Introduction
Have you ever been part of a conversation (or more likely on the receiving end of a monologue) that went something like this.
Did you hear the news about the robbery downtown? They caught the guy and the prosecutor says he is going to bring him to trial quickly. Speaking of trial, my back sure is putting me through one. I really have trouble lifting groceries out of the trunk of the car. Have you seen the new car Frank bought? I don’t know if I would spend that kind of money. Which reminds me, I couldn’t believe that guy missed such an easy question on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.
We think to ourselves, “Where is this conversation going?” What is happening, of course, is that a word or idea triggers the mind to think of something else. There is a pattern, but it is guided more by words and ideas that connect to new thoughts rather than a single idea.
That is what’s happening in the verses we are looking at. Verses 30-32 is a conversation of its own, which takes place somewhere in Galilee. Verses 33-50 form another conversation back in Capernaum. These conversations lead us into what seems a number of different paths, but then we will find that they lead us eventually to one destination.
The Text
30-32
30 They left that place and passed through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where they were, 31 because he was teaching his disciples.
The context for these passages is Jesus teaching his disciples. What about? The same thing he was teaching in 8:31-9:1: what it means for him to be the Messiah and what it means for them to be his disciples. That passage started with the phrase he then began to teach them. This becomes Jesus’ focus after the disciples confess that Jesus is the Messiah. Before, Jesus wanted to be alone to get away from the crowds; now he wants to be alone with them in order to teach them.
Just as in chapter 8 he explained what the Messiah must do, Jesus does so again:
He said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.” What Jesus is explaining is the gospel. The gospel is the story of how the Messiah would save his people. This is how: he will die (for their sins) and then rise to life.
32 But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it. Peter has learned his lesson not to argue with Jesus about the subject, so he and the other disciples take the next preferred tactic – keep quiet and hope Jesus drops the subject. They are afraid of the topic for the same reason you and I would be – the man whom they love, and in whom they rest their hopes for ushering in the kingdom of God, talks about dying. This is unsettling to say the least.
33-37
We now move to another setting for yet another set of teachings.
33 They came to Capernaum. When he was in the house, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But they kept quiet because on the way they had argued about who was the greatest.
They have come back to their unofficial headquarters in Capernaum. They settle in the house, and Jesus says, “So, fellows, you seemed like you were having a pretty heated discussion back down the road. Want to talk about it?”
It is not hard to figure out why they keep quiet this time. Not even Peter cares to comment. This is one awkward moment! “Andrew? John? Anybody? You weren’t so quiet on the road. Speak up.”
Jesus hears the clearing of throats, then a meek quiet voice in the corner: “We were discussing who might be considered…well, I mean…who you might consider… hmm…that is, if something were to happen to you then…well, who’s the greatest.”
“Oh, I see. You want to know how I rank you; who should be considered the leader after me. You want to know how you stand with one another and with me.” 35 Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (By the way, sitting down is the teaching position for a rabbi. If we were conducting this service in the exact style of a synagogue service in Jesus’ day, I would be sitting in order to preach.)
Here is what Jesus is saying. If you want to be highly regarded by God, you must concentrate on being a good servant to others. He is not presenting a strategy for getting ahead of others: act humble and you will get ahead. He is presenting the value system for the kingdom of God, and service is the key element. This is an important principle to understand. Jesus is not telling us merely to be humble. He is telling us to be good servants. Our humility is to be positive and practical.
Here is what I mean. Some people’s humility can be insufferable. They say things like, “Don’t mind me; it doesn’t matter what I think, or what I want.” They let us know how much they serve, at the same time saying they want no recognition. They conspicuously take the end of the line and sit in the lowest seat.
They have the attitude of the two ministers and the elder at a prayer meeting. The senior minister, wanting to set an appropriate humble example for his congregation during the prayer session, lay prostrate on the floor. The associate minister, not to be thought any less humble, did the same. When the elder saw what the two ministers were doing, he also lay prostrate. The senior minister then nudged the associate, “Look who thinks he’s nothing.” Jesus is not interested in how little we think of ourselves. He is interested in how much we think of others.
