Mark 9:30--10:31
Second Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection
9:30 They went out from there and passed through Galilee. But Jesus did not want anyone to know,
9:31 for he was teaching his disciples and telling them, “The Son of Man will be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”
9:32 But they did not understand this statement and were afraid to ask him.
Questions About the Greatest
9:33 Then they came to Capernaum. After Jesus was inside the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?”
9:34 But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest.
9:35 After he sat down, he called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”
9:36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
9:37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
On Jesus’ Side
9:38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not following us.”
9:39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, because no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say anything bad about me.
9:40 For whoever is not against us is for us.
9:41 For I tell you the truth, whoever gives you a cup of water because you bear Christ’s name will never lose his reward.
9:42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
9:43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have two hands and go into hell, to the unquenchable fire.
9:44 [[EMPTY]]
9:45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.
9:46 [[EMPTY]]
9:47 If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,
9:48 where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.
9:49 Everyone will be salted with fire.
9:50 Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
Divorce
10:1 Then Jesus left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan River. Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.
10:2 Then some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
10:3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?”
10:4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.”
10:5 But Jesus said to them, “He wrote this commandment for you because of your hard hearts.
10:6 But from the beginning of creation he made them male and female.
10:7 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother,
10:8 and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
10:9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10:10 In the house once again, the disciples asked him about this.
10:11 So he told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.
10:12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Jesus and Little Children
10:13 Now people were bringing little children to him for him to touch, but the disciples scolded those who brought them.
10:14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me and do not try to stop them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
10:15 I tell you the truth, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.”
10:16 After he took the children in his arms, he placed his hands on them and blessed them.
The Rich Man
10:17 Now as Jesus was starting out on his way, someone ran up to him, fell on his knees, and said, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
10:19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”
10:20 The man said to him, “Teacher, I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws since my youth.”
10:21 As Jesus looked at him, he felt love for him and said, “You lack one thing. Go, sell whatever you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
10:22 But at this statement, the man looked sad and went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.
10:23 Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”
10:24 The disciples were astonished at these words. But again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!
10:25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”
10:26 They were even more astonished and said to one another, “Then who can be saved?”
10:27 Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, but not for God; all things are possible for God.”
10:28 Peter began to speak to him, “Look, we have left everything to follow you!”
10:29 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, there is no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel
10:30 who will not receive in this age a hundred times as much – homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, fields, all with persecutions – and in the age to come, eternal life.
10:31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”