Mark 9:34
- The disciples believed that Jesus, as the Messiah, would become king and re-establish Israel as a mighty nation. Presumably, they are now discussing who will have what role in Jesus’ new government.
Mark 9:35
- When a Jewish rabbi would teach his disciples, he would sit down while the listeners had to stand up.
- Now when Jesus sits down and calls his disciples to him, it signals that he has something very important to say.
- The disciples were arguing about who was closest to Jesus and who would have the finest and most glorious role in the Messiah’s kingdom, but they had not understood that being great in the kingdom of God is not the same as being great in the kingdom of the world.
- A servant is not a slave who is forced to do chores, but someone who volunteers to help others.
- A disciple should not seek to be the greatest and foremost, but should focus on lifting up other people and serving others instead of himself.
- Jesus himself set a good example; he did not pursue success and exaltation, but went around ministering to the people by healing the sick and teaching the word of God.
Mark 9:37
- A disciple should be as dependent on God as a child is on his parents.
- Children were considered to be at the bottom of the social ladder, so when a disciple serves a child, he is automatically the last of all and the servant of all.
- A disciple of today should think about who is at the bottom of the social scale and then decide to serve them.