09/06/2026
What does it really mean to follow Jesus? In Mark 9:38-50, Jesus calls his disciples away from pride and rivalry and toward something far more demanding: killing the sin that destroys our peace with one another.
Jesus uses striking language about cutting off hands and tearing out eyes not as a literal command, but as a measure of how seriously we should war against sin. The question he presses on us is simple and sobering: can you still taste the weight of God's judgment against sin, or has that salt lost its flavor?
The gospel hope is this: Jesus washes our feet, but we have to take off our shoes. Repentance and faith belong together. The more we believe Christ is willing and able to save us, the more willing we become to cast off whatever stands in the way of life with him forever.
There is a passage in Mark 9 that most people assume they understand before they have really sat with it. On the surface, it reads like a radical call to self-denial — cut off your hand, tear out your eye, throw a millstone around your neck. Harsh, vivid, arresting language. But if you stop there,...
