Mark 9:38-50

Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us

38"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."

39"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, 40for whoever is not against us is for us. 41I 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.

42"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.

43If 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. 45And 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. 47And 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, 48where

" 'their worm does not die,

and the fire is not quenched.' 49Everyone will be salted with fire.

50"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."



BACKGROUND READING:


Leviticus 2:13


Numbers 18:19


2 Chronicles 13:4-7


Matthew 5:13-16



Dig Deeper

This is one of the few passages in Mark in which he takes a series of sayings from Jesus and puts them together in one section without giving much context to most of them. That doesn't make them less important. It simply means that Mark has most likely taken them from their original contexts to make a more complete point. This point is not exactly clear at first, but when we realize that these all have to do with the idea of a battle being joined and the serious consequences that might follow, this string of three short sayings makes more sense.


In the first account, John sees a man that has been driving out demons in Jesus' name. Jesus tells John to leave the man alone. Someone who drives out a demon in Jesus' name in one moment, will certainly not be speaking against Jesus in the next. Jesus seems to assume that all of Israel is taking sides as to whether his mission is from God or not. John wants the mission of Jesus to be limited to only those who are part of the 'official' group of followers. This isn't so much a disagreement between an inclusive or exclusive view of Jesus' mission, as it is difference in seeing Jesus' work as a private and privileged operation or a war that is quickly moving toward a showdown.


This is a warning, for us, however, to never think that we 'own' the kingdom of God. It is far too easy to come to think of the way that we worship or do things as the only way to do it. There are probably many Christians out there that Jesus would include in the category of 'little ones' and woe to those of us who might exclude them because we think we have things all figured out.


This gives us the proper focus for what comes next. The immediate point of Jesus is for his disciples. If their desire to be exalted and honored gets in the way of them being disciples, they should be careful lest they find themselves not being disciples of Jesus at all. Whatever might get in the way needs to be eradicated.


The wider issue, though, is what does this saying about cutting off feet and hands have to say to us? It has become quite popular these days to present Christianity as a feel-good philosophy, one that is all about developing a way of living that promotes health, wealth, and comfort. If you are at all unhappy, they say, then you don't have enough faith, because God wants you to have a life that is all peace and prosperity. Yet, this is not the version of God's kingdom that Jesus presents here (or anywhere else for that matter). His is a mission that is real and dangerous. A way of life where evil and sin are real and dangerous. A war is on and there is no room for philosophies that shirk any hint of personal cost, and argue that all desires are God-given, and so, must be realized.


The second lesson we can learn is that what they are asked to cut off are not sinful or bad things, in and of themselves. Rejecting sin is an obvious task for most of us, but Jesus tells us that there is more to it than just that. We must also be prepared to cut out things that might be good in another context, but which steer us down the wrong path. This is the only wise way of behaving when you are in the middle of a war.


Those who can't or won't grasp the danger of sin will be in danger of being thrown in Gehenna (translated hell here). Gehenna was a valley that served as garbage dump for ancient Jerusalem. It was perpetually smoldering and had, by Jesus' time, become a metaphor for the lake of fire that was prepared for Satan and his angels (Matthew 25:41), but to where all who reject God will eventually go.


At the end of this passage, Jesus returns to speak directly to his disciples, which implies that the primary meaning of the rest of these sayings was also for them. They were being called to be the salt of the earth. This had been Israel's job but they had failed. Now it was up to the disciples. If they lose their flavor like the rest of Israel had, they are in danger of becoming worthless to God in the same fashion that Israel had.



Devotional Thought

Are there any 'good' things in your life that are, in reality, leading you away from a full commitment to the kingdom of God? What do Jesus' words in this passage mean for you when it comes to things like that?