As always, start with a prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what he wants to show you.

Read Mark 9:42-50 in your Bible. As you are reading, ask the questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how as well as any repeated words or phrases. We’ll go through these together. Look for a verse(s) that stand out to you the most. The one that grabs your attention.

Now let’s go through these questions together.

Who?

Jesus is speaking to the disciples

When? 

This is a continuation from the previous verses.

Where? 

They were in Capernaum. 

What? What is happening in these verses? 

This is a continuation from the previous verses. Jesus continuing his conversation from the last episode, and he is speaking about what it is like should one sin or cause one to sin. He is a little on the theatrical side, but He is make his point known.

Why?  

He is emphasizing the seriousness of sin.

How does this happen/take place? 

He is using hyperbole to emphasize his point.

Repeated words or phrases? 

Sin, hell, salt.

Before we continue any further, what verse(s) stood out to you? 

For me it was majority of the Scriptures since they are somewhat repeated with slight difference.

What does this mean? 

Jesus is speaking to his disciples about the seriousness of sinning or cause one to sin. He is being very graphic about mutilating your body, such as cutting off your hand, is better than spending eternity in hell. He did not actually mean that you should actually cut off your hand, but he’s trying to express the importance to stay away from sin because your soul and eternity is more important. Understanding literary styles is important. He is using hyperbole to communicate the importance of avoiding sin.

What does this mean to me?

If Jesus felt the need to be so dramatic in his explanation of avoiding sin, then that is what I must do. Stay away from sin. No sin sin is worth being separated from God and spending eternity in hell. Did Jesus need to be so vivid in his explanation to stay away from sin? Sometimes the flare for the dramatic will communicate a message so that you don’t forget it. These are the most memorable messages. I will never forget the time when my youth Pastor used an illustrated sermon using cottage cheese to communicate his message. Ironically it was about sin as well. Let’s just say I still refuse to eat or even look at cottage cheese. 

This passage seems a little more straight forward, but I will mention that I am not done with this passage. Because I cannot ignore verses 49-50 that talk about salt. Salt was repeated 5 times. There is a significance about the salt and I would need time to dig into the topic. This is something that would be studied out and more than a daily devotional. So I am making note of it to research it later. Who knows, maybe there will be another bonus episode. 

What verse spoke out to you and what is God trying to show you through it? Write it out in your journal. Then say a prayer and have a conversation with God about it.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for your Word.Thank you for speaking to us once again and loving us so much to tell us how important it is to stay away from sin, mainly because it separates us from you. It is your desire to spend time with us and to be with us, and you can’t do that if we are pursuing the things in this world that do not bring glory to you. Holy Spirit, continue to help us in this area of our lives to stay away from sin. Prompt us when we begin to get off track, because Jesus was right when He expressed that there is not a single sin worth going to hell for. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.