Mark 9:32
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But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
THIRD EXPLICIT AND STILL FULLER ANNOUNCEMENT OF HIS APPROACHING SUFFERINGS, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION--THE AMBITIOUS REQUEST OF JAMES AND JOHN, AND THE REPLY. ( = Mat 20:17-28; Luk 18:31-34). (Mar 10:32-45) And they were in the way--on the road. going up to Jerusalem--in Perea, and probably somewhere between Ephraim and Jericho, on the farther side of the Jordan, and to the northeast of Jerusalem. and Jesus went before them--as GROTIUS says, in the style of an intrepid Leader. and they were amazed--or "struck with astonishment" at His courage in advancing to certain death. and as they followed, they were afraid--for their own safety. These artless, lifelike touches--not only from an eye-witness, but one whom the noble carriage of the Master struck with wonder and awe--are peculiar to Mark, and give the second Gospel a charm all its own; making us feel as if we ourselves were in the midst of the scenes it describes. Well might the poet exclaim: "The Saviour, what a noble flame Was kindled in His breast, When, hasting to Jerusalem, He march'd before the rest!" COWPER And he took again the twelve--referring to His previous announcements on this sad subject. and began to tell them what things should happen unto him--"were going to befall Him." The word expresses something already begun but not brought to a head, rather than something wholly future.
Open source ↗In this chapter, we have, I. Christ's transfiguration upon the mount (Mar 9:1-13). II. His casting the devil out of a child, when the disciples could not do it (v. 14-29). III. His prediction of his own sufferings and death (Mar 9:30-32). IV. The check he gave to his disciples for disputing who should be greatest (Mar 9:33-37); and to John for rebuking one who cast out devils in Christ's name, and did not follow with them (v. 38-41). V. Christ's discourse with his disciples of the danger of offending one of his little ones (v. 42), and of indulging that in ourselves, which is an offence and an occasion of sin to us (v. 43-50), most of which passages we had before, Mt. 17 and 18.
Open source ↗9:32 The disciples were still unable to accept Jesus’ teaching concerning his death or to recognize how it fit into God’s plan.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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But they did not understand the statement He was making to them.
Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’?
But the disciples did not understand any of these things. The meaning was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He was saying.
But they did not understand this statement. It was veiled from them so that they could not comprehend it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it.
At first His disciples did not understand these things, but after Jesus was glorified they remembered what had been done to Him, and they realized that these very things had also been written about Him.
So they kept this matter to themselves, discussing what it meant to rise from the dead.
Later, as they were eating, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
“Are you still so dull?” He asked. “Do you not understand? Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him,
But Jesus, turning and looking at His disciples, rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”