Mark 9:30-32 – Jesus Again Foretells Death, Resurrection

Mark 9:30-31

1. Jesus now begins to finish his ministry in Galilee and enters a new phase that will end with the crucifixion in Jerusalem.
2. When Jesus preached to the public, he did not preach that the Messiah must die.
   1. When Peter found out that the Messiah was going to die, he tried to stop Jesus from doing so (Mark 8:31-33).
      1. If the public also learns that the Messiah will soon die, there is a danger that they too will try to prevent Jesus’ death, and then the atonement will fail. That is why Jesus does not want the people to know until the atonement is completed. Only after his death and resurrection were the disciples commissioned to teach the people about this.

Mark 9:32

1. Even the disciples had a hard time with the message of Jesus’ death, but Jesus still taught them about it so they would know about it beforehand.
2. The disciples, as well as the rest of the people, had a wrong preconception and thought that the Messiah would be a powerful king who liberates Israel in a worldly way.
   1. However, the disciples and the people should have known that Isaiah prophesied that the Messiah will suffer and die for the sake of the people (Is 53).