9:33–37 These verses must be seen as part of a collection of Jesus’ words that includes the whole of 9:33–50, all concerning discipleship. Careful study of the parallels to these sayings in the other Synoptic Gospels will show that they appear in various contexts and in varying forms, which indicates that Mark has gathered the sayings into a block of material of his own arrangement. In its Markan form, this material all seems to address relationships among Jesus’ followers, as we shall see in our examination of the sayings. Some of the sayings later in this chapter (9:42–50) were associated with one another because they contained words that fostered an association (see comments and notes on these verses). Mark’s grouping of all the material in 9:33–50 around the theme of proper attitudes a…