The Path To Humility-Mark 9:30-50

As we begin this morning, go ahead and turn in your copies of God’s Word to Mark 9:30-50. We will be reading verses 30-37 shortly, so please have the passage ready. Last Sunday morning we looked at the the account where Jesus cast the demon out of a young boy. It was an account that opened with the disciples in the midst of an argument with the scribes that was likely based on their inability to cast the demon out of the boy. The disciples had evidently spent a great deal of time and effort in casting the demon out of the boy, all the while never once having looked to God in prayer. It was a lesson on faith, but not just any faith, but faith in One worthy of our faith. You see the disciples had faith, but it was faith in themselves, which is why they never went to God in prayer. It was also a story about the faith of a father, and while his faith may have been insignificant, the object of his insignificant faith was Jesus, which brought about miraculous results.

In this morning’s passage, we will see Jesus and the disciples begin their trip south from Mount Hermon, a trip that will bring them to Jerusalem in the coming months for Jesus date with the cross to fulfill the purpose and plan of God the Father. With that as an introduction, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word? Next Slide

Mark 9:30–37 ESV

30 They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31 for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32 But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. 33 And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35 And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

May the Lord add His blessing to the reading of His Word. Please be seated.

In looking at this account in Luke 9:43, we see that the crowd was absolutely astonished at what Jesus had done. Actually. more accurately Luke records “And all were astonished at the majesty of God.” In other words, all that Jesus was doing brought the focus of the crowd to God the Father. Additionally, from Luke’s account we are led to believe that the miracle of Him casting the demon out of the young boy was one of many miracles He performed that day. The crowd marveled “at everything He was doing.” The Greek word for “marveled” “means to be filled with wonder and astonishment at something outside the realm of human explanation.

Combining Luke’s account with the account we are looking at from Mark, we get the impression that while the crowd was in the midst of their astonishment, Jesus and His disciples quietly slipped away. For the majority of the time now, leading up to the Cruxifixction, much of Jesus attention would be turned to preparing and teaching the disciples for their ministry in His absence. Like the crowds, the disciples were also astonished at Jesus power, and the result of their astonishment cultivated doubt, not doubt in Jesus ability, not doubt that He was in fact the “Christ, the Son of the living God”, but doubt that there was any chance whatsoever that He would ever have to suffer and die. They had seen too much in His power over all things to believe that could ever happen. In Luke’s account Jesus speaks to them on the road to Capernaum saying “Let these words sink into your ears”. Do you recall what God the Father said to Peter, James and John from the cloud on the Mount of the Transfiguration? (“This is My beloved Son; listen to Him.”) Jesus here is reiterating what God the Father proclaimed on the Mount of Transfiguration.

So, what were the words that were to “sink into” their ears? That brings us to the first step from this mornings passage that puts us on The Path To Humility: Next Slide

The Personal Example Of Humility. Vs. 31; Mt. 17:22; Lk. 9:44; Phpns. 2:5-8; Acts 2:23

This is the 2nd time in the Gospel of Mark Jesus endeavors to teach the 12 regarding His divine appointment with death. The first we looked at a few weeks ago, we find it in Mark 8:31. Based on Jesus discussion with Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter James and John had an additional lesson as that was what Jesus was discussing with the 2 legends from the Old Testament.

One thing to note as we look at this lesson from Jesus, when He uses the word “delivered” He does so for a very specific reason. This term is a legal term. Very much like we see in modern times. After a jury has reviewed all of the details of a case and reaches a verdict, the jury enters back into the court room and “delivers” the verdict for the judge to read aloud. That is the word used here. in other words, Jesus was to go through a legal process. This was not going to be a hasty stoning at the hands of an angry crowd, it was going through a legal process. And while, to a certain degree, He was delivered by the elders, chief priests, scribes and other people, ultimately it was the very Hand of God behind His delivery to death. In Acts 2:23 we read;

Acts 2:23 ESV

23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

Which leads us to the beautiful description the Apostle Paul gives us of Jesus humility in Philippians 2:5-8 where we read;

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality of God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant(note Mark 10:45), being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross.” Ph. 2:5-8 NIV ‘85

