Living Anew - Mark 9:30-50

Living Anew
Mark 9:30-50
20200105
Belonging to Christ is Everything!
Introduc)on:
Recently I ﬁnished up ﬂying in the military. Many of you came out to the Portland Air
NaMonal Guard Base and celebrated with my family and I just before Christmas - as I ﬂew the
F-15 Eagle for the last Mme. You may or may not know this, but this past Wednesday morning
was the last of my oﬃcial ﬂight related duMes. I rang in the new year by siVng an alert shiW,
prepared to ﬂy in defense of our naMon if the call came in. The night was quiet and aWer I was
properly relieved by the oncoming alert pilot, I returned to the operaMons building and hung up
my ﬂight gear for the last Mme. I then took a few minutes to clean out my locker at the ﬁghter
squadron.
Up on the top shelf of my locker I found a set of aviator wings. This is a set of Air Force
wings but as many of you know I ﬁrst earned my wings through the Naval services of our naMon.
On May 30th 2003 I received my ﬁrst set of wings. Wings of Gold. It is an understatement to say I
worked really hard to earn these wings. You see, I had wanted to obtain this prize my whole life.
So, in a way every grade I had earned in school, every condiMoning workout I accomplished,
every eﬀort I could put forth was in concert with my goal to become a ﬁghter pilot.
But standing there in my Marine Corps Dress Blues with shiny new wings on my chest, a
newly minted aviator I looked around and realized I was sharing the stage with about a dozen
other hard charging oﬃcers who all had the same wings on their chests. Indeed, throughout the
auditorium a large number of oﬃcers were present who had earned wings of gold at some
point. What I thought was so special and so exclusive and so hard was obtainable by many. This
realizaMon did something to me. This realizaMon along with knowing it was God who allowed
me to work through the diﬃculMes of the program, did something to me. It reoriented me.
Do you ever have moments when you suddenly become reoriented? I did that day and it
made me even more appreciaMve of another “club” that I was part of – it made me much more
appreciaMve of being a part of God’s kingdom. I quickly realized that being part of the kingdom
of God was beyond comparison to anything accomplishable by humans here on earth or
beyond, even beyond the outer reaches of our ability to explore out into the universe. As many
of you are well aware, I did nothing to earn my place in the kingdom of God – I could do nothing
to earn a place in God’s kingdom. It was given to me by the only one capable of paying the price
for my entry. My Savior Jesus paid for my entry with his own sinless blood.
In just this short explanaMon of part of my past way of thinking do you see what I had
done? I had actually created an idol out of my dream which required God to reorient me to a
more right and proper understanding. In the passage we will be covering in Mark’s gospel,
Jesus’ disciples needed to similarly be reoriented in the way they were thinking. As you sit here
today, I don’t hesitate to say that you have areas in your life that likely need to be reoriented.
FCF: You may think that it is innocent enough to have an improper understanding about
this or that. But when we hold to an inaccurate understanding of what it means to be a disciple

