GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 9:49
Okie dokie.
My wife was in the hospital recently (in December 2025), where she requested her medication from the nurse. The nurse, a young woman, displayed professionalism, care, and efficiency. As she left the room, she turned to my wife and said, “Okie dokie.” Those two words added an another perspective to the image of the woman. She remained professional yet also personable—perhaps a bit playful.
Jesus told his disciples that it was vital not to let anything destroy their faith—not a hand, foot, or eye. To emphasize his point, Jesus said that if a hand or foot led to sin, it should be cut off; if an eye led to sin, it should be plucked out. Then Mark recorded that Jesus added three more sentences, which have long caused debate among scholars. These sentences appear not to fit. Some translators omit them or leave out sections because they are absent from early manuscripts. Only Mark recorded these sentences.
It is possible that these sentences fit seamlessly with Jesus’ earlier statements. Jesus was a Jew and would have understood Leviticus 2:13: “Season all your grain offerings with salt. Do not leave the salt of the covenant of your God out of your grain offerings; add salt to all your offerings,” to mean that a gift or offering to God must be preserved, protected, and offered with salt. Thus, Jesus’ disciples could interpret his statement, “For everyone with fire will be salted, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt” (Mark 9:49), to mean that every sacrifice—their lives—must be preserved, as the law commanded believers to use salt to preserve the temple sacrifice, and purified as if by fire. Salt and fire could thus symbolize the preserving and cleansing work of the Holy Spirit. Granted, this exposition differs from that offered by scholars such as Ellicott, Meyer, MacLaren, and Benson, among others; however, it fits logically. Much like the nurse’s “okie dokie,” these sentences present a vivid picture of Jesus’ message—the Holy Spirit will preserve and purify believers.
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