How Did Christ Define Success? (Mark 9)

Scripture reading – Mark 9

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* Please note that words and phrases in brackets are the author’s amplification.

After Jesus descended from the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John (Mark 9:2-13; Matthew 17:1-13; Luke 9:28-36), He found His other disciples embroiled in a controversy with scribes (experts in the Law of Moses) who were “questioning” and mocking the disciples’ failure to cast a demon out of a father’s son (Mark 9:14; Matthew 17:14-16).

Rebuking His disciples for their lack of faith (Matthew 17:17), Jesus commanded the demon to depart from the boy, and “the child was cured from that very hour” (Matthew 17:18). Embarrassed by their failure and humbled by Jesus’ rebuke, the disciples asked why they had been unable to cast the demon out of the boy. Christ’s answer reveals the power of prayer and fasting:

“This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).

We are reminded in Mark 9:30-32 that, though the disciples anticipated an earthly kingdom, Christ told His disciples on many occasions that He would be “delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day” (Mark 9:31). We learn that they could not understand His revelation and were afraid to ask what He meant (Mark 9:32). In Mark 10, Jesus clearly declared His resolve to go to Jerusalem to die and promised that on the third day He would be resurrected (Mark 10:33-34).

Who is Number One? (Mark 9:33-37)

So how did His fickle, self-centered disciples respond to Jesus’ prophecy that He must fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy of a suffering Messiah (Isaiah 53)? They turned their attention to the question of who would be first in Christ’s kingdom (Mark 9:33-37; Matthew 20:20-28).

Looking at today’s world, we realize that nothing has changed, and most who identify with Christ are no different. The words “servant” and “humility” are foreign to 21st-century citizens. In today’s world, self-promotion, striving to be #1, climbing the “ladder of success,” and counting the number of people who respond to your beckoning call are the essence of success. Such was not the case in our Lord’s definition of success. He taught His disciples, “If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all” (Mark 9:35).

When Jesus spoke of His death in Mark 8, Peter rebuked Him (Mark 8:32). In Matthew 20, a parallel passage to Mark 10, Jesus was confronted by the disciples’ desire for power and position when the mother of James and John approached Him and requested, “Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom” (Matthew 20:21). The other disciples’ response to her request revealed their self-centered motivation for following Jesus—earthly power [influence] and position (Mark 10:41; Matthew 20:24).

Closing thoughts – Let me suggest two spiritual lessons from today’s Scripture.

The first lesson is that self-centered ambition blinds one to spiritual truth. Although Jesus spoke plainly about His death, the disciples were blinded by their ambition for thrones in Christ’s kingdom (i.e., “they understood not… and were afraid to ask him,” Mark 9:32).

A heart torn by divided loyalties wrestles with fear (they were “afraid to ask him,” Mark 9:32). Of what were they afraid? I believe they feared asking questions because Jesus’ answers would contradict their ambitions. When your heart is divided between God and the world, that misplaced focus will crowd out love and open the door to fear (Matthew 6:24; 1 John 2:15). John wrote in his first epistle, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

The second spiritual lesson is that humility reigns in God’s kingdom. Someone has observed that humility is shown “when a believer takes off an infant’s bib and dons a servant’s apron.”

Friend, how many are you serving?

Copyright © 2026 – Travis D. Smith 

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