Mark 9:30-37 30  They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, 31  for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.” 32  But they did not understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him. 
33  And they came to Capernaum. And when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” 34  But they kept silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. 35  And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” 36  And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37  “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”

What makes a secret a secret?  Nobody else knows.  The disciples of Jesus had been taught a secret- that He would die and after three days would rise.  Nobody else in Israel knew this.  As Jesus and His disciples returned to Capernaum in Galilee from Caesarea Philippi where He had first told them, they returned in secret not drawing crowds as they had done previously.  Although the disciples had doubted Jesus when He first told them about His death and resurrection and unbelief had crept into their hearts, they had been reassured by the demoniac boy being set free.  Jesus healed the boy when the disciples had been unable.  He was still sovereign over all and in control of all things.  All of this took place after Jesus had given Peter, James, and John a glimpse of His future glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.  They had been shown in what manner Jesus would appear after He had risen from the dead.  
None of this made any sense to the disciples.  They continued to follow Jesus but did not understand what He meant when He told them that He would be killed by the hands of men and after three days rise.  But they did remember that all of this happened after Peter declared to Jesus that He is indeed the Christ which was also to be a secret (Mark 8:29-30).  The disciples had previously believed that Jesus was the Christ when they began to follow Him but He acted in a manner that none of them expected.  The Kingdom of God that Jesus was establishing was not the same as the nation of Israel that they expected Jesus to rule.  This is why it was not a simple thing for Peter to provide a correct response to Jesus’ question of who they thought He was.  Jesus was establishing a new kingdom that would be manifest on earth by the Church.
As they returned to Capernaum they knew something about Jesus that no one else knew.  They must have sensed a change in tone in the actions of Jesus as He prepared to go to the cross.  But instead of seeking God in humility asking for understanding for what they had just heard, they drifted back to what they had previously believed.  They made Jesus’ teaching fit into what they thought they already knew about the Christ.  And instead they added to it an elevated view of themselves believing that because of the secret that they had been told that they would soon receive positions of power in Jesus Christ’s Kingdom.  Adding to this struggle for power was the fact that Peter, James, and John had been given an additional secret separate from the rest of the disciples as they had witnessed Jesus transfigured on the mountain but were told not to tell anyone what they had seen until after Jesus rose from the dead. 
How dangerous pride can be.  So soon after being in utter confusion about what Jesus had told them, these same disciples were fighting over which of them would be greatest in His Kingdom- a kingdom of which they still did not understand.  They knew their argument was not pleasing to God for when Jesus asked them what they were talking about they refused to answer.
How does Jesus correct them?  He tells them in verse 35, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”  He utterly destroys their prideful ambition by telling them to be last of all.  How humbling it is for a person at the front of a line to be told to go to the back.  How natural it is for us to seek our own desires above the needs of others.  And then Jesus takes a young child in His arms.  He says in verse 37, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.”  The disciples saw the greatness of Jesus as the Christ and desired in a prideful manner to be nearest to Him in power and authority in His Kingdom.  A young child does not demonstrate any strength or ability but rather weakness and dependence upon their parents.  None of the disciples would rather take care of the child in Jesus’ arms for the day instead of being in the presence of Jesus and yet Jesus says whoever receives a child in His Name, receive Him.  They could draw nearer to Jesus in caring for that child than they could in the arguments about who was the greatest.  
In all these things Jesus conveys the idea that His Kingdom is a kingdom of humility.  All those in the Kingdom of God see their utter depravity and realize that they do not deserve to be among those who are saved.  The servants of God are not aspiring to be greater than each other but rather are willing to do the most trivial and meaningless task.  And yet the least person in the Kingdom of God is greater than the most powerful man on earth.  The disciples were still thinking of the Kingdom of God as an earthly kingdom in spite of all that Jesus had already taught them about this spiritual kingdom that is here and now in the presence of Jesus and will one day in the future be established for all eternity.
Can you honestly say that you desire to be last of all?  Are you living your life only for the glory of God or are you hoping to be recognized by those around you as someone who is great?  None of the disciples were recognized by the religious leaders as great men but as they followed Jesus they still fell into pride.  It’s a wonderful thing to be a follower of Jesus.  Jesus will reveal to you amazing things and even secrets of which an unbeliever will never comprehend.  And yet, we are to show the utmost humility.  We are not to boast in what God accomplishes through us but simply give God the glory for what He has done.  We are to be like Jesus who became the servant of all in dying for you and for me:
Philippians 2:6-8 6  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 