of Christ, we can do real and everlasMng harm to others, we can do real and everlasMng harm to
the eﬀecMveness of our witness, and we can even do harm to our own soul. All of which we will
be held accountable for. You might be asking well how is that possible? How will my account be
acceptable to God?
As I menMoned with one of my own reeducaMon memories, I say one because they
happen throughout the ChrisMan life, I realized I belonged to Christ, and he is the one who
conMnually gives an account for me. He gives his perfect and righteous account, and not only for
me but for all who belong to Christ. Therefore, Belonging to Christ is everything!
But how does one really belong to Christ? How do you know you belong to Christ? These
quesMons and more will be covered as we start working through Mark 9:30-50 together.
He Gave His Life So You Could Belong (vv30-32)
1.vv30-31 “They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to
know,…”
a.As this passage begins it draws a sharp focus on the teaching of Jesus as he presents it
to his disciples. All throughout our passage today the focus is on those who are nearest to
him. Jesus is wanMng focused Mme with the disciples for this purpose.
i.They are even traveling in such a manner so as to preserve the inMmacy he
desired for this purpose. Passing through a region where he was immensely popular in a
manner that he would not be known.
b.It was only in the previous chapter that Peter, speaking for the twelve, proclaimed that
Jesus was the Christ (8:29). Once this momentous declaraMon was made Jesus began to
explain that he would be killed and aWer three days rise again (8:31).
i.Jesus is returning to his passion again in our current passage. This message
that he is proclaiming to them is the very essence of our faith. He wants his followers to
understand – he is carefully instrucMng them so they might grasp what it is he is doing.
ii.Friends, Jesus – the Lord’s anointed one, the Savior of the world – He Gave
His Life So You Could Belong to the Kingdom of God! Belonging to Christ is Everything!
Because it is only by belonging to him that salvaMon is possible. Jesus, the Son of God, clothed
himself in human ﬂesh and lived the perfect sinless life – he walked on the earth. He didn’t do
this so he could overpower the rulers of the age. No, he did so in order to die upon a Roman
cross, to take the punishment of death upon his perfecMon. To receive the just punishment for
sin for all people for all Mme by receiving unto himself the wrath of God. Then aWer three days
rising from the dead to show that what he accomplished was permanent – everlasMng –
acceptable to the Father. He Gave His Life So You Could Belong to the Kingdom of God!
Therefore, Belonging to Christ is Everything!
c.But, of course the kingdom that Jesus reigns over was unlike any kingdom his disciples
could imagine. It is true that his kingdom is diﬃcult for us to imagine too. Why? Because we
allow our own ideas, what we perceive in this life, maybe even what we would want the
kingdom to be like – all to have an overshadowing eﬀect on what Scripture says concerning
God’s kingdom.
i.v32 “But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.”

ii.They did not understand how Jesus would be killed and rise again. They
would not receive this saying. They didn’t understand how his popularity and his fame would
be undone by those whom he repeatedly bested in debates and arguments. They didn’t
receive this saying because what he was describing didn’t ﬁt their own concept of the future.
iii.They responded in fear and in silence. Please hear me church, God can
handle your fears and God can handle your quesMons. Even this week, here in our body, this
week has been full of fears and quesMons. My brother and his family have suﬀered – they
have been afraid. I have been afraid. But God is fully capable of handling our fears and our
quesMons.
iv.God responded to our greatest fear by sending his Son Jesus. And He Gave
His Life So Caleb could belong to the kingdom of God. Caleb knows - Belonging to Christ is
Everything! Now that doesn’t mean fears are non-existent. The fears oWen remain but they
are combated against, not by being silent as the disciples were, but by asking quesMon of God.
v.Paul addressed this line of quesMoning in Romans 8:32 saying, “He who did
not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give
us all things?”
vi.You see fellow followers of Christ, God is fully capable of listening to our
fears, our despair, our anguish. His answer may not be what we most want to hear – but it is
the answer that takes into account our eternity. Repeated again and again in the Bible is the
message that Jesus came to be killed, to rise aWer three days, and to be the all suﬃcient
atonement for our sins. He did this so that we might place our faith in Him, that we might
belong to Him, because Belonging to Christ is Everything!
Transi)on: Yes, a true and exhilaraMng statement - But how do you know, I mean really know
that your faith in Christ has made a true diﬀerence in your life? How do you really know you
have received his life, that which he gave? The next secMon of our text will give us the concrete
examples that we need to verify we have received Christ.
You Must Receive What He Gave – Evidenced by How You Receive the Least (vv33-41)
i.v33 “And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them,..?””
d.All through our passage today Jesus is focusing exclusively on his disciples. Carefully
instrucMng them. We previously saw how he passed through Galilee in a manner that he
wasn’t known and here in v33 Jesus has his disciples in a house, in a private seVng to work
through their misguided conversaMon topic.
e.Jesus asks a quesMon with the intenMon of instrucMng his beloved followers.
f.How do they respond to Jesus’ quesMon? First, let me ask. How do you respond when
you have been doing or saying something wrong and someone asks you about it? Are you
happy to discuss it? What does your face reveal? No one likes to get called out or caught.
Because when we are doing something contrary to what is right what have we done ﬁrst?
We have usually jusMﬁed our posiMon and then we become defensive or annoyed when it is
probed. So, how do the disciples respond?
g.v34 “But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the
greatest.”

