Mark 9 Bible Commentary

9:1 And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the ^a kingdom of God come with power.

(a) When he will begin his kingdom through the preaching of the gospel: that is to say, after the resurrection.

9:2 ¹ And after six days Jesus taketh [with him] Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them.

(1) The heavenly glory of Christ, which would within a short time be abased upon the cross, is confirmed by visible signs, by the presence and talk of Elias and Moses, and by the voice of the Father himself; all this occurred before three of his disciples, who are witnesses against whom there is no objection.

9:3 And his raiment ^b became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them.

(b) Did sparkle as it were.

9:6 For he wist not what to say; for they were sore ^c afraid.

(c) They were beside themselves with fear.

9:9 ² And as they came down from the mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead.

(2) The Lord has appointed certain times for the publishing of the gospel.

9:10 And they ^d kept that saying with themselves, ^e questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.

(d) Though just barely as it were.
(e) They did not question together concerning the general resurrection, which will be in the latter day, but they did not understand what he meant when he spoke of his own special resurrection.

9:11 ³ And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?

(3) The foolish opinion of the rabbis concerning Elias' coming is refuted here, which was that either Elias should rise again from the dead, or that his soul would enter into some other body.

9:14 ⁴ And when he came to [his] disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them.

(4) Christ shows by a miracle, even to the unworthy, that he has come to restrain the wrath of Satan.

9:18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he ^f teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

(f) Vexes him inwardly, as the colic does.

9:20 And they brought him unto him: and when he ^g saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

(g) As soon as Jesus had looked upon the boy that was brought to him, the demon began to rage in this way.

9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, ^h all things [are] possible to him that believeth.

(h) Christ can and will do anything for those that believe in him.

9:26 ⁵ And [the spirit] cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

(5) The nearer that the virtue of Christ is the far greater Satan rages.

9:28 ⁶ And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out?

(6) We have need of faith, and therefore of prayer and fasting, in order to cast Satan out of that which belonged to him.

9:30 And they departed thence, and ⁱ passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know [it].

(i) He and his disciples together.

9:31 ⁷ For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.

(7) Christ forewarns us with great diligence so that we should not be discouraged with sudden calamities; but man's slowness to understand is great.

9:33 ⁸ And he came to Capernaum: and being in the ^k house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?

(8) Only humility exalts.
(k) Where he was accustomed to make his home.

9:37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not ^l me, but him that sent me.

(l) He not only receives me, but also him that sent me.

9:38 ⁹ And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.

(9) God, who normally works through ordinary means, works also extraordinarily as often as it pleases him. But an extraordinary means is tested by the doctrine and the effects.

9:42 ¹⁰ And whosoever shall offend one of [these] little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

(10) God is such a severe avenger of offences that it is better to suffer anything else than to be an occasion of offence to any.

9:44 Where their ^m worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

(m) Their worm who will be cast into that flame.

9:49 ¹¹ For every one shall be ⁿ salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.

(11) We must be seasoned and sprinkled by God, so that we may be both acceptable sacrifices unto him, and also so that in our being knit together we may season one another.
(n) That is, will be consecrated to God, being seasoned with the incorruptible word.