JESUS' CALL FOR RADICAL DISCIPLESHIP (Mark 9:42-50)
INTRODUCTION:
Our passage of Scripture this morning is Jesus teaching His disciples. Jesus is the only one speaking, there is not even any narration. Jesus’ words may shock you; I am sure they shocked the disciples. Jesus’ words are graphic, dramatic, and full of severe warnings. Jesus is calling His disciples and us to the radical nature of true discipleship. The word “radical” has many different meanings but two are most often meant when we speak of something or someone being radical. The first meaning is basic or fundamental, with the idea of going to the root or the origin of something. The second and more common meaning is something that deviates to the extreme, especially as regards change from accepted or traditional forms, other words to describe this definition might be “fanatical” or “revolutionary.”
What Jesus has to teach us about the radical nature of true discipleship is vital for the time in which we live. The church and even much of so-called Christianity, even what some would call evangelical Christianity, is marked by a shallowness or just a surface level of faith. The Lord Jesus does not sugar-coat what He has to say about true discipleship and because He does not, He is forceful, authoritative and radical as He calls us to true discipleship. He calls us to repent, to deny ourselves, even to the point of suffering or dying for His sake. He calls us to be willing to forsake all family ties and to hate our own lives in the sense that we are willing to lose them. In essence, He calls us to be willing to forsake everything and to unconditionally follow Him. In this passage on radical discipleship Jesus calls us to radical love, radical purity, radical sacrifice, and finally radical obedience. Let’s pray and then get into our passage.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles to Mark 9:42-50. We will finish up this chapter this morning. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 9:42-50,
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (Mark 9:42–50, NASB95)[1]
JESUS’ CALL TO RADICAL LOVE (Mark 9:42)
More than anything the Lord Jesus desires to see His righteousness displayed in the church. Because of this desire Jesus called for love for other believers that prevents leading them into sin. Last Sunday as Jesus was teaching His disciples about humility we saw the truth of how believers are to treat one another as expressed by Jesus in Mark 9:37. He said, “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me.” (Mark 9:37, NASB95)[2] The truth of this statement is that since Jesus Christ lives in every believer by His Spirit, how one treats a fellow believer is how one treats Christ, and how one treats Christ is how one treats God the Father. We see this same truth proclaimed throughout the New Testament. Paul declared in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20, NASB95)[3] He told the Corinthians in 1st Corinthians 6:17, “But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.” (1 Corinthians 6:17, NASB95)[4] Jesus reminded the disciples of this truth as they ate the Passover meal on the night He was betrayed, He said in John 13:20, “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who receives whomever I send receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” (John 13:20, NASB95)[5] When Jesus returns and He judges the nations, how people treated Christians will be considered how they treated Jesus Christ. Matthew records this for us in Matthew 25:31-46, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:31–46, NASB95)[6]
This truth about how one treats a believer is how one treats the Lord Jesus is what prompted the Lord Jesus to give this warning about causing one of these little ones who believe to stumble. That Jesus is speaking of believers and not little children is clearly seen in the fact that He states that they believe. This word translated “stumble” is a word that refers to someone being tripped by temptation and falling or to be led into sin. Jesus goes on to say that it would be better for one who would lead a believer into sin, instead to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be cast into the sea. In other words, Jesus is saying that it would be better to die a horrible death by drowning than to cause a Christian brother or sister to sin. These words must have shocked the disciples. In 1st Corinthians 13, the chapter on love says that love does not take pleasure in seeing someone fall into sin. Paul writes that love, “…does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;” (1 Corinthians 13:6, NASB95)[7] Our love for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ should be a radical love that would never cause them to stumble and sin. We are told by the author of Hebrews in chapter 10, verse 24, “and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,” (Hebrews 10:24, NASB95)[8] If we are following this command then we will not be causing anyone to stumble.
JESUS’ CALL TO RADICAL PURITY (Mark 9:43-48)
This second point, which is a call to radical purity, is closely connected to the first point. Christians cannot stimulate others to love and good deeds unless they are seeking after righteousness themselves. If one’s heart is impure, he will lead others into sin. In this section Jesus called for radical, severe dealing with sin. Paul put it this way in Romans 8:12-13, “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” (Romans 8:12–13, NASB95)[9] Paul told Titus in Titus 2:11-12, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age.” (Titus 2:11–12, NASB95)[10] Peter warned his readers in 1st Peter 2:11, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” (1 Peter 2:11, NASB95)[11]
The mention of removing body parts that caused you to stumble—hand, foot, and eye—was not literal, but was to emphasize that our battle against sin includes every area of a believer’s life. What they do (hand), where they go (foot), and what they see or look at (eye). The fact that Jesus states that hell is the disastrous alternative of not dealing with sin severely and decisively indicates that these statements are calls to the initial repentance and faith in Jesus Christ that accompanies salvation. Jesus is calling people to remove anything from their lives that would be a barrier to entering eternal life in the kingdom of God. But the past tense of the verb translated “causes” in these verses shows us that the struggle against temptation and sin is continual. Jesus is calling us to radical and severe action throughout the Christian life to anything that hinders our pursuit of holiness, righteousness, and purity.
As I already stated, Jesus referring to cutting off a hand or a foot or gouging out an eye was not literal. Jesus was not advocating for physical mutilation. A person with only one hand, or one foot, or one eye is no less capable of sinning, because no matter what body parts are lost, sin remains in the heart. Mark recorded Jesus’ words concerning this in Mark 7:20-23, “And He was saying, ‘That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.’ ” (Mark 7:20–23, NASB95)[12] Jesus’ reference to cutting off body parts was metaphorical language to show us the seriousness of sin and that we must be willing to deal with it drastically and decisively to root it out of our lives. Sin is like a cancerous tumor that requires radical surgery to remove it.
