Sometimes we excuse sin because we believe the lie from Satan that if it's a personal issue, that won’t hurt anybody else, then is it really a big deal? This way of thinking is far from the truth. Unrepentant sin hurts ourselves and others. We are answerable to God for our actions, and the hurt, intended or otherwise, that we cause others.

I had to read this passage several times before I caught one small phrase: “because he was not following us” (Mark 9:38). Other translations say “because he was not one of us”  (Mark 9:38). The disciples had done the hard thing. They had followed Jesus, and now, that was affording them some status.

Once, on a tour of a medieval village, we were taught the phrase “gardylou” which was the Gaelic slang for a French phrase that meant “mind the water.” The guide told us that in the small 10x10ft dirt floor home under the city streets, likely 16 people would have lived.

A number of years ago we did ministry in a place that had not heard the Gospel. The people there had no hope, other than seeking witch doctors, who both cursed and “healed” them. People would spend all they had looking for a cure, trapped in darkness; the good news of the Gospel was such freedom to them!

I don’t know why, but the phrase, “They kept the matter to themselves…” (Mark 9:10) continues to grab my attention when I read this passage of Scripture. Sure, it was a command from Jesus that they not utter a word about what they had just witnessed, but the fact that they were able to keep something as epic as what they had just seen from any of the other followers is impressive!