ, whose Spirit goes where he wills, without the same outward calling the apostles had? There may have been many such people. Christ’s grace is not limited to the visible church.

It was also strange that a man who cast out demons in Christ’s name would not join the apostles and follow Christ with them, but continue acting apart from them. I can think of no reason for that, except that he was unwilling to leave everything to follow them. If so, that was a bad heart behind the action. The thing did not look right, and so the disciples forbade him to use Christ’s name as they did unless he would follow Christ as they did.

This is much like Joshua’s reaction when Eldad and Medad prophesied in the camp and did not go up with the others to the tent of meeting. Joshua said, “My lord Moses, stop them” (Numbers 11:28). In the same way, people are quick to think that those who do not follow Christ with us are not following him at all, or that those who do not do things exactly as we do are doing nothing well.

But the Lord knows who belongs to him, even when his people are scattered. This should warn us not to let a strong concern for church unity, or for something we know is right and good, make us oppose work that may help the church grow in another way.

Jesus then gave them this correction, “Do not stop him” (Mark 9:39). It was like the rebuke Moses gave to Joshua: “Are you jealous for my sake?” What is good, and what does good, should not be stopped, even if it is done with some weakness or imperfect order.

Casting out demons, and so destroying Satan’s kingdom, doing it in Christ’s name, and so openly honoring him as God’s sent Savior, preaching against sin, and preaching up Christ, are all good things, very good things. They should not be forbidden just because the worker does not follow with us. If Christ is preached, Paul says he will rejoice, even if others seem to outshine him (Philippians 1:18).

Christ gives two reasons why such people should not be stopped. First, we should not assume that anyone using Christ’s name to do miracles would then speak evil of his name, as the scribes and Pharisees did. Some did cast out demons in Christ’s name and still lived badly in other ways, but they did not blaspheme Christ.

Second, those who differ in church fellowship, yet still stand together against Satan under Christ’s banner, should see one another as on the same side. “Whoever is not against us is for us.” On the great question of Christ and Beelzebub, Jesus had said, “Whoever is not with me is against me” (Matthew 12:30). There, to refuse Christ was to choose Satan.

But when it comes to people who do own Christ, even if they do not do so in the same way or under the same outward order, we must count them as not against us. They are on our side, and we should not block what they can do for good.