Trinity Baptist Church

The Book of Mark

Radical Discipleship

Mark 9:42-50

 

Mark 9:24-50

 

We have some interesting challenges with this passage of Scripture.  Apparently it has been tampered with a little down through the years and we need to be aware of that as we try to manage it. 

 

The controversy particularly involves verses 44 and 46 which do not appear in the earliest manuscripts available to us.  Now obviously we don’t have any original documents that were written by the authors. 

 

But we do have authoritative, trustworthy manuscripts that God has chosen to preserve for us and they are the standard from which all interpretations and translations come.  One of the great realities of Scripture is the preservation of the original which God has overseen so that we have a true reflection of the original Greek and Hebrew text.

 

And the earliest manuscripts are consistent and have been compared with each other as a part of the translation process. 

 

In an attempt to clarify or add emphasis, later manuscripts add or change things. Scribes who wanted to increase the effect of a passage or clarify the meaning added things down through the years.  They weren’t meant to change the meaning or alter the message; they were simply for impact or clarification.  And that’s what we find in this passage.   

 

This passage is so strong and severe and the warnings so dire that down through the years, somebody felt the need to intensify what was being said, so they repeated a statement Jesus makes two additional times. 

 

If you are using a New American Standard version or one of the newer translations, you see brackets around verses 44 and 46 with a note that these verses are not found in the earlier manuscripts.

 

However, the statement in verses 44 and 46 is in verse 48. So we assume that some scribe saw the urgency of this and just wanted to pile it on a little bit. But I would think it best to consider these verses without including those two and that’s how I’ll approach it tonight.

 

Now aside from the situation with these verses, this is a very unique portion of Scripture. It is full of graphic terminology, dramatic acts, severe warnings and rather violent threats. It really is a passage about radical discipleship and the language bears testimony to that. It calls for radical behaviors. And it shows us just how radical it is to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

 

I find it interesting that in our day and age everyone is radical except for Christians.  Students on campuses can organize a boycott of a football game and get a college president and chancellor to resign. 

 

Terrorists can paralyze the nations by violent, radical acts that take the lives of 100’s and 1’000’s of people.  One man who opposes abortion can gun down those he disagrees with. 

 

Thousands will sit in the ice and snow and freezing temperatures to root on their favorite sports team. 

 

But very seldom do we encounter that kind of passion from Christians.  But in this passage, the Lord is calling for radical discipleship. And I suppose if I’m going to phrase it that way, I should define the word “radical.”

 

We generally think of something being extreme or revolutionary.  And while that is a proper usage of the word, it is not the primary meaning of the word.  In fact, the first and foremost definition has to do with the root or origin of something.  If something is radical, it is fundamental.  It is inherent to the nature and foundation of a thing. 

 

And I think the word is best understood as both.  It is a word that refers to something that is fundamental and fanatical, that is intrinsic and intensive, that is essential and extreme. Therefore, it is a great word to use as an adjective for a discipleship because discipleship is something fundamental fanatical, something intrinsic and intensive, something essential and something extreme. The basics of being a disciple, and in a particular a disciple of Christ, are extremely radical.

 

Think about the teaching of Christ and see if you don’t agree.  His teachings and requirements are so far out of step with normal society and human behavior, there is no other way to describe them other than radical. 

 

 

 

 

He has told people they need to repent of their sins. He has told them they have to deny themselves. They have to be willing to forsake all family ties, all earthly relationships, hate your father, your mother, your sister, your brother and hate even your own life.

 

He has told them that it may be the forfeiture of their money, the forfeiture of their earthly future, certainly the control of their life. They are to be willing to die, maybe even be crucified and then to follow Him in total submission. This is radical discipleship and this is radical salvation.

 

So it isn’t surprising to find this call to radical discipleship. It is absolutely consistent with everything that He has said.

 

Now remember, this is a lesson that our Lord is giving to His Apostles and other disciples as He prepares them for His death and resurrection.  So far they’ve received lessons on faith and humility.  Now they are going to get a lesson on radical discipleship. 

 

The lesson plan covers four areas.  We’ll look at two of them tonight and the other two at a later time.  The first thing we see is a call for

 

 

verse 42

 

Now that seems like an odd verse to couple with the thought of radical love, but believe it or not, that’s what the Lord is calling for.  It is our love for other believers that prevents us from leading them into sin.

