The Road to True Greatness

At this point the disciples just aren’t there. Oh, they are zealous, but it is a misplaced zeal, myopic and self-centered. In fact it is downright sinful.

The disciples are about to learn that God’s kingdom is bigger than their experience of it. It is so large that anyone who is for Christ is with us. Sinclair Ferguson says, “In the last analysis, it is more important that the servants of God are devoted to Christ than that they are to one of us” (Ferguson, Mark, 152).

John came across someone casting out demons (something they failed at in 9:18!) in Jesus’ name. They did not know him—he obviously was not part of the “in group” of their religious denomination—so they “tried to stop him, because he was not following us” (v. 38). Us?

If John expected a word of affirmation and approval, he was sadly mistaken. Jesus responds with a strong command, “Don’t stop him.” On the contrary, stop what you are doing! Why?

First, anyone doing these things in My name does so by the power of God. It is an evidence of My call on his life (cf. 1 Cor 12:3). No, do not try to hinder him. Help him. Don’t try to restrain him. Rejoice in and with him.

Second, “For whoever is not against us is for us” (v. 40). Paul obviously understood this principle when he wrote,

196Against us/for us leaves no room for neutrality. And here is a nobody exalting Somebody while the somebodies are worried about who is following a bunch of nobodies! Who in these verses is on the road to true greatness?

Verse 41 illustrates the point, undergirded by the authoritative amen, “I assure you.”

Service to others frees us. It gets our eyes off of us and onto others who need the same Christ we need. An anonymous author said, “World Missions is God’s major therapy for our sin of selfishness that eats the heart out of the local church” (source unknown). Allegiance to Christ will lead us to applaud and celebrate those on God’s team, even if they are different from us!

Mark 9:42-50

These nine verses are a source of great interest. (1) They put front and center the cost and serious nature of radical discipleship. (2) They are grouped together and united by various catchwords: “downfall,” various body parts, “hell,” and “salt.” (3) Several of these sayings are found in different contexts in the other Gospels (Matt 5:13, 29-30; 18:8-9; Luke 14:34-35). Jesus taught these truths on more than one occasion, as any good teacher would.

Our Lord had the strongest possible view of judgment and hell: it is real and it lasts forever. In this context it serves as a warning and a motivation to follow Jesus in devotion and discipleship.

This is a hinge verse that brings to an end the themes found in verses 35-41 and then introduces what follows. It picks up on the theme of a child in verses 36-37 and those who belong to Christ in verse 41.

197“Little ones” here does not refer to children but to those who follow Jesus, to disciples. If verse 41 speaks of doing good to them, verse 42 addresses just the opposite. If you cause just one disciple to “stumble” (Gk skandalizein), it would be better to be given a pair of cement shoes and hurled into the ocean.

I believe Jesus is still speaking to John, and the issue is still pride. God’s wrath is great against it because it does so much harm. If we do not rid ourselves of the sin that took both Satan and Adam down, we will be a stumbling block to others, and God will hold us accountable.

A saving faith is a fighting faith. It will engage the battle against sin with deadly seriousness. Out of gratitude for the new “life” (vv. 43, 45) we have in Christ and the “kingdom of God” (v. 47) we now belong to, we pursue a holy agenda with passion and discipline.

Jesus launches three powerful hyperboles to warn us of sin’s danger to others as well as to ourselves. We know they are hyperboles—not to be taken literally—because the Bible forbids bodily mutilation (Deut 14:1; 23:1; 1 Kgs 18:28; Zech 13:6). However, in no way does this diminish or negate the importance of what Jesus is saying. “Things we value supremely, like eyes, hands, and feet—should not stand in the way of eternal life” (Edwards, Mark, 294). Eyes, hands, and feet are all inclusive of what we see, what we do, and where we go. As important as they are, better to lose them than to let them prevent you from entering eternal life and God’s kingdom.

Evil actions come from a heart that rejoices in sin rather than in Christ (Mark 7:20-23). But Sam Storms is correct, “Very little, if any, sin comes out of your heart that didn’t first enter through your eyes.” He then adds, “Our external members are but the instruments we employ to gratify the lust that emerges from within. What our Lord was advocating, therefore, [to quote John Stott], was not a literal physical self-maiming, but a ruthless moral selfdenial. Not mutilation but mortification is the path of holiness he taught” (Storms, “Be Killing Sin”).