Pastor Murray Hack

Mark 9:14-29 14  And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. 15  And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. 16  And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” 17  And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18  And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” 19  And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.” 20  And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. 21  And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22  And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” 23  And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” 24  Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 25  And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” 26  And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” 27  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. 28  And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” 29  And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

This miracle took place after Jesus came down the mountain with Peter, James, and John.  On the mountain His image was transfigured into a picture of His future glorified state.  When Jesus rose from the dead He walked upon this earth in a glorified body- the reward for His perfect obedience to God and His submission to the will of the Father in dying for our sins.  Jesus was going to the cross and before the transfiguration He had just told His disciples for the first time that He would die.  Of all the difficult teachings that Jesus had taught His disciples, this was by far the most shocking and challenging.  If Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Christ and was establishing the Kingdom of God, why would He die?  If He could perform all the miracles that the disciples had already seen, why would He not prevent His own death if someone tried to kill Him?  Was the devil more powerful than God?  It made no sense.
The scene that transpired as they came down from the mountain consisted of the remaining disciples being challenged by the scribes- the Jewish leaders who knew the Old Testament writings better than anyone else.  At the centre of their dispute was a demon possessed child.  
Neither the disciples nor the scribes were able to help him.  This boy had been brought by his father to be set free by Jesus but he did not find Jesus but only His disciples.  The demon had complete control over the boy.  The demon prevented the boy from speaking or hearing and would throw him around even trying to kill him in the fire.  From childhood this boy had been utterly helpless because of the demon and was completely powerless.
This boy pictured perfectly the current state of Israel.  If the true followers of God are walking with Him as they should the devil have complete control over them?  No.  The devil will be forced to flee.  The devil’s power over man is because of sin and Israel was filled with wickedness.  If the true followers of God are drawing near to God the devil has no power:
James 4:7-8 7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8  Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 
This is why Jesus said in verse 19, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?”  But why could the disciples not cast out the demon?  The answer is their unbelief.  Unbelief had crept into their hearts as a result of them being taught that the Christ would die.  They were struggling intensely with believing this.  A lack of faith was developing in their relationship with Jesus.  They doubted Him and in turn they could not pray to God as they should.  They could not see the Kingdom of God manifest in their midst because their relationship with God was in a damaged state.  They did not believe.  They doubted God.
Jesus knew what He was teaching them was difficult.  He knew they would not fully understand until later but they needed to keep following Him.  The disciples needed to follow Him to the cross.  Before He died they would scatter but only temporarily.  But here and now Jesus could not lose them.  They needed reassurance that He was still in control and they could still trust Him.  So the unbelief of the father was a picture of the unbelief of the disciples.  It was the disciples who could also say, “I believe; help my unbelief!”  They had given up everything to follow Jesus and yet now Jesus challenged them with the teaching of His death of which they did not and felt that they could not believe.  But Jesus encourages them to keep following Him.  He was saying, “Don’t give up following me now that it is becoming difficult and uncertain.  I am still in control.  I still have all power and authority.  Submit to Me.  I will lead you through this!”  
Jesus demonstrated that He would have absolute control over what would happen to Him on the cross as He casts out the demon from the boy.  The devil would try to destroy Him upon the cross but the devil has no power over Him.  It was His Father’s will that He would die for our sins.  It was the Father who would pour out His wrath upon the Son as He died upon the cross in taking the punishment for our sins.  And by Jesus’ own power, and the power of the Father and the Holy Spirit, Jesus would rise from the dead!  The devil could not destroy Him!  Jesus would remain the King of the Kingdom of God!  He could not be defeated!
All of us, if we are true followers of Jesus will have times in our walk with Him where we struggle with what He has called us to believe about Him.  We all will have moments where we can likewise say, “I believe, help my unbelief.”  In these moments, if we are genuinely seeking Him with all our heart, Jesus Himself will reassure us that He is still the only one we should follow.  He is the way to heaven.  He is the only means of our salvation.  He will encourage us to keep following Him and in time we will believe.  He is still in complete control.  He still has all authority and power.  He will raise us up for His glory!  We will see Him in His glorified state!  Believe!

Pastor Murray Hack

Mark 8:34-38 34  And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37  For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 9:1-8 1  And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” 2  And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, 3  and his clothes became radiant, intensely white, as no one on earth could bleach them. 4  And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5  And Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” 6  For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified. 7  And a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him.”

