GOSPEL MEDITATION # 204
Mark 9:38-41
Anyone Not Against Us is For Us
- Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
- Be comfortably alert, still, and at peace.
- Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer.
- Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
- Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
- Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
- John, the youngest of the disciples, reports to Jesus that “we” had seen someone casting demons out of some person who did so “in the name of Jesus.”
- Motivated by some impulse, sectarian spirit, clannish prejudice, jealousy, who knows, and they tried to stop it, apparently unsuccessfully, and complained to Jesus.
- It is assumed that the unknown person was able to do the “mighty work”; but was not amongst the immediate twelve.
- Could it be that the unknown person had seen Jesus cast out demons and had been with the large groups who had heard Jesus preach and teach? It is highly likely.
- This unknown disciple was not, like the sons of Sceva, doing paganistic exorcism. (see Acts 19:11-20). Apparently, he was emulating Jesus.
- Jesus is sharp and clear: “do not stop him.” It is strong enough to end the conversation.
- Jesus recognized the man was going a mighty work and it met the criteria of authenticity. The trouble is that the man was not a part of the Twelve, but he was for them nevertheless.
- Imagine if the disciples had not been taught such a lesson. Division, factioning, bias, jealousy, competition — all these and more might have dominated the early church. At least it took some couple of centuries for all this to emerge.
- Giving a “cup of water” – an idiom meaning the work of a servant – characterized or described what the man we doing.
- “A reward” – the unknown disciple would enjoy His presence in heaven as would the Twelve. There is no greater thing than to enjoy the presence of God for eternity.