h.Isn’t this an interesMng discussion? They are disciples of The Greatest, The Son of God,
The Messiah. They are disciples of Jesus who has been telling them that to come aWer him
they must deny themselves and take up a cross and follow him (8:34). Now here he is asking
them about the conversaMon they were having, a conversaMon that was anMtheMcal to what
he had been teaching them – and they know it! So, they decide it is best to keep silent. Have
you ever done this? Maybe even this week you and your spouse have been talking or you
and one of your siblings and something is brought up that you deep down in your heart
know that you are in the wrong – but you cannot, you will not in that moment acknowledge
your wrong! You have jusMﬁed your posiMon and don’t want to admit to being wrong. Well
this in and of itself is contrary to God’s call on your life just as the disciples’ argument about
who was the greatest was contrary to their calling.
i.I love how Jesus instructs them here. Did you noMce the seVng? They were in the
privacy of a home, out of sight and out of ear shot of the crowds.
j.v35 “And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be ﬁrst, he
must be…””
k.Jesus, the ﬁrstborn of all creaMon (Col 1:15) is conMnuing in his instrucMon of the
disciples. They were wanMng greatness according to their misguided understanding of the
concept of greatness. Jesus who is the greatest has come to be last of all and servant of all
by giving his life for them. He is saying that they are to do as he does. They must receive
what he gave and that in receiving him they will produce the evidence of their recepMon in
how they receive the least.
l.vv36-37 “And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms,
he...””
m.Jesus gives an instrucMon and then gives an illustraMon of what he means by taking a
limle child in his arms. Now this illustraMon might not be what you are thinking exactly. Our
baby son Nicolas is a joy to hold just as other babies here in the congregaMon get passed
around so they might be held. But Jesus was taking in his arms a person in his Mme, and in
his culture, that was regarded as the least! The limle child was fragile, dependent on others,
and did nothing to enhance the producMvity of the family.
n.A picture that might be more appropriate for us to understand what Jesus was
conveying is if you were to picture instead a homeless person, or a hopeless meth addicted,
or a sex worker.
o.Jesus says whoever receives one such of this in my name receives me, and whoever
receives me, receives not me but him who sent me. Church, this teaching was meant to
push Jesus’ disciples out of their comfort zone out of their understanding of greatness. So,
ask yourself, brother ask, yourself sister – what would you do that would stretch you in this
way? What would take you far beyond your comfort zone? Who could you picture siVng in
the pew beside you that would cause you to struggle? Now, how do we reach that person?
What needs to happen to receive the person the world says has no value?
p.This only happens when we receive what Christ gave and we only know we have
received what Christ gave when there begins to be evidence - evidence that we receive the
least.

q.v38 “John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casGng out demons in your name, and we
tried to….””
r.In the disciples’ minds this other man was casMng out demons and he was to be
stopped. He wasn’t one of the immediate, one of the well-known followers, and he was
doing something that they had received a special commission to do. In the disciples’
understanding he was likened to the least - someone of lesser worth and they did not want
to receive him or his message.
s.vv39-40 “But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in
my….”
i.Can you picture the response of the disciples to this? You get the sense that
they thought they were going to get approval for their acMon and instead
Jesus says do not stop him.
ii.This correcMon makes me ask, How do we close the gap with those whom we
have doctrinal diﬀerences with? How do we come alongside other ChrisMan
churches or organizaMons to support their ministries? Like so much of what
we talk about it starts with understanding that we belong to Christ and
Belonging to Christ is Everything! From there we acknowledge that
everything we have has been received from what he has given and the only
way to show evidence of what we have received is to receive the least. Sadly,
oWen the least are fellow ChrisMans whom we have diﬀerences with and
misunderstandings about which we allow to keep us separated from them.
1.Now I know that at Mmes we need to be separated due to a complete
departure from Scripture, some will claim allegiance to the ChrisMan faith but will deny all
the tenants of ChrisManity.
iii.v41 “For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong...” Be thankful for when you receive even the smallest of
your needs being met. When has this happened during the past week? Did
you receive a meal or a drink? Did someone look aWer your children or help
you with a ride? I was oﬀered a meal this past week, from a non-believer, and
do you know when I asked what I could bring to contribute he said nothing by
my appeMte and my smile. This man, unbeknownst to him, did something
Christ said we should be doing. This personal example and the others I
brought up should moMvate you to look for opportuniMes to bless others with
whatever might be available to you especially those who belong to Christ. For
truly, belonging to Christ is everything!
Transi)on: As we covered these nine verses in this middle secMon of the sermon, we covered
the largest secMon of our message this morning. Church we must receive what Christ gave and
we must show we have received him by receiving the least. Because in this life and in the life to
come we will give an account for our perseverance in the faith and for how we bamled against
the temptaMon to sin.
Do Not Disgrace What He Gave – By Causing Others or Yourself to Sin (vv42-50)