At this point in Jesus’ public ministry He introduces His disciples to the difficult teaching that He, as the Christ and the King of the new Kingdom of God that He was establishing, would die.  Any ruler of a kingdom who dies is replaced by someone else and His reign ends.  But not so with Jesus. Jesus’ departure would only be temporary.  He would rise again!  And His death would be necessary for the Kingdom to be formally established as the only passageway into this Kingdom would be through faith in the work that Jesus would accomplish in His death.  Of course none of the disciples understood at this time what it meant that Jesus would die for their sins.  And perhaps just as difficult to accept was the teaching that all of Jesus’ followers will suffer for His Name.  The only way that our lives may be saved is if we are lost for His sake.  It is only as we are willing to become less the eyes of the world that we can rest in the knowledge that our souls will be saved.  The way up is down.  Nobody wants to suffer but the Kingdom of God requires us to demonstrate our love to Him through sacrifice.  This is a love that is true and genuine.  Sacrificial love not out of force but of willing submission is what God desires for us to be in His Kingdom.
But God never leaves a Christian to suffer without the promise of glory.  Any time Christian suffering is mentioned in the Scriptures, glory is always beside it.  And any time glory is mentioned in the Scriptures, suffering is close by.  They are always coupled together showing the path to glory is through suffering for His Name.  And so at the very first mention of Jesus’ suffering death upon the cross the future glory He would receive when He rose from the dead was made known.  As Peter, James, and John followed Jesus up onto the high mountain and saw Jesus transfigured they were given a glimpse of what was to come.  They were given a glimpse of the glory of Jesus Christ.  Elijah and Moses were there with Him representing all of the Old Testament teaching given to mankind through the Law and the Prophets.  The entire Old Testament pointed forward to this moment when Jesus Christ would die upon the cross suffering the wrath of God the Father as He suffered for my sins and yours.  God’s plan of salvation would be shortly fulfilled and Jesus would not hide what was to come from His disciples but He at the same time knew that they would not and could not understand until after He rose from the dead.
At the mount of transfiguration the voice of God the Father was heard from the cloud, “This is my beloved Son; listen to Him.”  The authority that Jesus Christ has is beyond measure.  It is above all authority given to man.  He is in His glory even now and one day in the future His glory will be revealed to all of mankind.  All who will not repent and believe in Him before His return will be punished eternally for their sins and rejecting the only means of their salvation.  If only people would listen to Him now as He speaks through His Word!  The living Word of God continues today to carry all weight and power and will either lead to our salvation or our damnation.  
Romans 8:18  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 

The Christian life is a life of difficulty and hardship and sacrifice, not of ease and comfort.  The disciples were excited to follow Jesus in the beginning as everything that He did was so amazing and fascinating.  But their feelings would gradually turn to anxiety and fear as the cross approached.  Jesus was preparing them for what was to come.  Ultimately one of them could not take it any longer and tried to escape what God requires of all who follow Jesus- sacrificial love.  The true follower of God will not abandon their pursuit of God when persecution and trials come but the false believer will.  Judas Iscariot was willing to betray Jesus to save his own life but in turn he showed that he never loved Jesus Christ and was outside the Kingdom of God.  
Do you desire to see the Kingdom of God in power?  It always comes through suffering.  Have you counted the cost of following Jesus?  
Luke 14:28-33 28  For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29  Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30  saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31  Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32  And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33  So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
To renounce all that you have is to surrender everything to Him.  Jesus paid it all but He expects us to sacrifice for Him.  We cannot save ourselves but we can show our love to Him through sacrificial love.  The next part of the disciples journey in following Jesus would stretch them to the very core.  As Jesus died upon the cross they all would abandon Him and suffer great shame for they did not love Him as they thought.  But the eleven did not give up their pursuit of God.  Jesus restored them and raised them up for His glory.  Every Christian will struggle in their ultimate surrender to God.  But Jesus will lead us through suffering into future glory!

Pastor Murray Hack

Mark 8:34-38 34  And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 35  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36  For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? 37  For what can a man give in return for his soul? 38  For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

