We Still Don't Get It
Mark 9:30-41
Message #33
Just back in Chapter 8, we did three messages along the lines of the Disciples not getting it, and I kind of feel bad about doing another one. But there really is an important truth in this idea because we have a tendency to really think we “get it.” We tend to think we really understand. But often, we don’t get what Jesus is doing, and often we don’t get what Jesus is trying to teach us. And that initial acknowledgment goes a long way in us getting it.
In fact, knowing that we initially don’t get it is what puts us on the road to getting it. The only thing we really don’t want in our life with the Lord is to think we get it when we really don’t get it. Do you get it?
We left Jesus and the Disciples in the last message with the Disciple’s faith being challenged, which was a fun message. I’d encourage you to take a listen. "Faith Challenged."
In that last message, the Disciples are rattled from their faith being challenged. And so, we pick up today in Mark 9:30-31.
Mark 9:30-31 (NLT)
30 Leaving that region (Caesarea Philippi and Mount of Transfiguration), they traveled through Galilee (which is the natural direction you’d go). Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, (travelin’ the back roads, trying to lay low)
31 for (because) he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them . . .
And then (end of verse 31) Jesus says to his Disciples what he had already made perfectly clear to them a few messages back.
Mark 9:31(b) (NLT)
31 . . . He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later, he will rise from the dead.”
Now, today we understand why Jesus came. We understand this was his ultimate goal. But the Disciples, at this point, still didn’t get it even though Jesus had just made this clear to them in the previous chapter.
But here’s the deal – the Disciples didn’t get it because they didn’t want to get it. That was not what they wanted to hear, and that was not in their plan. And so, (it seems), in some sub-conscious way, the Disciples chose not to get it.
But really, have we done that same thing? At some time, in some way, maybe we’ve chosen to not get it when the Lord has spoken clearly to us about some area of our lives. That is the Disciples in Mark 9:32.
Mark 9:32 (NLT)
32 They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
They were afraid to ask him what he meant because he had already clearly told them before. The Disciples didn’t get this because they didn’t want to get this. Remember, the acknowledgment that we don’t get it is the beginning of us being able to actually get it.
Moving on to the second, “still not getting it.”
Mark 9:33-34 (NLT)
33 After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?”
34 But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
The Disciples are really not getting it here, right? They’re arguing about which of them was the greatest??? Seriously, have you guys ever been around Jesus even for one day?
Can you imagine Peter, James, and John saying, “Well, it’s obviously one of us, right? We’re the ‘inner three.’” Then Peter says, “Come on, guys, you know I’m going to be the Pope, so get over it.” And John saying, “Well, I’m his best friend.”
The rest of the Disciples saying, “Those suck-ups. They think they’re all that because they want to hang around Jesus more than us.” Oh, man. You can just hear so much of what’s wrong with man running God’s church right there in that conversation.
I could tell you stories of political maneuvering and how people climb to the top in growing church organizations. But if I did tell you, the Hillary Clinton of mega-churches might see to it that I had an “unfortunate accident.”
I will tell you that this type of positioning for power leads to the destruction of many a church and many a church leader. And for me, personally, it has not been easy to survive.
But Jesus gives us the answer to this tragedy right here, and we still don’t get it. Here’s the answer straight from the Lord.
Mark 9:35 (NLT)
35 He (Jesus) sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
Now, the funny thing is, our sin nature tends to even turn this statement around. And we say, “Okay. Well, I definitely want to be first, so if I have to serve in order to be first, I guess that is what I have to do to get to the top.”
Maybe Jesus knew that we wouldn’t really get that statement and so he gives us a living example to help.
Mark 9:36-37 (NLT)
36 Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,
37 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”
Interestingly (so I’ve read) in the Aramaic language, which Jesus spoke, child and servant were the same word. And that’s important because children were seen as the least significant people in society. They were the weakest, and they had the least to offer in regard to climbing the social or religious ladder.
And so, Jesus is clearly saying those who would be first in his estimation are those who would receive, welcome, and give attention to the least, the weakest, and the most insignificant people… those who have no ability to help you climb your way to the top?
I hate to break it to you, but often when someone is trying to climb to the top of a religious organization, this is not their plan to make it to the top. It’s because our flesh and our sin nature get in the way, and we still don’t get it.
So, there are two events where the Disciples still didn’t get it, and we still have one more to go. Maybe in response to the previous two events, it seems like the Apostle John tries to change the subject. But maybe what he was doing was actually confessing that there was an event where he didn’t get it.
Mark 9:38 (NLT)
38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.”
I love the NLT translation here: because he wasn’t in our group. This is the original Disciples operating in pure jealousy and cliquish-ness. We saw someone doing good, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group. Wow, that sounds like some messed-up religious denominationalism. What’s funny is this guy who wasn’t part of the “in-group” of Disciples was doing exactly what the Disciples could not do in our last message (casting out a demon).
But the Disciples weren’t the first to have this problem. Back in Numbers Chapter 11, Joshua was told two men were prophesying who had not been with Moses in the Lord’s presence, and in Numbers 11:28, Joshua says to Moses, “Make them stop.” Moses replied in Numbers 11:29,
Numbers 11:29 (NLT)
29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!”
