Mark ch.9

9:9-10 Some things we are not meant to know now--that could mean in this present age or just in this moment of time, and God will reveal it to us at a later time.  The disciples didn't understand what Jesus meant when He said "rising from the dead."  This was Peter, James, and John here, the inner circle, but 3 other times in ch. 8, 9, and 10 Jesus tells the disciples plainly that He will be killed and rise in 3 days.  Even after He had risen they didn't get it.  Jesus gave them many 'pieces' that later would add to the whole of their ministry, their faith.

9:14-29 The disciples had experience healing people and driving out demons but they couldn't drive this one out.  The disciples are missing a key ingredient.  They had not yet received the Holy Spirit, and unlike their earlier mission trip, this time Jesus had not given them His power.  So they need to pray.  They need power greater than their own.

9:23-25 The father gets the right answer here.  This should be our prayer.  Lord, I have faith, help me to have more.  In this case though, it appears that Jesus heals his son not because of his faith but because of the crowd.  Not healing him would have hurt the faith of the crowd.  It also appears that in this case, healing him is likely what the father needed for his faith to grow.

9:37 This is the crux of kingdom relationship we must understand.  When we love others, we are loving Jesus.  When we love Jesus, we are loving God.  All of relationship with God boil down to relationship with people.  There is an additional element here.  The child.  Children have not been so contaminated by fact.  They believe the impossible, they love without reason.  There is a simple beauty to the kingdom that stymies our reason, eats at our logic.  How many times do we ask a child, they answer simply, and we reply, "it's just not that simple."?  Maybe it is.  Maybe it is we who have it wrong.

9:38-41 I think it's our judgement.  We see something different and condemn it; never stopping to put our kingdom glasses on, no, no, no, no, no, that's not the way to do it. You are not the one to do it.  How often do we crush the work of God because we don't know what He is doing?

9:42-50 Here Jesus is trying to show us just how grave it is for us to be out of tune with Him.  When we are out of tune with Him we have the opportunity to send others to hell.  Better be sensitive to the Spirit and work with than to........perhaps a little too much insensitivity to the Spirit and not only do we send others to hell but ourselves as well.  Best to keep a finger on the pulse.  Perhaps this is a place for a mentor or a prayer/accountability partner, definitely where our need for community is laid bare.