There is this corporate aspect of the Kingdom of God.  Whether we are talking about His family, His Kingdom or His church, we are involved in a very intimate way with one another.  And the warning we find here in this very severe statement is that before you would lead another believer to sin, you would be better off to die a horrible death and it’s actually phrased in the form of a threat.

 

We find a more extensive version in Matthew 18.  Notice verses 6-7

 

The fact of the matter is we expect the world to try and cause us to stumble.  We expect that the world will give us opportunity to sin.  In fact, as verse 7 says, It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come.  You’re going to be given the opportunity to mess up in your faith. 

 

But God forbid that the reason we stumble is another child of God.  In fact, judgment is pronounced on anybody who causes another believer to sin.

 

It’s the same principle we saw last week in verse 37 or chapter 9. 

 

Verse 37

 

Christ lives in every believer and how you treat a believer is how you treat Christ, and how you treat Christ is how you treat God. You can’t isolate the believer from Christ or from God the Father because they dwell in every believer.  So how you treat another believer is how you treat Christ.

 

 

 

Saul of Tarsus was traveling the road to Damascus on his way to persecute the church when Jesus knocked him off his horse, blinded his eyes and asked, “Why are you persecuting me?”

 

We are to treat other believers with the knowledge that they are inseparable from the God Who lives within them.   One of these days, there will be a judgment regarding this very thing when the King will say to those on His right, the believers, “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.”

 

And then the righteous will answer, “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, 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, you did it to Me.”

 

This is the reality at the very foundation of how we treat one another in the church. That’s the positive aspect that leads to this negative threat we find here in Mark 9.  Don’t cause another believer to stumble.

 

 In fact, to do that carries an extremely high price tag.

 

Verse 42

They ground grain with a fixed stone that had a rolling stone mounted on top of it and they would use an animal, often an ox or mule to roll that stone around.  The reason they used an animal was because the stone was so large, often weighing tons. 

 

And Jesus says you would be better off to have one of those tied around your neck and have you thrown to the bottom of the ocean than to cause another Christian to be ensnared in sin. And what motivates us to make sure that never happens is the love that we have for one another.  Love doesn’t cause others to sin. 

 

In fact, love does the very opposite of that. According to 1 Corinthians chapter 13, love doesn’t enjoy someone falling into sin. According to 1 Peter 4, Peter says, “Love one another with a fervent love. Love, we are told, covers a multitude of sins. 

 

So if the Lord places that kind of premium on making certain we don’t cause someone to stumble, then we ought to make sure we understand what He means by stumble. 

 

The word means to be caught or trapped in sin.  And it is focused on individual relationships rather than a group.  So how is it that we can lead or cause others to become trapped in sin? 

 

I would suggest there are at least four ways. 

 

 

You tempt somebody or invite someone to sin against the moral laws of God.

You include and encourage people to lie or gossip or cheat or backstab.  You draw them in to ungodly activities, entertainment or whatever. You understand that.

 

 

Not as overt, but just as dangerous is indirect temptation.  You go around bragging about what you’ve got or flaunting what you have and you hope someone is jealous of you.  Or you stir things up hoping they’ll join your group and support your cause. 

 

You provoke them to anger by your indifference or unkindness.  Or maybe you refuse to forgive someone and every time they think of you they sin by their own attitude.  Temptation is very subtle.  You can do it directly or indirectly.

 

 

Someone simply does things that other people see that are sinful and conclude since you’re a Christian and you’re doing it, it must be okay.  That is actually training someone to violate their conscience and sin against the Holy Spirit.   We have to be careful of the example that you set. Someone is always watching!

 

 

Do you encourage people or discourage people by your words and actions toward them?  Hebrews 10:24-25 says we are to encourage or stimulate one another to love and good works and especially in light of the coming judgment of God.

 

We should probably through into the mix a fifth ways and that is

 

 

Giving bad advice or counsel from God’s Word can trap people in sin.  They don’t need our opinion or what we think.  They need and we need the counsel of the precious Word of God. 

 

So in any of these ways, overlapping, intertwined ways, we can lead others to sin. And our Lord says, “You’d be better off to die a horrible death than to do that.”

 

This is the strongest threat that ever came out of the mouth of Jesus to His own people and it calls for radical love and love seeks someone’s best, love seeks to elevate, love seeks to purify, love seeks to bless.

 

Well, there are three more ingredients in radical discipleship and we’ll save those for next time. 

 

Let’s pray.