From a personal example of humility we move to our next lesson in humility, only this lesson doesn’t come from Jesus, it comes from His disciples. This lesson is: Next Slide

The Opposite Of Humility. Vs. 33-34 & 38-41; Lk. 9:46

By this point they have made the journey from the region of Caesarea Philippi south to Capernaum. They took unbeaten paths because Jesus wanted some uninterrupted time to teach the 12. Based on the language of verse 30 where we read “for He was teaching His disciples”, this was not a one time teaching, he was teaching, He was teaching them while on the way. This is important, because at some point in time while He was teaching them, they took a break from His teaching to argue among themselves as to which of them would be “the greatest”. Something tells me they weren’t getting the gist of His lesson on humility!

Do you recall last week when I mentioned that “Jesus didn’t ask questions in an effort to find out the answer?” We see that illustrated at the end of verse 33 when Jesus asks; “What were you discussing on the way?” As we read on we hear nothing but crickets! We will get to Jesus response in a moment, but the first thing to note we see that while Jesus was patterning humility to the disciples, they had somehow developed a: Next Slide

Pride in self. Vs. 33-34

I am not sure what brought this on, but I wonder if part of this might not have been a discussion of what took place on the Mount of Transfiguration, well maybe not what, more like who, as in who was there! Maybe the discussion went something like this as the 9 who stayed back approached Peter, James and John;

“So what happened while you all were on the mountain?”

Peter, the spokesman, looks at James and John, smiles knowingly and says;

“We can’t tell you.”

“What do you mean; ‘We can’t tell you’?”

At this point I picture Peter puffing his chest out a little bit, maybe looking down his nose a bit at the 9 and saying;

“Well, Jesus only invited James, John and me to be a part of this magnificent event, you see He holds us in high regard. I’m sure you have noticed this before!”

By now the other 9 were fuming. Maybe at this point Judas interrupted and said; “Wait a second, He trust me with the money bags.” Phillip speaks up, “Yeah, well I’m the one He put in charge of the accounting paperwork!” Simon the Zealot interjects; “Keep in mind I am the only Zealot He invited! If we’re going to be a part of a revolution, do you think He’s going to use a fisherman as a General!”

Back and forth the conversation went. You see, that is the way things go when pride in self enters into our minds. Everything becomes about you and me, not about the Savior.

By the way, this isn’t the last time we see this type of argument take place, we see this happening all the way up to the night before His death, right after He knelt before them in humility and washed their feet!

There is something else we see take place, we see this in verses 38-41. Right after Jesus gives them a Picture of Humility (we will look at that picture shortly, but right after that picture John speaks up.

“Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your Name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”

You would have thought they would have been thrilled, finally You are gaining followers that really want to make a difference, and a difference in Your Name! But that is not what we see happen. You see, they weren’t operating in humility, they were operating in self pride and that pride in self had created an attitude of :

Next Slide

Pride Creates Exclusivity. Vs. 38-41; Lk. 9:49-50

Notice John doesn’t say “he was not following You”. Not at all, he said “he was not following us”. On top of the exclusivity, there may also have been some jealousy as well, don’t forget, just a few verses ago, the 9 that stayed behind tried and failed at casting a demon out of a young boy, and along comes someone, not even a part of their select group that had cast out multiple demons! They were having none of that from this outsider. Their prideful hearts had created in them an attitude of exclusivity, and it didn’t matter that this man appeared to be a true follower of Jesus, he wasn’t one of them! What is even more telling is that this heart of exclusivity came moment after Jesus had given them a: Next Slide

The Picture Of Humility. Vs. 35-37; Mt. 18:1-5; Lk. 9:47-48

At the beginning of verse 35 we see Jesus pull up a chair, sit down and call the 12 to Him. This was standard operating procedure for a Jewish Rabbi. He would call his students to him, he would then take a seat and begin to teach them. It is at this point where we come to the realization that Jesus wasn’t asking them about their discussion-better put-argument, on the way south to Capernaum. He knew exactly what they had been arguing about and as a result He called a little boy to come alongside Him. But right before He called for the little boy, He said to the 12; “If anyone would be first, he must be servant of all.” Then, He called for the small boy. Based on the original language, this boy would have been just old enough to stand on his own, but still quite small. This was not done by accident. You see, in ancient Jewish times society didn’t extoll the virtues of small children the way we do in the United States. In those days many children didn’t see their 5th birthday, and right or wrong, parents often times didn’t get to attached to the youngest children. It was like a defense mechanism from the pain of child loss. Additionally, among the Jews, both women and children were considered auxiliary members of the community, who were completely dependent on men, small children even more so than women.

