What is the meaning of Mark 9:48?

Their worm

- Jesus echoes Isaiah 66:24, “They will go out and see the corpses … for ‘their worm will not die.’” The “worm” pictures personal, individual consequence—“their” own, not a generic fate.

- Worms consume what is dead. Here they stand for the gnawing, unending awareness of guilt for those who reject God (Job 25:6).

- The focus is not on physical maggots but on the certainty that each rebel faces a just, personal reckoning (Romans 2:5-6).

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Never dies

- Unlike earthly decay that ends when nothing is left, these worms “never die,” underscoring a conscious, ongoing state (Daniel 12:2).

- Jesus places the phrase in the present tense to make it clear that the torment does not taper off or reach a finish line (Luke 16:26).

- Revelation 14:11 confirms, “The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever, and day and night there is no rest.”

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And the fire

- Scripture commonly links God’s judgment with fire (Matthew 3:12; 2 Thessalonians 1:8).

- Fire conveys both intense suffering and absolute purity—everything unholy is burned away (Hebrews 12:29).

- In Luke 16:24 the rich man begs, “I am in agony in this fire,” reinforcing that Jesus views the image literally, not as mere metaphor.

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Is never quenched

- “Quenched” means extinguished. God’s judgment fire cannot be put out by human effort or time (Isaiah 66:24).

- Matthew 25:41 calls it “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,” showing duration equal to the devil’s punishment (Revelation 20:10).

- The permanence of this fire highlights the seriousness of sin and the urgency of repentance while grace is still offered (2 Peter 3:9).

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summary

Mark 9:48 paints a sober, literal picture: each unrepentant soul faces a personal, ceaseless consciousness of guilt (“their worm”) and an eternal, unextinguishable judgment (“the fire”). Jesus borrows Isaiah’s language to affirm that God’s final reckoning is real, individual, and everlasting. These words call every listener to flee to the cross now, where Christ has already borne the wrath that never dies and the fire that is never quenched.