When the Disciples of John the Baptist saw Jesus baptizing people on the other side of the Jordan river, they said to John the Baptist in John 3:26,
John 3:26 (NLT)
26 . . . the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”
To which John the Baptist spoke the famous words of John 3:30,
John 3:30 (ESV)
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
The point is, there have always been people who think they are “on the inside” spiritually or religiously and want to keep it that way.
But Jesus is about to say it’s not what group you belong to – it’s what Person you belong to. It is not what denomination or movement or church you belong to. It is what Person you belong to. The Disciples didn’t get that, and there are still plenty of people today who don’t get that.
And so, here is Jesus’ response to our tendency to form religious “cliques.”
Mark 9:39-41 (NLT)
39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name (it’s about the person) will soon be able to speak evil of me.
40 Anyone who is not against us is for us.
41 If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah (again about the person), I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded.
It’s about belonging to Jesus. Not a particular group or a denomination or an insider’s club. It’s about operating “In the name of Jesus,” and it’s about “Jesus being glorified.” Amen?
So, let’s review. In our first section today, the Disciples didn’t get what Jesus was saying about his ultimate goal and his ultimate purpose for being on earth. And they didn’t get it because it didn’t match what they wanted his goal and purpose to be.
In our second section today, the Disciples didn’t get that serving, and ministering with Jesus was not a climb to the top of some achievement ladder and they didn’t get it, because it is the natural flesh response to want to be first to want to be at the top.
In our third section today, the Disciples didn’t get that they didn’t have something special because they were part of a certain group. They had something special because they were identified with a certain person – Jesus.
And so, after another series of verses on the Disciples “not getting it,” this is the lesson for me. Maybe there are some things that we are not getting either. Maybe there are some areas in our lives that we need to allow Jesus to transform our thinking in.
And here is what I believe is absolutely required before a person can begin the road to real transformation by the Word of God. The acknowledgment that we don’t get it is the beginning of us being able to actually get it. We’ve got to come to Jesus with open hands and open arms and be willing to say, “Lord, I know I don’t get it. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and speak to me through your Word so that I can get it.”
And, by the way, it was not until the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on these Disciples that they finally and completely got it.
And so, my biggest, practical encouragement to us is to pray every day that the Lord Jesus would fill you and continue to fill you with his Holy Spirit.
And if we will be continually filled with the Holy Spirit and if we will be committed to hearing and receiving the Word of God, then we will be able to begin to go from not getting it to getting it.
In fact, knowing that we initially don’t get it is what puts us on the road to getting it. The only thing we really don’t want in our life with the Lord is to think we get it when we really don’t get it. Do you get it?
We left Jesus and the Disciples in the last message with the Disciple’s faith being challenged, which was a fun message. I’d encourage you to take a listen. "Faith Challenged."
In that last message, the Disciples are rattled from their faith being challenged. And so, we pick up today in Mark 9:30-31.
Mark 9:30-31 (NLT)
30 Leaving that region (Caesarea Philippi and Mount of Transfiguration), they traveled through Galilee (which is the natural direction you’d go). Jesus didn’t want anyone to know he was there, (travelin’ the back roads, trying to lay low)
31 for (because) he wanted to spend more time with his disciples and teach them . . .
And then (end of verse 31) Jesus says to his Disciples what he had already made perfectly clear to them a few messages back.
Mark 9:31(b) (NLT)
31 . . . He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later, he will rise from the dead.”
Now, today we understand why Jesus came. We understand this was his ultimate goal. But the Disciples, at this point, still didn’t get it even though Jesus had just made this clear to them in the previous chapter.
But here’s the deal – the Disciples didn’t get it because they didn’t want to get it. That was not what they wanted to hear, and that was not in their plan. And so, (it seems), in some sub-conscious way, the Disciples chose not to get it.
But really, have we done that same thing? At some time, in some way, maybe we’ve chosen to not get it when the Lord has spoken clearly to us about some area of our lives. That is the Disciples in Mark 9:32.
Mark 9:32 (NLT)
32 They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
They were afraid to ask him what he meant because he had already clearly told them before. The Disciples didn’t get this because they didn’t want to get this. Remember, the acknowledgment that we don’t get it is the beginning of us being able to actually get it.
Moving on to the second, “still not getting it.”
Mark 9:33-34 (NLT)
33 After they arrived at Capernaum and settled in a house, Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you discussing out on the road?”
34 But they didn’t answer, because they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.
The Disciples are really not getting it here, right? They’re arguing about which of them was the greatest??? Seriously, have you guys ever been around Jesus even for one day?
Can you imagine Peter, James, and John saying, “Well, it’s obviously one of us, right? We’re the ‘inner three.’” Then Peter says, “Come on, guys, you know I’m going to be the Pope, so get over it.” And John saying, “Well, I’m his best friend.”
The rest of the Disciples saying, “Those suck-ups. They think they’re all that because they want to hang around Jesus more than us.” Oh, man. You can just hear so much of what’s wrong with man running God’s church right there in that conversation.
