Mark 9:38-50 (NRSV)
Read Mark 9:38-50 on biblegateway.com
Verse 38John 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." Verse 39But Jesus said, "Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. Verse 40Whoever is not against us is for us. Verse 41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.
Verse 42"If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. Verse 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. Verse 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. Verse 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, Verse 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
Verse 49"For everyone will be salted with fire. Verse 50Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."
Devotion
Jesus often uses exaggeration, or hyperbole, to get our attention. He certainly does that in verses 42-48. If we all took Jesus’ words literally we would be stumbling around with one hand, one foot, and one eye.
Then also added is the talk about the millstone. In 1975 as a student at St. Olaf College studying in Jerusalem for a semester, our group had the occasion to see a millstone in action pressing olives powered by a donkey. A millstone is heavy!
What does this passage say to me?
Don’t put stumbling blocks in the way of people who want to believe in Jesus Christ, either by our words or by our actions. And it’s OK to be tested, as if being salted by fire, the meaning implying that the right testing can lead to our being the kind of salty people who can live at peace with others.
Prayer
Dear God, help us to reach out in love with the gospel to those around us, enabling them to want to have Jesus in their lives. Amen.
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