To follow Jesus; to come after Him, is the greatest thing that any person can do in this life and yet it is the hardest.  A young child can hear the Gospel message and believe and yet it is impossible to follow Jesus without the Spirit of God actively at work in them.  Just prior to these words, Jesus had asked His disciples while on the outskirts of Israel who they thought that He was?  In spite of the fact that the disciples all were looking for the Christ and had given up everything to follow Jesus of Nazareth, He did not act in the manner in which they expected as the Christ.  Instead of restoring Israel, Jesus revealed to them the Kingdom of God in which He reigns and He manifested the Kingdom of God in their midst and through them.  He also revealed that this kingdom would not be just for the Jews but for people from all the Gentile nations of which the Jews considered as wicked and beyond salvation for their ways were evil and far below the high standard of morality as shown in the nation of Israel and demonstrated by the Pharisees and the religious leaders.  And yet Jesus gave them examples of Gentiles who demonstrated genuine faith and Jesus also condemned the hypocrisy and false faith of the religious leaders who were supposed to lead the people to the Christ but rather they desired to kill Jesus.  When Peter confirms that he still believed that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus then makes known to the disciples, for the first time, that He will suffer and die at the hands of the religious leaders.  Peter then rebuked Jesus for saying such things.  Jesus responds by saying, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”  The irony is that while Peter reinforced his belief that Jesus is the Christ, by his very next actions he is showing that he doesn’t yet fully believe in Jesus as the Christ.  Peter denies the actions that were necessary for Jesus as the Christ to perform.  To claim to believe that Jesus is the Christ and yet to misunderstand what He did upon the cross is to follow a false Jesus.  The remainder of Jesus’ ministry upon earth was used to prepare His disciples to understand the significance of the cross but the disciples would not understand and believe until after Jesus rose from the dead.  They would remain in confusion until then.
It is at this point that Jesus introduces another significant hurdle for the disciples to overcome in their understanding of this new Kingdom of God that Jesus was establishing.  This would be a kingdom that requires suffering in this world.  Nobody likes suffering.  Nobody chooses to suffer.  If there is an easier walking path through a forest, that is the one most taken even if the route may be longer.  This new teaching on suffering in relation to the Kingdom of God and Jesus’ final act in providing for our salvation through suffering was difficult for the disciples to hear.  
This teaching was contrary to what the Jews would have expected.  The Old Testament is filled with passages that promise temporal blessings (blessings in the physical world while still alive).  As long as the Israelites were obedient to God, God promised them prosperity and wealth and protection from their enemies.  But this Kingdom of God that Jesus was establishing uses suffering as a mark of blessing.  There is a cross to be carried by every born again Christian in the Church.  Just as Jesus carried a cross and died upon the cross, so too do we need to be willing to suffer for the name of Jesus Christ.  None of us can provide for the salvation of others as Jesus did through suffering, but our suffering for His Name will reveal our love to Him.  As those who do not believe in Jesus Christ oppose us and condemn what we believe, we show Him that we love Him above all others.  A sacrificial love is greatly esteemed.  It is the highest form of love as demonstrated in Jesus Christ’s love for the Father and His love for us.  This goes far and above loving someone for the blessings you may receive from them.  To love through your own sacrifice shows a much deeper love and commitment.  It is real and genuine and it cannot be faked.  You will not sacrifice yourself for someone who you do not love.  This call of sacrificial love applies to anyone who would come after Jesus.  Anyone who will follow Jesus and enter into the Kingdom of God must enter in through the cross: through Jesus Christ’s personal sacrifice unto death but also acknowledging and agreeing to their own sacrifice that is necessary.  
This is not like the suffering of those who are living in sin.  People continually die in their sin.  They continually suffer temporally (here in this world) because of their rebellious actions against God.  Many see frequent death and suffering not because they are following Jesus but because they will not.  They do not know of the suffering that Jesus is describing here.  They are among those who are ashamed of Jesus Christ and His words.  They condemn God for the suffering that they have had to endure but fail to recognize the reason for their suffering.  Suffering in sin is absolutely different from suffering for God.  There is no peace for those who suffer in sin.  There is no hope.  But for those who suffer for Jesus Christ there is peace and hope in the midst of suffering.  The Christian suffers because of faith.  They believe and are willing even to die to show their love to God and to Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit enables them through love to God to suffer for His Name.  The Christian will not forfeit their soul.  Their soul has been redeemed and they know it.  They will not deny Jesus Christ but they will deny themselves.  The Christian will actively oppose the wicked desires that they once pursued as their first love.  Their love for God is real and deep and passionate.  Their life has been saved by hearing the Gospel message and believing.  Their life now belongs to Jesus Christ who died for them.
Do you understand what it means to come after Him?  Do you know what it means to follow Jesus?  Have you counted the cost?  Are you living even now in the reality of His call, “Come after Me.”  Do not become dismayed and discouraged if you are enduring suffering for His Name.  This is a part of being in the Kingdom of God here and now.  It is the mark of those who are His.  You have been willing to lose your life in order that He could save it.  The Son of Man is pleased with you!  Jesus Christ is pleased with your love for Him!  But how terrible it will be for those who deny Him!  How terrible it will be for those who suffer now in their sin to suffer for all eternity!  How sad it will be to see those who have forfeited their soul for the cares of this world!  Are you forfeiting your soul for what can only give you temporary pleasure?  Turn to Jesus!

Pastor Murray Hack