Three disciples watch their teacher’s face turn as bright as the sun on a mountaintop, and before the same day is over are back at the bottom of it, failing in front of a crowd to heal a boy their own teacher heals with a word. A desperate father offers the most honest prayer in this whole Gospel — “Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief” — and it is enough. And when the disciples try to shut down a stranger doing good work in Jesus’s name simply because he isn’t one of them, Jesus overrules them with one of the widest sentences He ever speaks: whoever is not against us is on our side.
A study in Mark 9 · Arthur Baldwin · StandUp4Jesus.Org · 33 min read
This Is My Beloved Son: Hear Him
“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. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them. And there appeared unto them Elias with Moses: and they were talking with Jesus.”
Mark 9:2-4
This site’s own study of Matthew 17 already told the scene itself in full — the light, the cloud, the voice. What is worth pausing on here is who, exactly, Jesus is talking with.
“They are Moses, who upon Sinai had talked with God; and Elijah, to whom the high privilege was given—granted to but one other of the sons of Adam—never to come under the power of death.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 421
One man who died and was raised again to stand here; one man who never died at all. Between them they represent every believer who will ever leave this world, whichever way that leaving happens to come.
“And Peter answered and said to Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. For he wist not what to say; for they were sore afraid. And there was a cloud that overshadowed them: and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved Son: hear him. And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves.”
Mark 9:5-8
“Now heaven had sent its messengers to Jesus; not angels, but men who had endured suffering and sorrow, and who could sympathize with the Saviour in the trial of His earthly life. Moses and Elijah had been colaborers with Christ. They had shared His longing for the salvation of men.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 422
Peter wants to build something permanent out of a moment that was never meant to last. What actually endures from the mountain isn’t a shrine but a sentence — three words the disciples will need again before the week that is coming is over: hear Him.
“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. And they kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.”
Mark 9:9-10
“The entire night had been passed in the mountain; and as the sun arose, Jesus and His disciples descended to the plain. Absorbed in thought, the disciples were awed and silent. Even Peter had not a word to say.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 426
A man who moments earlier was ready to build a monument now has nothing to say at all. Something on that mountain reordered what Peter thought was worth talking about — and what was waiting at the bottom of it was about to test whether any of the three had actually understood.
“And they asked him, saying, Why say the scribes that Elias must first come? And he answered and told them, Elias verily cometh first, and restoreth all things; and how it is written of the Son of man, that he must suffer many things, and be set at nought. But I say unto you, That Elias is indeed come, and they have done unto him whatsoever they listed, as it is written of him.”
Mark 9:11-13
Lord, I Believe; Help Thou Mine Unbelief
“As the people on the plain caught sight of Jesus, they ran to meet Him, greeting Him with expressions of reverence and joy. Yet His quick eye discerned that they were in great perplexity. The disciples appeared troubled. A circumstance had just occurred that had caused them bitter disappointment and humiliation.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 427
This site’s own study of Matthew 17 already told what that circumstance was — nine disciples, a father’s desperate request, and a demon they could not cast out. Mark’s own telling of it is the longest and most detailed of all three Gospels, and it earns that length.
“And when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. And straightway all the people, when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him saluted him. And he asked the scribes, What question ye with them? And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit; And wheresoever he taketh him, he 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. He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.”
Mark 9:14-19
Mark alone preserves the exact question Jesus asks the father next — not about faith yet, but about time.
“And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child. And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us. Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.”
Mark 9:20-24
“Many feel that they lack faith, and therefore they remain away from Christ. Let these souls, in their helpless unworthiness, cast themselves upon the mercy of their compassionate Saviour. Look not to self, but to Christ.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 429
The father doesn’t wait until his faith is strong enough to qualify for a miracle. He asks with whatever faith he has — a mixture, by his own admission, of belief and its opposite — and that mixture turns out to be sufficient.
“When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him. 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. But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.”
Mark 9:25-27
“In a brief space of time the favored disciples have beheld the extreme of glory and of humiliation. … And this mighty Redeemer, who but a few hours before stood glorified before His wondering disciples, stoops to lift the victim of Satan from the earth where he is wallowing, and in health of mind and body restores him to his father and his home.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 429
The same hands that had shone with heaven’s own light a few hours earlier are now the hands lifting a boy off the ground where a demon has just left him foaming and rigid. Mark’s Gospel never lets the mountain and the plain stay very far apart.
