MacArthur - Mark 9-16 MacArthur New Testament Commentary

2015 by
JOHN MACARTHUR

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2000, 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version.

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ISBN 978-0-8024-1031-3

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who has been listening to me preach for more than three and a half decades. For the past sixteen years he has quietly, lovingly, faithfully edited my sermonswith diligent care and great insightinto a form I could use to shape them into chapters for the commentaries. His work has been an invaluable ministry to me and every reader.

Matthew 1-7
Matthew 8-15
Matthew 16-23
Matthew 24-28
Mark 1-8
Mark 9-16
Luke 1-5
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Luke 18-24
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Acts 13-28
Romans 1-8
Romans 9-16
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It continues to be a rewarding, divine communion for me to preach expositionally through the New Testament. My goal is always to have deep fellowship with the Lord in the understanding of His Word and out of that experience to explain to His people what a passage means. In the words of Nehemiah 8:8, I strive to give the sense of it so they may truly hear God speak and, in so doing, may respond to Him.

Obviously, Gods people need to understand Him, which demands knowing His Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15) and allowing that Word to dwell in them richly (Col. 3:16). The dominant thrust of my ministry, therefore, is to help make Gods living Word alive to His people. It is a refreshing adventure.

This New Testament commentary series reflects this objective of explaining and applying Scripture. Some commentaries are primarily linguistic, others are mostly theological, and some are mainly homiletical. This one is basically explanatory, or expository. It is not linguistically technical but deals with linguistics when that seems helpful to proper interpretation. It is not theologically expansive but focuses on the major doctrines in each text and how they relate to the whole of Scripture. It is not primarily homiletical, although each unit of thought is generally treated as one chapter, with a clear outline and logical flow of thought. Most truths are illustrated and applied with other Scripture. After establishing the context of a passage, I have tried to follow closely the writers development and reasoning.

My prayer is that each reader will fully understand what the Holy Spirit is saying through this part of His Word, so that His revelation may lodge in the mind of believers and bring greater obedience and faithfulnessto the glory of our great God.

And Jesus was saying to them, Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power. Six days later, Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John, and brought them up on a high mountain by themselves. And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah. For he did not know what to answer; for they became terrified. Then a cloud formed, overshadowing them, and a voice came out of the cloud, This is My beloved Son, listen to Him! All at once they looked around and saw no one with them anymore, except Jesus alone. (9:18)

The high point of testimony in Marks gospel came in the previous section when Peter, in response to Jesus question, But who do you say that I am? declared, You are the Christ (8:29). Everything in Mark that came before Peters declaration leads up to it; everything that followed afterward flows from it. To acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ [the Messiah], the Son of the living God (Matt. 16:16), is to make the correct judgment concerning Him. In this section, Peters confession is confirmed. What he affirmed by faith would be verified by the transfiguration of the Lord so that His divine glory became visible.

No sooner had Peter made his confession than Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again (v. 31). Aghast and dismayed, Peter, in his impudent ignorance, dared to rebuke the Lord (v. 32), and in turn was sharply rebuked by Him. Jesus forcefully told him, Get behind Me, Satan; for you are not setting your mind on Gods interests, but mans (v. 33).