Jesus said more about hell than anyone else in the Bible. “Hell” is the New Testament word used for the place of eschatological punishment (Matt 5:29-30; 10:28; Mark 9:43, 45, 47; Luke 12:5). The Greek word gehenna comes from the Hebrew ge-hinnom, “Valley of Hinnom,” a valley south of Jerusalem where Kings Ahaz (2 Chr 28:3) and Manasseh (2 Chr 33:6) offered child sacrifices to the pagan god Molech. Declared unclean by Josiah (2 Kgs 23:10), it became the place to burn refuse and to dispose of corpses (Isa 66:24; Jer 31:40). The prophets proclaimed oracles of doom on it, and198 gehinnom became a symbol of final judgment (Isa 31:9; Jer 7:31-32; 19:6). It is a place of unquenchable fire (Matt 3:12; Mark 9:43), a lake of fire and brimstone (Rev 20:10, 14-15), an eternal fire (Matt 18:8-9; 25:41), a furnace of fire (Matt 13:42), an outer darkness (Matt 8:12; 22:13; 25:30), and an eternal punishment (Matt 25:46). Only God has power to cast both body and soul into hell (see also Luke 12:5).

Picking up on the word “fire” in v. 48, Jesus affirms that “everyone will be salted with fire.” “Salt” is a preservative. Thus all will be “salted with fire” in a manner consistent with their relationship to Christ. For unbelievers it will be the perpetual fires of final judgment in hell. For the disciple it will be the preserving and refining fires of trials and suffering that mark the road to true greatness. This saying is found only in Mark’s Gospel. It must have held special significance for him and Peter.

Salt is good as long as it can serve its purposes. But if it loses its purifying and preserving value then it is worthless. Sinclair Ferguson helps clarify the intent of our Lord’s words: “unless we maintain the purity of our own lives (plucking out the eye, etc.) and are purified by the flames of testing, and remain faithful to Christ, our lives will have no preserving influence on this corrupt world” (Mark, 155).

Perhaps in light of the disciple’s argument about the greatest (v. 34) and John’s opposition to another brother doing the work of the Lord (vv. 38-41), Jesus draws one simple application from having salt in yourselves: “Be at peace with one another.” Be humble, and avoid stumbling or causing others to stumble. Don’t fuss and fight over positions and status. Be a reflection of the God-given peace you have received from Jesus (Rom 5:1). Pull for your brothers and sisters in Christ, not against them. After all, though we may play different positions, all who follow Jesus as Lord are on the same team. Here is a path to true greatness where it really matters: in the eyes of our Savior.

One of the greatest servants of King Jesus, I believe, that has ever walked the earth was a short woman, thin haired in her last years, named Emma Lou. With only a high school education, she faithfully served her Lord until the end of her life, when the Alzheimer’s disease destroyed the precious mind that cared so deeply for her Savior. When rational thought escaped her and moments of panic gripped her, she would repeatedly voice a simple prayer, “Help me, Jesus.”

199At her funeral her son-in-law would remark that he never heard Emma Lou say, “I want.” Even if it was her birthday and you asked her where she would like to go out for dinner, her response was always the same: “Whatever you all want will be fine with me.” Her daughter-in-law looked to her as if she were her own biological mother.

Her son had the honor of preaching her funeral and did so from Proverbs 31 because Emma Lou was a Proverbs 31 lady. And I have heard him on more than a few occasions recount how she worked a double shift for two weeks from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. so her son could go on a mission trip, a trip on which God called him to the gospel ministry.

I know so much about Emma Lou because she was my mother. Was she a great lady in the eyes of the world? No, not really. Was she a great lady in the eyes of our Lord? Without a doubt! When I get to heaven, I will see my mom. I suspect, however, that I will need some heavenly binoculars because she will be so close to the Lord’s throne and I will be so far away. She understood and walked the road to true greatness as a simple and faithful follower of Jesus.