Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Mark 9:35

What!? The First Should Be Last? The First should be Servant of All? This is not what we are taught in this world, right? The First is always King, right? The First shall be praised, right? No, not in the Kingdom of God. If you truly want to be first you should be willing to become last

Jesus has totally flipped the tables on our understanding of who we are. In the world we grow up trying to become the greatest we can, no matter who we step on! But Jesus wants us to stop focusing on ourselves for once and focus on our neighbors, focus on our family, most importantly focus on God!

Taking a child, He set him before them, and taking him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever receives one child like this in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me does not receive Me, but Him who sent Me Mark 9:36-37

Jesus then take a little child, sits them on his knee, and tells his disciples, “If you want to be great, be like one of these little children”! What?! The disciple’s egos are immediately broken. But we are in the inner circle of Christ! What qualities can we learn from a child?

Are children afraid to ask questions or say they don’t know? No! Are children born racist or hateful? No! Until we learn to humble ourselves like children, and see the world through the eyes of a child, we can never be first!

Deny yourself, Carry your Cross, and Follow Jesus! Then you will become great in the Kingdom of God!

and whenever it seizes him, it slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” Mark 9:18

When Jesus was approaching his disciples, he noticed there was a great dispute going on. A large crowd has gathered, and the disciples were arguing with the religious leaders. What was going on?

Well apparently, this man brought his son to the disciples to have a demon cast out of him. However the disciples were unable to cast out the demon, this allowed all the skeptics to start harassing the disciples. Have you ever been put into this position? Where someone asked you to pray for someone and your afraid if nothing happens, everyone will doubt your sincerity.

And He answered them and said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” Mark 9:19

Jesus has been putting up with the skeptics for awhile. But notice what he says to them “You unbelieving generation” The reason the disciples couldn’t cast out the demon was because nobody there had any genuine faith.  Without faith nothing is possible, but with faith anything is possible!

And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Mark 9:23

This man brings his son to Jesus and says “If you can do anything, have compassion on us” Jesus is like What? “If there is anything I can do”?  Obviously this man really didn’t know or believe who Jesus was. Obviously this man really didn’t have much or any faith.  But Jesus says to those who do believe “All Things Are Possible”!

And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.” Mark 9:29

The disciples asked Jesus why they were not able to cast out the demon? Jesus said this demon could only be cast out by prayer. Meaning we personally cant cast out anything only God has the power to cast out demons or heal people. But our true faith activates Gods power and makes all things possible!

And Jesus was saying to them, “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” Mark 9:1

Its often been debated about what Jesus was talking about here. Many conclude that Jesus was referring to the Transfiguration, because it happens typically right after this event. And I agree the transfiguration was a glimpse into the power and glory of Gods Kingdom to come. As we see Moses representing The Law and Elijah representing the Prophets come together under Jesus to be fulfilled

But when did we see the Kingdom of God come into power? We saw it on the cross, when Jesus defeated sin and death, Jesus fulfilled The Law, Jesus defeated Satan forever. The power of Gods Kingdom was displayed at Calvary.

As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead. Mark 9:9

Notice what Jesus says to Peter, James, and John after the Transfiguration. “Don’t tell anyone until after the Resurrection” Why? Because it was then the Kingdom of God has come into power here on Earth. Sin, Death, and Satan have all been defeated at the cross!

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. John 19:30

When Jesus said “It Is Finished” he fulfilled his mission to save humanity. The Heavens and the Earth shook when the power of Gods Kingdom came to Earth through Jesus Christ Amen!