i.v42 ““Whoever causes one of these liKle ones who believe in me to sin, it would be beKer for
him if...”
t.Even in this ﬁrst verse of our last secMon I hope you immediately see the weighMness of
what Jesus is teaching. When Jesus is referring to one of these limle ones think disciple - a
person who believes in Jesus.
u.When we as fellow followers of Christ cause another believer to sin Jesus uses graphic
language to describe the accountability that will be paid for that acMon.
v.We can cause others to sin and we will be held accountable for those acMons.
w.Similarly, Jesus moves into the importance of being vigilant against sin – once again
using hyperbole, graphic and stunning language to describe the severity of sin.
x.note: as we work through verses 43-47 you will noMce some diﬀerences here depending on
what Bible translaMon you are studying with. The KJV of the Bible has had such a tremendous
impact on our modern Bibles that where verses v44 and v46 are found in the KJV they are not
found in some of the modern translaMons yet the verse numbering has been retained. In many
of our modern translaMons such as the ESV older manuscripts have been found than what were
available at the Mme of the KJV. The KJV was translated from the best manuscripts available at
the Mme but as older manuscripts have been unearthed some changes have been made.
y.v43, v45, v47 ““And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it oﬀ. It is beKer for you to enter life
crippled…”
z.What is your ﬁrst response in listening or reading through this teaching? Maybe it is I
know why the disciples were described as being afraid in v32! But more likely how is this
relevant? I sin and yet I sMll have all of my appendages and both of my eyes and so do all the
other sinners in this room.
aa.Jesus is describing the devastaMng eﬀect of sin and the type of drasMc acMon one
should take to avoid walking in sin and risk the consequence of hell.
bb.Do you know what we can do that is almost as hard as cuVng oﬀ our hand or
plucking out our eye to avoid walking in perpetual sin? Confess your sin! It is so hard to do
and yet the reward is so great. Confess your sin and repent. When you are made aware of
sin – stew about it if you must but don’t make it a slow cook stew quickly recognize the
danger to your soul and confess your sin my fellow believers. Do this because you don’t
want to hinder your ability to receive what God has freely given. Confess your sin! Be on the
lookout for one another as we walk this path together so we can be as James describes in
James 5:19-20 “My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone
brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will
save his soul from death and will cover a mulGtude of sins.”
cc.Jesus is providing us with what is described by scholars as “awful deterrence” in this
passage. The realiMes of hell are to be absolutely sobering to the way we go through our
lives. He has given us his very life, he exchanged his perfecMon for our sinfulness, and he
took our penalty to the cross and to the grave. Therefore, we must not disgrace what he has
given us by causing others to sin or by being caught up in sin ourselves.
dd.v48 “‘where their worm does not die and the ﬁre is not quenched.’” Think about this
descripMon of hell. Who has looked at the dead carcass of an animal crawling with worms?