Jesus then takes this small child up in His arms, sits him down in His lap and continues His lesson in humility. Don’t miss this powerful picture here. In picking up this young boy, barely old enough to stand on his own two feet, holding him on His lap and in His arms and teaching about humility. When you combine the account in Mark with the same account in Matthew, we watch as Jesus paints for them a very powerful picture lesson. He is essentially; “You see this child here. This child is insignificant in the eyes of the world. Actually, beyond insignificant, in the eyes of the world this child is The picture of what it means to be last. But that’s not the way it is in My kingdom. If you want to be great in My kingdom, become like a little child, to the point where everyone else becomes more important to you. And when you find yourself in the midst of those whom the world considers worthless, like this little child, you be different from the world. You make them the priority, even over yourselves.”

From the Picture of Humility, Jesus moves to a call of:

Next Slide

Radical Humility. Vs. 42-50; Mt. 18:7-9

Based on this same account from Matthew 18, the child is still in their midst and likely still on Jesus Lap. Perhaps right after John’s brief interruption about the man who was casting out demons in Jesus Name, yet was not one of the 12, Jesus continues His teaching about serving in humility. Based on the overall content of the following verses, Jesus is using a child as an example, not just for humility and humble service, but now He moves to using the child as a representative of other believers and in particular younger believers, as in younger in the faith. In His brief encounter with John, He had ended by making it clear that the way we treat one another is, in a sense the way we treat Him. Look at verse 41. Jesus closes the discussion with John by saying “For truly I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.” Then He moves directly into the reverse thought. It’s as if He is saying; “On the flip side” and then He moves into verses 42-50. That’s is where He brings in a picture of radical humility.

Keep in mind that the whole course of His teaching at this point is to turn their backs on their own selfish pride and live lives as humble leaders, servant leaders. They had just been arguing about which of them was the greatest and he turns their picture of what great is on its tail. In fact He instructs them to be willing to take drastic measures, if that is what is necessary, to not lead another Christian to sin. When Jesus uses the picture of the hand, the foot and the eye, He is emphasizing that “the battle against sin includes all aspect of the believers life, what they do, where they go and what they see.” MacArthur, J. (2015). Mark 9–16 (p. 47). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.

As He closes this teaching in verse 50, to “Have salt in yourselves” He is calling them to a radical obedience; to a holy life preserved by righteousness. He then gave the disciple a direct practical application, commanding them to “be at peace with one another”—a fitting challenge to those proud, self-serving, hypercompetitive men who were constantly bickering over which of them was the greatest (cf. 9:34; Matt. 18:1–4; 20:20–24; Luke 22:24).

When believers engage in radically loving, pure, sacrificial, obedient discipleship, they will be radical witnesses. Christians are the only true “salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). There are no other spiritual influences for modeling the truth other than the lives of true disciples of Jesus Christ, who are known by the radical nature of their discipleship. (MacArthur, J. (2015). Mark 9–16 (p. 49). Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers.)

So, what is the application for us this morning as we look back over these verses?

Jesus has given us some pretty vivid pictures of what He is looking for in his followers, as well as what he is not looking for! First: He patterned humble leadership in His Personal Example Of Humility. The disciples, on the other hand demonstrated The Opposite Of Humility, in their prideful argument of which of them was the greatest, arguments that showed evidence of Pride in Self and a Pride that Created an attitude of Exclusivity. Then, He gave us a further Picture Of Humility when He taught about it with a small boy on His lap. And finally, He called us to follow Him with a Radical Humility of living in radical obedience where our love with pure sacrificial humble hearts, are modeled for all to see. It was the transformed disciples obedience to Jesus in the Book of Acts that completely changed their and our world through the love of Jesus lived out in day to day lives.

May we follow their lead, not here in the Book of Mark, but in the Book of Acts and may the light of the love of Jesus shine through us like never before.