Mark 9:42-50
Introduction
In this study we see that Jesus continues to teach the disciples. His teaching contains a number of warnings using extreme language. He also talks about a subject that you will rarely hear about these days. Bear all of this in mind as we examine today’s passage.
Verse 42
In this verse we have the first warning from Jesus. Jesus is not talking about little children. He tells us that these little ones are believers. Christians if you like. The little ones are in fact immature Christians or babes in Christ. They are not very well education in ‘the faith’ and they have a childlike faith in Jesus. As such these little ones are vulnerable to bad influences within the church.
When Jesus uses the word ‘whoever’ He is talking about leaders, teachers and anyone who has authority in the church. In particular He is talking about such people who are full of self-importance and arrogance who use their position to exert a bad influence on the little ones. It is worth noting that the Greek word translated as ‘stumble’ or ‘sin’ is ‘skandalizo’ which means to entice to sin. The bad influencers cause the little ones to stumble through false teaching, false practices and bad behaviour. Can you think of some examples of this?
It is the responsibility of those in authority in the church not to destroy the faith of the little ones. Elders and teachers be warned.
About those who do cause the little ones to stumble, Jesus says, “It would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea.” Can you see the impractical exaggeration in what Jesus said? It is not possible to hang a heavy millstone around a man’s neck. The kind of millstone used in those days was so big and so heavy that it could only be moved by one or more beasts of burden.
Jesus used such extreme language because He wanted to emphasise how serious this matter is. We’re going to see more extreme language from Jesus as we make our way through the rest of the passage.
Verses 43 to 48
In these verses Jesus uses some extreme language in relation to hell. In His dire warnings about hell, Jesus uses three examples of self-mutilation.
Does He really expect us to cut off a hand or foot or pluck out an eye if it causes us to sin? To the Jew, the idea of self-mutilation is utterly repugnant. In Rabbinic Judaism self-mutilation is a sin. We read about this in the Mishnah or Oral Law that we have talked about in earlier studies. The hands, feet and eyes are seen as a gift from God to be enjoyed in this life. So, Jesus is not telling us to literally cut off a hand or foot or to pluck out an eye if they cause us to sin.
So, what is Jesus telling us through this extreme language? Jesus is making the point that at all costs we do not want to go to hell because it is such a terrible place. It is better that we lose something very precious than to end up in hell. The very worst calamity that can befall any human being is to go to hell.
In these verses Jesus keeps using the phrase, ‘where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched’ to describe hell. He got the idea from a place just outside Jerusalem known as the Valley of Hinnom otherwise known in Greek as Gehenna. It was originally the site of human sacrifices during the period when the Israelites worshipped the pagan deity Moloch. But in Jesus’ time it had become a public rubbish dump. Rubbish, including discarded animal parts were dumped there. The rubbish dump never stopped burning because it was constantly being fuelled with rubbish. And worms were constantly feeding of the animal parts. This is what Jesus had in mind when He described hell as a place where ‘their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’
Today in the church, the doctrine of hell has all but disappeared from preaching. However, nobody in the Bible talked more about hell than Jesus. And when He did this, He used the ghastliest graphic images of punishment that He could think of, as we see in today’s passage.
So, because it was important to Jesus, let’s talk about hell. Hell is a real place. We see this in today’s passage. It is a place where sinners are punished (Matthew 5:22). It is a place of torment (Revelation 14:11). It is a place where the punishment lasts forever. We see this in today’s passage. Hell was originally created for Satan and his fallen angels (Matthew 25:41). Satan is not currently in Hell. He will be cast into it at the end of the millennial reign of Jesus. Hell is sometimes described as the ‘second death’ (Revelation 20:14). Hell is also called the ‘lake of fire’ (Revelation 20:10 & 15). And it is sometimes called the ‘fiery furnace’ (Matthew 13:50).
Verse 49
It should be noted that there is no consensus among theologians about what this verse means. It should also be noted that salt preserves and fire is associated with judgement. That said, this is my understanding of the verse:
I believe that it is linked to verses 43 to 48 and is saying that hell is a place of eternal punishment; that the punishment is preserved for all time. And I believe that the ‘everyone’ in this verse are those who are damned for hell. None of them will escape.
Verse 50
In the ancient world salt was used to preserve and to season. As Christians we are to be salt to the earth. This means that we are to influence or affect everyone and everything around us for good. It also means that we are to preserve the truth and resist moral corruption and decay. We lose our saltiness when we stop doing this.
And when we lose our saltiness, we as individuals and as the church end up being influenced by the world instead. Does this sound familiar? In this verse, Jesus is warning us not to lose our saltiness. We must not retreat from the world. We must remain active, influencing the world around us as best we can.