Mark Chapter 9

1. To help the disciples really understand who He was, Jesus invited Peter, James and John to a very special meeting up on a high mountain. The disciples experienced a taste of God’s glory when they saw Jesus transfigured before them. They were allowed to see Jesus in His glory. How did Mark try to describe what Jesus looked like?

2. Also attending this special meeting were Moses and Elijah. Isn’t it interesting that the men just knew who they were seeing. There were no formal introductions, just a knowing of who they were. Which tells us a few things about heaven. First of all, the saints of the Old Testament will be there. It also tells us they are already there. And it tells us that we will know each other in glory. There was someone else present at this meeting who showed up in a cloud (the shekinah glory). Who else was there?

3. Jesus instructed the disciples as they came down the mountain to keep this to themselves until the Son of Man is risen. Verse 10 tells us that they were confused about something, what was it?

4. As they are thinking things through (having just seen their Messiah in a most glorious way), they ask about why the scribes say Elijah must come first. Jesus answered their question telling them that Elijah had already come, since John the Baptist was a type of Elijah making a way for the Messiah to come. How did the people treat this type of Elijah?

5. A father came to Jesus asking Him to heal his son possessed with a demon. We are not told the names of the disciples who tried to cast out the demon but could not. The disciples questioned why they were not able to do so. Jesus’ response was one that we all should remember when faced with difficult times. Jesus told them that if they were going to have power over such things they needed to have great trust in God. How does one grow closer to the heart of God?

6. While there may be varying degrees of demon possession, some may be more powerful and more difficult than others to cast out, we learn what about the power of Jesus? The disciples were concerned about other people casting out demons who were not apostles of Jesus. Jesus responded with a lesson about how our faith grows. When we serve others in the name of Jesus and we see a miracle happen, we know that God is real. It doesn’t matter if we are a pastor or a lay person, what matters is how much we trust in God. That’s the person that God can use to do great things for His glory.

7. Verses 30-32 is another example of Jesus telling His disciples of what will happen to Him – that He would be killed and after three days He would rise. Did the disciples understand at this point?

8. What is the biggest thing that gets in the way of our trust in God, our relationship with Him? Sin. In fact, it is sin that can keep a person from ever placing their life and faith in Jesus. What did Jesus say it would be better for a person to do than to allow that sin to keep them from entering into His glory?

Every one of us is going to be tested. Sometimes that testing will be like fire, it will be hard to bear. But when we trust in God during that testing and don’t cave in to our fleshly desires, we will come out different. We will be like salt. Being salty is a very distinguished difference.

The world might think we are odd, but if we care more about what the world thinks of us and we start losing our saltiness, we lose our effectiveness for God. Putting our full trust in God, that is what makes us stand out in the crowd for Him, it makes us salty.