“And when he was come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, Why could not we cast him out? And he said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.”
Mark 9:28-29
The Twelve had cast out demons before, on their own first mission in this very Gospel’s sixth chapter. Whatever failed them here wasn’t a power they had never possessed — it was a dependence on that power’s Source they had let slip.
Whosoever Shall Receive One Of Such Children
“And they departed thence, and passed through Galilee; and he would not that any man should know it. 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. But they understood not that saying, and were afraid to ask him.”
Mark 9:30-32
Fear of the answer keeps them from asking the question — and into that silence walks an argument about which of them is the greatest.
“It was not enough for the disciples of Jesus to be instructed as to the nature of His kingdom. What they needed was a change of heart that would bring them into harmony with its principles.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 437
“And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest. And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.”
Mark 9:33-37
This site’s own study of Matthew 18 already spent a full chapter on what real greatness looks like in this kingdom. What Mark adds, in a detail Matthew’s account doesn’t include, is that Jesus takes the child up in His own arms before He speaks — the argument about who is greatest answered not first with a sentence, but with an embrace.
“The rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant, meet together, with no thought of caste or worldly preeminence. All meet as blood-bought souls, alike dependent upon One who has redeemed them to God.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 437
He That Is Not Against Us Is On Our Part
One disciple has just been folded into Christ’s own arms as an example of true greatness. Almost immediately, another disciple demonstrates exactly the opposite spirit.
“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. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part.”
Mark 9:38-40
“The Saviour’s words awakened in the disciples a feeling of self-distrust. No one had been specially pointed out in the reply; but John was led to question whether in one case his action had been right. With the spirit of a child he laid the matter before Jesus.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 437
John doesn’t wait to be caught. The lesson about the child is still settling in his own conscience when he volunteers the confession himself.
“James and John had thought that in checking this man they had had in view their Lord’s honor; they began to see that they were jealous for their own. They acknowledged their error, and accepted the reproof of Jesus … None who showed themselves in any way friendly to Christ were to be repulsed.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 437
“For whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.”
Mark 9:41
“The fact that one does not in all things conform to our personal ideas or opinions will not justify us in forbidding him to labor for God. Christ is the Great Teacher; we are not to judge or to command, but in humility each is to sit at the feet of Jesus, and learn of Him.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 438
Nine chapters earlier this same Gospel opened with a crowd amazed that Jesus taught “as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” Here, that authority is turned toward His own disciples’ instinct to gatekeep who is allowed to use His name — and it corrects them just as plainly as it once silenced an unclean spirit.
Have Salt In Yourselves
“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.”
Mark 9:42
This site’s own study of Matthew 18 already sat with the weight of this warning. What follows it in Mark is a set of sayings so severe that this Gospel is willing to repeat them nearly word for word, three times in a row, once for the hand, once for the foot, once for the eye.
“And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”
Mark 9:43-48
This site’s own study of Matthew 5 already met this same hard saying once, in its Sermon-on-the-Mount setting. Mark’s threefold repetition here — hand, foot, eye, the same warning restated for each — is not Jesus repeating Himself carelessly. It is emphasis by repetition, the same technique this Gospel already used when it had Jesus quiz His disciples about two separate basket counts rather than settle for telling them once that they should remember.
“For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt. Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.”
Mark 9:49-50
“In the ritual service, salt was added to every sacrifice. This, like the offering of incense, signified that only the righteousness of Christ could make the service acceptable to God. Referring to this practice, Jesus said, ‘Every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.’ ‘Have salt in yourselves, and have peace one with another.’”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 439
“But if the salt has lost its savor; if there is only a profession of godliness, without the love of Christ, there is no power for good. The life can exert no saving influence upon the world.”
Ellen G. White · The Desire of Ages, p. 439
A chapter that opened with Christ’s own face shining like the sun closes with an instruction about staying salted — both images pointing at the same question, whether what is inside a person is still what it was made to be, or has quietly gone flat while the outward shape stayed the same. Between the mountaintop and this last hard saying stands a father who admitted his own unbelief out loud and was answered anyway. That, more than the transfiguration itself, may be the verse this chapter most wants its readers to keep.
