The Word Am I

The Gospel According to St. Mark

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- Chapter 9 -

(Matthew 17:1–13; Luke 9:28–36; 2 Peter 1:16–21)
1
And after six days, Jesus took with him Peter, and James, and John; and he led them separately to a lofty mountain alone; and he was transfigured before them.
2
And his vestments became radiant and exceedingly white like snow, with such a brilliance as no fuller on earth is able to achieve.
3
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses; and they were speaking with Jesus.
4
And in response, Peter said to Jesus: “Master, it is good for us to be here. And so let us make three tabernacles, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5
For he did not know what he was saying. For they were overwhelmed by fear.(a)
6
And there was a cloud overshadowing them. And a voice came from the cloud, saying: “This is my most beloved Son. Listen to him.”
7
And immediately, looking around, they no longer saw anyone, except Jesus alone with them.
8
And as they were descending from the mountain, he instructed them not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until after the Son of man will have risen again from the dead.
9
And they kept the word to themselves, arguing about what “after he will have risen from the dead” might mean.
10
And they questioned him, saying: “Then why do the Pharisees and the scribes say that Elijah must arrive first?”
11
And in response, he said to them: “Elijah, when he will arrive first, shall restore all things. And in the manner that it has been written about the Son of man, so must he suffer many things and be condemned.
12
But I say to you, that Elijah also has arrived, (and they have done to him whatever they wanted) just as it has been written about him.”
13
And approaching his disciples, he saw a great crowd surrounding them, and the scribes were arguing with them.

The Boy with an Evil Spirit

(Matthew 17:14–18; Luke 9:37–42)
14
And soon all the people, seeing Jesus, were astonished and struck with fear, and hurrying to him, they greeted him.(b)
15
And he questioned them, “What are you arguing about among yourselves?”
16
And one from the crowd responded by saying: “Teacher, I have brought to you my son, who has a mute spirit.(c)
17
And whenever it takes hold of him, it throws him down, and he foams and gnashes with his teeth, and he becomes unconscious. And I asked your disciples to cast him out, and they could not.”
18
And answering them, he said: “O unbelieving generation, how long must I be with you? How long shall I endure you? Bring him to me.”
19
And they brought him. And when he had seen him, immediately the spirit disturbed him. And having been thrown to the ground, he rolled around foaming.
20
And he questioned his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” But he said: “From infancy.
21
And often it casts him into fire or into water, in order to destroy him. But if you are able to do anything, help us and take pity on us.”
22
But Jesus said to him, “If you are able to believe: all things are possible to one who believes.”
23
And immediately the father of the boy, crying out with tears, said: “I do believe, Lord. Help my unbelief.”
24
And when Jesus saw the crowd rushing together, he admonished the unclean spirit, saying to him, “Deaf and mute spirit, I command you, leave him; and do not enter into him anymore.”
25
And crying out, and convulsing him greatly, he departed from him. And he became like one who is dead, so much so that many said, “He is dead.”
26
But Jesus, taking him by the hand, lifted him up. And he arose.
27
And when he had entered into the house, his disciples questioned him privately, “Why were we unable to cast him out?”
28
And he said to them, “This kind is able to be expelled by nothing other than prayer and fasting.”
29
And setting out from there, they passed through Galilee. And he intended that no one know about it.

The Second Prediction of the Passion

(Matthew 17:22–23; Luke 9:43–45)
30
Then he taught his disciples, and he said to them, “For the Son of man shall be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and having been killed, on the third day he will rise again.”
31
But they did not understand the word. And they were afraid to question him.
32
And they went to Capernaum. And when they were in the house, he questioned them, “What did you discuss on the way?”

The Greatest in the Kingdom

(Matthew 18:1–5; Luke 9:46–50)
33
But they were silent. For indeed, on the way, they had disputed among themselves as to which of them was greater.
34
And sitting down, he called the twelve, and he said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be the last of all and the minister of all.”
35
And taking a child, he set him in their midst. And when he had embraced him, he said to them:
36
“Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me. And whoever receives me, receives not me, but him who sent me.”
37
John responded to him by saying, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name; he does not follow us, and so we prohibited him.”
38
But Jesus said: “Do not prohibit him. For there is no one who can act with virtue in my name and soon speak evil about me.
39
For whoever is not against you is for you.
40
For whoever, in my name, will give you a cup of water to drink, because you belong to Christ: Amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward.
41
And whoever will have scandalized one of these little ones who believe in me: it would be better for him if a great millstone were placed around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

Temptations and Trespasses

(Matthew 18:6–9; Luke 17:1–4)
42
And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off: it is better for you to enter into life disabled, than having two hands to go into Hell, into the unquenchable fire,
43
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished.
44
But if your foot causes you to sin, chop it off: it is better for you to enter into eternal life lame, than having two feet to be cast into the Hell of unquenchable fire,
45
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished.
46
But if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out: it is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into the Hell of fire,
47
where their worm does not die, and the fire is not extinguished.
48
For all shall be salted with fire, and every victim shall be salted with salt.