I could tell you stories of political maneuvering and how people climb to the top in growing church organizations. But if I did tell you, the Hillary Clinton of mega-churches might see to it that I had an “unfortunate accident.”
I will tell you that this type of positioning for power leads to the destruction of many a church and many a church leader. And for me, personally, it has not been easy to survive.
But Jesus gives us the answer to this tragedy right here, and we still don’t get it. Here’s the answer straight from the Lord.
Mark 9:35 (NLT)
35 He (Jesus) sat down, called the twelve disciples over to him, and said, “Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
Now, the funny thing is, our sin nature tends to even turn this statement around. And we say, “Okay. Well, I definitely want to be first, so if I have to serve in order to be first, I guess that is what I have to do to get to the top.”
Maybe Jesus knew that we wouldn’t really get that statement and so he gives us a living example to help.
Mark 9:36-37 (NLT)
36 Then he put a little child among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,
37 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”
Interestingly (so I’ve read) in the Aramaic language, which Jesus spoke, child and servant were the same word. And that’s important because children were seen as the least significant people in society. They were the weakest, and they had the least to offer in regard to climbing the social or religious ladder.
And so, Jesus is clearly saying those who would be first in his estimation are those who would receive, welcome, and give attention to the least, the weakest, and the most insignificant people… those who have no ability to help you climb your way to the top?
I hate to break it to you, but often when someone is trying to climb to the top of a religious organization, this is not their plan to make it to the top. It’s because our flesh and our sin nature get in the way, and we still don’t get it.
So, there are two events where the Disciples still didn’t get it, and we still have one more to go. Maybe in response to the previous two events, it seems like the Apostle John tries to change the subject. But maybe what he was doing was actually confessing that there was an event where he didn’t get it.
Mark 9:38 (NLT)
38 John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.”
I love the NLT translation here: because he wasn’t in our group. This is the original Disciples operating in pure jealousy and cliquish-ness. We saw someone doing good, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group. Wow, that sounds like some messed-up religious denominationalism. What’s funny is this guy who wasn’t part of the “in-group” of Disciples was doing exactly what the Disciples could not do in our last message (casting out a demon).
But the Disciples weren’t the first to have this problem. Back in Numbers Chapter 11, Joshua was told two men were prophesying who had not been with Moses in the Lord’s presence, and in Numbers 11:28, Joshua says to Moses, “Make them stop.” Moses replied in Numbers 11:29,
Numbers 11:29 (NLT)
29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!”
When the Disciples of John the Baptist saw Jesus baptizing people on the other side of the Jordan river, they said to John the Baptist in John 3:26,
John 3:26 (NLT)
26 . . . the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.”
To which John the Baptist spoke the famous words of John 3:30,
John 3:30 (ESV)
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
The point is, there have always been people who think they are “on the inside” spiritually or religiously and want to keep it that way.
But Jesus is about to say it’s not what group you belong to – it’s what Person you belong to. It is not what denomination or movement or church you belong to. It is what Person you belong to. The Disciples didn’t get that, and there are still plenty of people today who don’t get that.
And so, here is Jesus’ response to our tendency to form religious “cliques.”
Mark 9:39-41 (NLT)
39 “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name (it’s about the person) will soon be able to speak evil of me.
40 Anyone who is not against us is for us.
41 If anyone gives you even a cup of water because you belong to the Messiah (again about the person), I tell you the truth, that person will surely be rewarded.
It’s about belonging to Jesus. Not a particular group or a denomination or an insider’s club. It’s about operating “In the name of Jesus,” and it’s about “Jesus being glorified.” Amen?
So, let’s review. In our first section today, the Disciples didn’t get what Jesus was saying about his ultimate goal and his ultimate purpose for being on earth. And they didn’t get it because it didn’t match what they wanted his goal and purpose to be.
In our second section today, the Disciples didn’t get that serving, and ministering with Jesus was not a climb to the top of some achievement ladder and they didn’t get it, because it is the natural flesh response to want to be first to want to be at the top.
In our third section today, the Disciples didn’t get that they didn’t have something special because they were part of a certain group. They had something special because they were identified with a certain person – Jesus.
And so, after another series of verses on the Disciples “not getting it,” this is the lesson for me. Maybe there are some things that we are not getting either. Maybe there are some areas in our lives that we need to allow Jesus to transform our thinking in.
And here is what I believe is absolutely required before a person can begin the road to real transformation by the Word of God. The acknowledgment that we don’t get it is the beginning of us being able to actually get it. We’ve got to come to Jesus with open hands and open arms and be willing to say, “Lord, I know I don’t get it. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit and speak to me through your Word so that I can get it.”
And, by the way, it was not until the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out on these Disciples that they finally and completely got it.
And so, my biggest, practical encouragement to us is to pray every day that the Lord Jesus would fill you and continue to fill you with his Holy Spirit.
And if we will be continually filled with the Holy Spirit and if we will be committed to hearing and receiving the Word of God, then we will be able to begin to go from not getting it to getting it.