Jesus mentions hell several times in this passage, and He used the Aramaic word Gehenna. This word always refers to eternal hell, the lake of fire, never to the place of the dead in general which was called hades. This word gehenna is a compound word which means “valley of Hinnom,” located just south of Jerusalem. It was at this valley that Jewish people who had turned away from God and were worshiping false gods, sacrificed their infants to Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. This was an appalling practice that God strictly prohibited and severely condemned. Both the wicked kings Ahaz and Manasseh (before he repented) sacrificed their children in the valley of Hinnom. When the godly king Josiah came to the throne of Judah he began to destroy the places that people used to worship false gods, and part of his reform included destroying the place of sacrifice in the valley of Hinnom. The valley of Hinnom was turned into Jerusalem’s garbage dump, where a fire burned continually in the midst of the rubbish. It became a graphic illustration of eternal hell, a place as Jesus declared three time, where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. A place of terrible torment.
These words by Jesus to His disciples are the strongest call to radical discipleship that our Lord ever gave. He calls each one who wants to follow Him, to be His disciple to deal radically with sin, or be cast into the eternal garbage pit of hell, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
JESUS’ CALL TO RADICAL SACRIFICE (Mark 9:49)
Jesus then declares, “For everyone will be salted with fire.” (Mark 9:49, NASB95)[13] The meaning of this difficult statement of Jesus can be best understood by looking at several passages of Scripture in which salt and fire are mentioned together. First, there are verses in Ezra 6 where the king of Persia is commanding that whatever the priests need for the sacrifices that it be supplied to them. Ezra 6:9-10 records what the king commanded, “Whatever is needed, both young bulls, rams, and lambs for a burnt offering to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and anointing oil, as the priests in Jerusalem request, it is to be given to them daily without fail, that they may offer acceptable sacrifices to the God of heaven and pray for the life of the king and his sons.” (Ezra 6:9–10, NASB95)[14] The second passage is in the book of Ezekiel and God is giving the commands for re-instating the daily sacrifices. One the second day of the cleansing of the altar God says through Ezekiel in Ezekiel 43:22-24, “On the second day you shall offer a male goat without blemish for a sin offering, and they shall cleanse the altar as they cleansed it with the bull. When you have finished cleansing it, you shall present a young bull without blemish and a ram without blemish from the flock. You shall present them before the Lord, and the priests shall throw salt on them, and they shall offer them up as a burnt offering to the Lord.” (Ezekiel 43:22–24, NASB95)[15] Both of these passages connect the salt and the fire with the Old Testament sacrifices. Salt, a preservative, was added to the sacrifices when they were burned as a symbol of God’s enduring covenant with Israel. Specifically, the offering of grain seems to be the sacrifice that is in view here. In Leviticus 2:13, God commanded the people of Israel, “Every grain offering of yours, moreover, you shall season with salt, so that the salt of the covenant of your God shall not be lacking from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” (Leviticus 2:13, NASB95)[16]
The grain offering, which was one of the five Old Testament offerings, the others were the burnt, the peace, the sin, and the guilt offerings. The grain offering was an offering of consecration, this offering symbolized total devotion to the Lord. Just as salt symbolized God’s enduring faithfulness, Jesus is saying here that everyone, that is all believers desiring to be true disciples of Jesus Christ, should make a long term, enduring, permanent sacrifice of their lives to God. Paul stated this way in Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” (Romans 12:1, NASB95)[17]
JESUS’ CALL FOR RADICAL OBEDIENCE (Mark 9:50)
Jesus final call for radical discipleship is a call for radical obedience. In Jesus’ day and in the days before refrigeration, salt was good because it was used to preserve food. The chemical compound of salt is sodium chloride and is very stable and does not easily break down and become useless. Much of the salt of Jesus’ day came from the vicinity of the Dead Sea and could be contaminated with gypsum. If it were not properly processed, it could break down and lose its effectiveness as a preservative and become unsalty and tasteless. Once this happens it cannot be made salty again and as such it is useless and just needs to be thrown out.
When Jesus commands His disciples to have salt in themselves He is calling them to radical obedience in their devotion to Him. He is calling them to a holy life preserved by righteousness. Then He gave the twelve a direct, practical application, commanding them to be a peace with one another. This command was a fitting challenge to these proud, self-serving, very competitive men who were arguing over which of them was the greatest. Jesus’ words put to rest this argument at this time as He called them to be humble, to love one another, to work on getting rid of sin in their own lives, to offer themselves as a living sacrifice to God, and finally to seek to live in complete obedience to Him. If they would do this the unity that had been broken by their argument would be restored as they sought to be at peace with one another.
CONCLUSION:
Jesus knew that by calling His disciples to radical love, radical purity, radical sacrifice, and radical obedience that this would make them the radical disciples that He needed to be the radical witnesses that would change the world after Jesus’ death and resurrection. This radical discipleship would unify them to lead the church and to support and encourage one another in the face of persecution that was sure to come from the religious establishment. Christians are the only true “salt of the earth.” There are no other spiritual influences for modeling truth other than the lives of true disciples of Jesus Christ, and these true disciples will be known for the radical nature of their discipleship.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[13]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[15]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[16]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[17]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.