Rachel Workman: 38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
39 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. 41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.
42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [44] [b] 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46] [c] 47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
“‘the worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’[d]
49 Everyone will be salted with fire. And here it is. Everyone will be salted with fire. This is actually one of the hardest verses in the bible to understand. There are multiple interpretations to this verse. I will tell you how I interpret it. It's no secret that life is hard and there are many stumbling blocks. Trials and tribulations can be overwhelming. Sin is more and more appealing. Why is there so much suffering? I'm not God and I can't answer those questions. What I can do is look at what his word says. And here is says everyone will be salted with fire. There will be times that we will need to lean on what God says to make it in tact. That's the salt we need and the fire is the rest. We will stumble, we will fail and temptations lay at every corner. We need salt for those types of fires. It's up to us to make sure the salt we have doesn't lose it's saltiness.
50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” I love this verse. Have salt but be at peace. Radiate the love of Christ but do it peacefully. Forcing your views on someone who refuses to believe is not accomplishing anything.
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John Burnett:
38 “Teacher,”
said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to
stop, because he was not one of us.”
39 “Do
not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name
can in the next moment say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is
for us. 41 Truly
I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong
to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward. Jesus
and His common sense.
Causing to Stumble
42 “If
anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to
stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around
their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to
stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two
hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [44] [a] 45 And if your foot causes you to
stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to
have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46] [b] 47 And if your eye causes you to
stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with
one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
49 Everyone
will be salted with fire. Here Jesus is giving us the idea of
how bad hell is and how serious sin is to Him. He is not telling them to
cut or pluck anything but is giving them an idea of how they should view their
sin, how bad it is and what we should be willing to do to not do it
anymore. Thankfully, His death and resurrection paid our consequences, so
that when we repent and put our trust in His gospel, we don’t have to worry
about hell anymore because He will not let us go there because we now belong to
him.
50 “Salt
is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have
salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
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Allen Michaels: 38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name
and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.” Correct theology is important but should never be an excuse
to avoid helping people in need.
39 “Do not stop him,”
Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment
say anything bad about me, 40 for whoever is not against us is
for us. People who are on Jesus’ side have the same
goal of building up the kingdom of God, and they should not let their
differences interfere with this goal. Those who share a common faith in Christ
should cooperate. People don’t have to be just like us to be following Jesus
with us. 41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a
cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not
lose their reward. By contrast, harming others or
failing to care for them is a sin, even if they are unimportant people in the
world’s eyes. It is possible for thoughtless, selfish people to gain a measure
of worldly greatness, but lasting greatness is measured by God’s standards. It
makes me wonder what I’m using as a measure—personal achievement or unselfish
service.
Causing to
Stumble
42 “If anyone causes
one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better
for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown
into the sea. This caution against harming little
ones in the faith applies both to what we do individually as teachers and
examples, and to what we allow to fester in our Christian fellowship. Our
thoughts and actions must be motivated by love and we must be careful about
judging others. However, we also have a responsibility to control flagrant sin
within the church. 43 If your hand causes you to
stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two
hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. [44] 45 And
if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter
life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. [46] 47 And
if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter
the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where
“‘the
worms that eat them do not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
and the fire is not quenched.’
Nothing
should stand in the way of our faith. We must be ruthless in removing sins from
our lives now, in order to avoid being stuck with them for eternity. I know I
have to start making my choices from an eternal perspective.
49 Everyone will be
salted with fire.
50 “Salt is good, but
if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among
yourselves, and be at peace with each other.” When
we lose this desire to “salt” the earth with the love and message of God, we
become useless to him.
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Tomorrow's reading for Mark 10:1-12
1 Jesus then left that place and went into the
region of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds of people came to him, and
as was his custom, he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees came and tested
him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”
5 “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’[a] 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c] So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”
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