DisgusMng! Now picture that on a person who is living and who is in the midst of torturous ﬁre.
Awful deterrence of the realiMes of hell.
ee.Everyone will be held accountable for the life they live. Our salvaMon comes through
Christ alone and we must not disgrace what he has done for us by walking in perpetual sin.
ﬀ.vv49-50 “For everyone will be salted with ﬁre. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its
salGness,...””
gg.Church, remember how I menMoned that man who made me dinner this past week –
he is an unbeliever and over the sharing of a meal with him we talked. He told me he had
many quesMons about religion. One of the very ﬁrst things he brought up was a lack of
understanding about people who claimed to be followers of Christ who would keep on
sinning and say it was okay because they can ask for forgiveness.
hh.My heart ached at hearing those words. You see those people who claimed Christ
and yet disgraced what he gave them by their perpetual sin are the epitome of salt that has
lost its salMness. Let’s work together to keep our salMness by walking by faith, by taking
God’s word seriously, and by not disgracing Christ by our own sin or by causing others to sin.
Transi)on: This collecMon of verses discussing sin and hell are meant to be a sobering warning.
There is a real hell and the consequences of denying Christ are horrendous. You don’t just get
separated from God, you don’t just vanish, you writhe in agony in a place of perpetual ﬁre and
ravenous worms. It is only by belonging to Christ, by clinging to Christ’s atoning work for you
that your eternity will be described instead as paradise (Lu 23:43).
Conclusion
Belonging to Christ reorients your understanding, your conduct, and your moMvaMons, resulMng
in a powerful tesMmony of faith. It is part of the ChrisMan walk. You will hit Mmes of deﬁniMve
change. Times when you will suddenly realize you need to take your walk with the Lord more
seriously than you did the day before. I shared one of those instances in the introducMon when
a goal I had, a good goal, had been turned into more than it should have. God reoriented me
and now I look back on these past 18 years and I see that taking the focus oﬀ of the wings or
career advancement or whatever else I may have put in its place has instead given me an
opportunity to conMnue to grow in my faith, to be in a place to receive what giWs he gave me,
and to rid my life of more and more sin along the way. You see church, Belonging to Christ is
everything! The disciples were learning this at the feet of Jesus. We are learning this at the feet
of Jesus too. We will conMnue learning about what it means to belong to him each day –
incrementally at Mmes but on occasion with large jumps. Don’t hesitate to share your stories
and don’t forget your stories – they are your tesMmony to your belonging to Christ which is your
everything!

y
l
i
m
Fa

Table Talk

January 5, 2020

GOD’S TRUTH
Belonging to Christ is everything!

Family
Discussion ?s

Key Verse

1. Jesus wanted to spend some special
time with his disciples and he went
out of his way to make sure they
had time together. Have your
parents ever done something similar
with you? What about when you are
spending time with God- have you
found a quiet place to read God’s
Word and pray?Read Scriptures in
#1 of the Table Reading
2. In Sunday’s passage Jesus
challenged his disciples to think in
new ways. They were not wanting to
hear him speak of dying or rising
from the dead. What are some
specific areas you are afraid to find
out more about? Your parents
should be encouraging you to talk
freely about these areas. Read the
Scriptures in #2 of the Table
Reading
3. If belonging to Christ is everything
(the God’s Truth) how do you know
you belong to him? How do you
respond to to other Christians? How
do you deal with sin in your life?
Read the Scriptures in #3 of the
Table Reading

“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.”

Mark 9:41 (ESV)

DING

A
TABLE RE

Go d’s
ther into
r
u
f
s
id
r k
Lead yo u
Word...
131:1-3
33; Psalm
,
1
-3
0
:3
9
19:16-30
1. Mark
; Matthew
1
:16,
-4
5
3
,
2
:3
8; James 5
-4
7
4
,
5
2. Mark 9
4
,
-43
:40-41, 42
3. Mark 9
2-28
9
brews :2
19-20; He

Scripture Memory: Exodus 20:17
“And these words that I command you today shall be on
your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your
children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your
house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie
down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign
on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your
eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your
house and on your gates.” - Deuteronomy 6:6-9 (ESV)

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