Mark%9:30*37%
Mark%9:30*37% % Page%1%
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Introduction:%Sometimes%we%can%become%so%familiar%with%something%that%
we%no%longer%see%it%for%what%it%really%is%or%appreciate%it.%%For%example,%if%we%
live% in% a% very% scenic% place,% after% a% while% we% can% take% it% for% granted.%%
Likewise,%we%can%read%the%Bible%and%become%so%familiar%with%what%we%are%
reading%that%it%does%not%impact%on%us%as%it%did%at%first.%%This%means%that%we%
can%often%miss%out%on%what%God%wants%us%to%know.%
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The% disciples%were% always% falling%into% this% trap.% %Take% the% passage% we%
heard% today% from% Mark% Chapter% Nine.% %In% the% first% section% Jesus% is%
explaining%to%his% disciples%what%is% going%to%happen%to%him%when%he% goes%
up%to%Jerusalem.%% Verse%31,%‘…%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.’%
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This%was% not% the% first%time%he% had% told% them%this.%%You% can% read%that%in%
Mark%8:31%to%33.%%As%with%that%first%occasion,%so%here,%verse%31%says,%‘they%
did%not%understand%the%saying%and%were%afraid%to%ask%him.’%
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Here%is%a% case%of%listening%but% not%hearing.%%If%that% was%not% bad%enough,%
the%next%part%of%the%passage%proves%that%nothing%had%sunk%in%at%all.%%There%
they%were%arguing%about%who% was%going%to% be%the%greatest.%%On% another%
occasion%two%of%them% asked%Jesus%if%they%could%sit%on%his% right%hand%and%
on% his% left%when% he%came% into% his% kingdom.% %The% other%disciples% were%
furious%at%them%because%they%wanted%those%places.%
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