Good Salt

(Matthew 5:13–16; Luke 14:34–35)
49
Salt is good: but if the salt has become bland, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace among yourselves.”

Footnotes

(a)9:5 The phrase ‘timore exterriti’ is somewhat redundant; this type of redundancy indicates an intensification of the verb or noun. Therefore, they were not merely afraid, they were overwhelmed by fear (or dread).(Conte)
(b)9:14 They were astonished and struck with fear because he still had some of the radiance from His transfiguration, just as Moses had a radiance about him after seeing God.(Conte)
(c)9:16 In this case, mute does not mean silent, but rather that he makes noises that are incomprehensible, as happens in epilepsy.(Conte)
(Matthew 17:1–13; Luke 9:28–36; 2 Peter 1:16–21)
1
He said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste death until they see God’s Kingdom come with power.”
2
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John, and brought them up onto a high mountain privately by themselves, and he was changed into another form in front of them.
3
His clothing became glistening, exceedingly white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them.
4
Elijah and Moses appeared to them, and they were talking with Jesus.
5
Peter answered Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let’s make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
6
For he didn’t know what to say, for they were very afraid.
7
A cloud came, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
8
Suddenly looking around, they saw no one with them any more, except Jesus only.
9
As they were coming down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one what things they had seen, until after the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10
They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant.
11
They asked him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12
He said to them, “Elijah indeed comes first, and restores all things. How is it written about the Son of Man, that he should suffer many things and be despised?
13
But I tell you that Elijah has come, and they have also done to him whatever they wanted to, even as it is written about him.”

The Boy with an Evil Spirit

(Matthew 17:14–18; Luke 9:37–42)
14
Coming to the disciples, he saw a great multitude around them, and scribes questioning them.
15
Immediately all the multitude, when they saw him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, greeted him.
16
He asked the scribes, “What are you asking them?”
17
One of the multitude answered, “Teacher, I brought to you my son, who has a mute spirit;
18
and wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; and he foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they weren’t able.”
19
He answered him, “Unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to me.”
20
They brought him to him, and when he saw him, immediately the spirit convulsed him and he fell on the ground, wallowing and foaming at the mouth.
21
He asked his father, “How long has it been since this has been happening to him?” He said, “From childhood.
22
Often it has cast him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”
23
Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
24
Immediately the father of the child cried out with tears, “I believe. Help my unbelief!”
25
When Jesus saw that a multitude came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to him, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!”
26
After crying out and convulsing him greatly, it came out of him. The boy became like one dead, so much that most of them said, “He is dead.”
27
But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him up; and he arose.
28
When he had come into the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we cast it out?”
29
He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but by prayer and fasting.”

The Second Prediction of the Passion

(Matthew 17:22–23; Luke 9:43–45)
30
They went out from there and passed through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know it,
31
for he was teaching his disciples, and said to them, “The Son of Man is being handed over to the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, on the third day he will rise again.”
32
But they didn’t understand the saying, and were afraid to ask him.

The Greatest in the Kingdom

(Matthew 18:1–5; Luke 9:46–50)
33
He came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house he asked them, “What were you arguing among yourselves on the way?”
34
But they were silent, for they had disputed with one another on the way about who was the greatest.
35
He sat down and called the twelve; and he said to them, “If any man wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”
36
He took a little child and set him in the middle of them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them,
37
“Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me, doesn’t receive me, but him who sent me.”
38
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone who doesn’t follow us casting out demons in your name; and we forbade him, because he doesn’t follow us.”
39
But Jesus said, “Don’t forbid him, for there is no one who will do a mighty work in my name and be able quickly to speak evil of me.
40
For whoever is not against us is on our side.
41
For whoever will give you a cup of water to drink in my name because you are Christ’s, most certainly I tell you, he will in no way lose his reward.

Temptations and Trespasses

(Matthew 18:6–9; Luke 17:1–4)
42
“Whoever will cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him if he were thrown into the sea with a millstone hung around his neck.
43
If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed, rather than having your two hands to go into Gehenna, (a) into the unquenchable fire,
44
‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’ (b) (c)
45
If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life lame, rather than having your two feet to be cast into Gehenna, (d) into the fire that will never be quenched—
46
‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’ (e)
47
If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out. It is better for you to enter into God’s Kingdom with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into the Gehenna (f) of fire,
48
‘where their worm doesn’t die, and the fire is not quenched.’ (g)

Good Salt

(Matthew 5:13–16; Luke 14:34–35)
49
For everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be seasoned with salt.
50
Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, with what will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

Footnotes

(a)9:43 or, Hell
(b)9:44 ℘ Isaiah 66:24
(c)9:44 NU omits verse 44.
(d)9:45 or, Hell
(e)9:46 NU omits verse 46.
(f)9:47 or, Hell
(g)9:48 ℘ Isaiah 66:24
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