Pentecost 19 Mark 9:38-50 Seasoned With The Word
In last week’s Gospel lesson, we learned how the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Three of them had watched Jesus be transfigured before them and they all had watched Him cast out a demon—a demon that they could not cast out. They had witnessed first hand the majesty and power of their Lord Jesus. Furthermore, since they had been hand picked by Jesus the disciples reasoned that they all must be very important indeed. They were preoccupied in who could do the greatest things, which in turn would lead them to receive the greatest rewards in the kingdom of God—or so they thought!
It really came down to a competition for them--whoever could do the most and the greatest things would be the winner. Unfortunately, the disciples were letting their quest for greatness effect the way that they got along with one another and also how they treated other Christians. “Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
The disciples had seen a man who knew Jesus and had been using the power connected with Jesus’ name. We do not know whether this man knew Jesus as his Savior. Still the man was successfully using the name of Jesus as a power and authority over evil spirits.
Now even though he wasn’t doing anything wrong, they told him to stop. The Twelve had assumed that since he wasn’t one of them, he was not acting as an official representative of Jesus. In light of their previous argument about who was the greatest, you can’t help but assume that they really stopped him because wanted the glory for themselves - and they didn’t like to see anyone else having the same powers they had been given.
The twelve were behaving much like Joshua in our Old Testament lesson. When he heard that other people prophesying besides Moses, he said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” (Numbers 11:26) Even though there was nothing wrong with what they were doing, he wanted them to stop - because he wanted Moses to have all of the prophesying power. These reactions revealed an ungodly and selfish jealousy - that wanted to have the glory for doing these visibly recognizable things.
This same sin has been repeated time and again throughout the centuries. You would think that two people trying to do the work of Christ would be happy that the work was being multiplied. But what happens? One starts having more “success” or “recognition,” and then the other becomes jealous. First, the devil whispers in the ear of the one with less success, “You better stop him before you are out of a job.” Then, instead of rejoicing over the healing of a man, they try and stop each other.
Others complain about the way in which is person is doing the work of the church and even though they are unable or unwilling to do the job themselves they are experts at discouraging those who try.
The result of this is that the work in the Church does not get done. People visiting or who are just learning about Christ see the bickering, sarcasm and name-calling and leave the Church never to return. And Satan dances a little victory dance, because another soul has remained under his power--with the help of God’s disciples! God is not pleased when we act in a manner that prevents His word from reaching out to others.
So how did Jesus respond? Well He certainly did not give John a pat on the back. “Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. I tell you the truth, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to Christ will certainly not lose his reward.” What was Jesus mainly concerned about? His name. As long as they were doing miracles in His name, they couldn’t turn around and bad mouth Jesus.
So as long as it was glorifying His name, there was no reason to stop them. God will give rewards for even giving someone a cup of water in Christ’s name. Should disciples get in the way of that too?
Saint Paul reminds us in Ephesians (2:9), “Salvation comes by faith in the work of Jesus Christ, not by works so that no one can boast.” Jesus tells us all not to worry about who is causing the devil to flee, as long as it’s being done in His name. And since the Holy Spirit is the One who works faith in us, we are not being rewarded for our work, but rather we are being rewarded for our faith in Jesus Christ.
And as long as Jesus’ name is being glorified, more than one person can serve in a God pleasing way. God uses people as a means to serve others in need, and no two people serve in exactly the same way. Not all people have had the privilege to study the Word of God at the feet of Jesus Christ or at a seminary. But all those who serve God out of their love for what Jesus has done for them are members of His kingdom. Those who are boastful and proud of what they have done or what status they have obtained however are in danger of falling away. Our Lord’s words are really a lesson in humility that Jesus teaches to all of His disciples, and it stings a little bit like salt in an open wound.
But, this incident with the man driving out demons was just a dash of salt that Jesus sprinkled on the disciples’ pride. Since these disciples were so concerned about how many great things they should do in competition for greatness, Jesus knocked the chip off their shoulders. Instead of thinking what they could do to be great in heaven, they needed to think about what it is like in hell. Jesus quoted Isaiah (66:24) and said that hell was a place where the “worm does not die and the fire is never quenched.”
Jesus painted a picture of living in a place that is eternally hot and miserable, where the disgusting odor of decay and the pain never stops. And He refers back not only to the man whom they tried to discourage but also to all those who are young in their faith.
He told them, “And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.”
Then He continued to demonstrate just how bad the consequences of unforgiven sin would be, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.”
Without faith in the work of Jesus Christ, it doesn’t matter who you are, how many demons you’ve chased or how many hands and feet you have cut off, you too will be salted with the fire of hell - condemned under God’s wrath and judgment.
Would it not be better to humble yourself by acknowledging your sins in this life and receiving His forgiveness rather than living with regrets and pains forever? Jesus said that everyone will be salted with fire. He also said, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12) Would it not be better to be humbled in this life rather than in the life to come?
God has given us the gift of pain to tell us when something is hurting us so that we can react in a way that causes the pain to go away. If we are causing pain to others by the way we are acting, God may just knock us down a couple of notches for our own good. Should we not look at others who are downtrodden with compassion rather than thinking about how much better we are? When we have enough of God’s word in ourselves, we realize the pain we may be causing and God does not have to season us. This is a lesson even the Twelve disciples needed to learn.
Please understand that in their competition for greatness, the disciples were forgetting that even though they were healing the sick and chasing out demons, they still needed to remember that because they constantly sinned, they deserved eternal condemnation. If they did not remember, Jesus would keep the fires of hell burning in front of them - to remind them that they were still sinful and still in need of salvation from those fires. But if they would reflect upon the consequences of their sinful actions themselves, Jesus would have no need to remind them. So Jesus said, Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
By having the salt of God’s Law in ourselves, we realize that we can’t enter heaven with sinful hands, feet, eyes and hearts. And that makes us despair. God the Father, out of His love for us, cuts open a wound in our hearts and then the Holy Spirit pours salt in it - making it sting and hurt. It has to hurt and it has to sting because if it doesn’t, you won’t cry out for help. By salting us a little with the fires of pain now, Jesus hopes to show us why we all need a Savior
We realize that we cannot be saved even if we cut off our hands and feet because the problem lies deep within our hearts. But when we look upon the cross, we see that we are saved because Jesus’ hands and feet have been pierced. Isaiah said that He “was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) We are assured of a place in heaven because Jesus fulfilled his prediction in last week’s lesson that he would literally be “cut off.” Not only was Jesus cut off from the land of the living on the cross, He was cut off from His own Father’s love.
When Jesus cried out, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” it was as if God cut their relationship in two. The lifelong friendship and companionship of the Father and the Son was chopped apart. To use Old Testament language, God cut a new covenant. Because of the work of Jesus Christ, His new covenant was sealed with His body and blood. God’s wrath could be taken away, and the lifelong separation between you and God would be restored by the sacrifice of His own Son. His wounds restored our connection to God.
The powerful word of God in your hearts and minds is the salt that will preserve you in faith. And as disciples, you need to be filled daily with that salt. When your hearts are filled with the gospel, you can set aside any thoughts as to who is the greatest among all men and look to Jesus as your Savior. This is the only way that you can truly live in peace with one another together with God to the joy and edifying of all God’s people. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.