Arrogant Apostles, Mutilation & Salt

Mark 9:33-50

Three stories occur in this section of Mark.  The first two are about the arrogance of the apostles that Jesus chose.  At one point they argue over which one of them is the greatest.  In the second case, they attempt to stop someone outside their group.  In the third section Jesus recommends bodily mutilation, if required, to get into the kingdom of God (the Church).  He also uses another verse from Isaiah, poorly.  Somehow he segues this quote into being the salt of the earth.

Again the disciples are afraid of what Jesus will tell them if they speak up (like in Mark 8:32) and for similar reasons.  Those reasons would include Mark 8:33 and Mark 9:19, Jesus was feeling very human at this point and was taking it out on his disciples.  At this point in Jesus’ ministry he was not the loving figure that “Christians” make him out to be.  The disciples knew this and were afraid to ask questions, especially if the question would expose their sin (here pride) or foolishness.  Jesus figures out that (or knew and was testing them) what it was about:

Mark 9:35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

I wish more “Christians” wanted to be the first!  Please Christians have the desire to be the best, the first…because we really need at least some of you to think about someone besides yourselves.

This is also were one of the Gospel variations of “being like little children” is discussed.  It is not in full detail, but the concept of only little children will inherit the kingdom of God is worth discussing in topical format later.

The second example of the pride of the apostles appears in the next story.  It is about the man who is throwing out demons in the name of Jesus, yet is not a disciple of Jesus.  This is the “converse” of Matthew 12:30, in this verse:

Mark 9:40 for whoever is not against us is for us.

Compared to:

Mat 12:30 He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.

Unfortunately these two verses are incompatible.  Not just because of the person in the middle is OK in one verse and bad in another verse, but because allowing separate teachers has done exactly what we see in the Church today…disunity.  Disunity in the Church is often a topic that Paul writes about and will be a topical study in the future.

In the last part we read about how Jesus condones personal mutilation to gain salvation.  He offers cutting off the hand or leg and plucking out the eyes to ensure entering not just heaven (after death) but the kingdom of God (the Church) here on earth.  Remember that:

Mark 9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”

He also uses phrases like “enter life maimed than…” twice.  So there is no doubt that he is talking about actual real physical mutilation in this verse. 

This is also the section where he quotes Isaiah (his favorite prophet), and does a rather poor job of it (unless the translation into English is corrupted).  Read the entire paragraph in Isaiah 22-24.  It is quite clear reading this verse that these are dead bodies right outside the place where all the saved live (within traveling distance).  The rebels against YHWH are dead and dead bodies don’t feel anything!  So what if there are worms and fire…there are no physical nerve receptors in a dead body.

As I said in the introduction, Jesus slips directly into salting the people with fire, everyone is included (Christian and non-christian).  One of his unanswered questions is a good one:

Mark 9:50 Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?  Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”

Christianity has lost its saltiness, how can you regain your saltiness?  I little is good, but Christianity is so bland now, someone must put some salt on it.  But what is even more puzzling is how to be salty yet be at peace because of the salt.  The best explanation is that salt brings out the best flavors in food, so why do Christians not bring out the best in each other?  Instead, they attempt to make everyone just like themselves.

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This entry was posted on June 19, 2010, 7:26 am at 07:26 and is filed under kingdom of God, Gospel of Mark, Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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