Mark 9:33 Commentary and Bible Study

Again, the unspecified house to which they went was surely the house that was owned or rented by Peter and James to house their families, and that had been made Christ’s base. This was probably the last time he goes there.‘Being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way?’ He asked them what this dispute, this argument, was about. The Greek word translated ‘disputed’ means more than argue, it means they calculated, they reckoned. As they came along the way, they were engaged in a lively discussion out of the earshot of the Lord. They were discussing who should be the chief ones among the disciples when the great kingdom arrived, this earthly kingdom which they were convinced Christ would bring about by the reformation of Israel. Christ had just taken three of them up the mountain where they had seen him transfigured. Did that mean that Peter, James or John would be his right-hand man, the chief one in his kingdom. By all sorts of means they were comparing, contrasting their own chances and opportunities. ‘They disputed’ in our translators’ words. They calculated in their argument how it was going to work out.The Lord asked them what they had been speaking about, but of course he knew the answer. He knew all things and they knew that he knew and they were ashamed. They would not tell him but he knew and they probably knew they were in for trouble; they were in for a lecture on this subject. But it didn’t cure them entirely, because in the next chapter and we find that some six months later – though the times are uncertain – very shortly before Calvary they were making the same mistake again. We read of how two of the disciples got their mother to intercede for them. Matthew’s Gospel said it was them who challenged the Lord. ‘Are we going to have pride of place?’ but Mark says it was the mother who approached, speaking on behalf of her sons. What an extraordinary thing! They had never learned this. They were keen for position and promotion, even though the Lord was so humble before them and so gracious to all people and sought nothing for himself.