The next step and words hit us as profound and yet also are perplexing.
36 He took a little child and had him stand among them. Taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
What a powerful object lesson! But what’s the point? It would have made more sense if he had said something like, “Unless you become like a child, you cannot become great.” Instead he says, Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me. What does being nice to children have to do with the issue of where we fit in the kingdom?
The key to figuring it out is in that phrase in my name welcomes me. Jesus is referring to children who themselves are believers in him. He does not mean: whoever in my name welcomes children. He means: whoever welcomes children who belong to me. We ought to be nice to all children, but that is not the issue here. Jesus is using the child as an example of someone who is low on the status ladder. What gives the child high status in this case, is his belonging to Jesus. Thus, the way a person treats this child is the way Jesus considers himself being treated, and, indeed he ups the ante: God the Father takes it personally as well.
The disciples want to know what gives them value and respect. Jesus says that it is their position in him that gives them all the value and respect they need. What matters is not that we have a recognized status, but that we belong to Jesus. Whoever welcomes us in the name of Jesus is welcoming Jesus; is welcoming God. He is not telling his disciples and us this so we can be arrogant – watch how you speak to me! – but so we can have a truly humble spirit, focused on serving others.
38-41
Good lesson. So John changes the topic! 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.”
“Speaking of your name and we being identified with you, there was this other guy…” This seems like a logical concern. After all, Jesus had marked out these twelve men specifically to do that kind of work. 13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons (3:13-15).
Who does this other guy think he is? He was not appointed by Jesus. He does not follow Jesus like the disciples do. What right does he have to use Jesus’ name? There are a couple of other references to people doing this very thing, neither of which is positive. Luke records in Acts 19:13-16 how “seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were trying to exorcise demons using Jesus’ name. 15 One day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.
In his famous “Sermon on the Mount” Jesus said: 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ (Matthew 7:22-23).
But here, Jesus strangely shows little concern. 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, 40 for whoever is not against us is for us. Why the change in attitude? Why does he in one instance condemn people who use his name to carry out actual miracles and yet are not real followers; then, when an actual person is presented to him who uses his name but does not follow him, he rebukes his disciples rather than the man?
The reason is that the real issue again involves the disciples’ concern for their own status. “This man is not one of us. We are the chosen ones, not him.” Embarrassingly enough, this man is effective, something they could not claim just a little while ago. Does the man possess real faith? Is he a true follower? We don’t know. We do know, though, that he is not working against Jesus. Apparently, he is not trying to use Jesus for his own gain. I am reminded here of Gamaliel’s wise counsel to the Sanhedrin when the Jewish leaders wanted to put them to death (cf. Acts 5:33ff). If the disciples are acting on their own authority, they will fail; but if they truly are of God, then the leaders will find themselves fighting against God.
The same reasoning is here. If this man is acting truly for Jesus, then he is for Jesus, not against him. So what if he has not gone through the same validating process as the disciples. Not everyone can follow Jesus in the same manner as the disciples, nor must Jesus ordain everyone like he did his disciples. Let the Holy Spirit work as God so pleases. If the man is not a true believer, he will get his due at the proper time.
We would do well to remember that the next time we are tempted to say, “But they are not like us.” “They don’t do church the way we do.” “They have not been authorized properly.” The one thing I give the disciples credit for is that they did learn this lesson. When they became the apostles of the early church, they did not hinder the ministry of others; rather, they often followed behind and validated the work of the Holy Spirit in the efforts of other Christians.
41 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. Here we go back to the same principle about welcoming the children, except the emphasis here is on the person doing the work. No matter what the activity – whether it be sensational like casting out demons or it be small like giving a drink of water – if it is done with the intention to minister to Christ’s and his people, then it is blessed by God. What matters is not having the approved credentials, but ministering faithfully in the name of Christ.
But then, vice versa, if the opposite occurs: 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. Any explanation needed? Jesus probably still has the child on his knee. “You see this little one who adults walk past giving no attention? If someone, whether through maliciousness or indifference, leads this child astray who believes in me, well, that person may as well go ahead and perform his own execution.
43-50
Which, by the way, leads Jesus to another thought: the danger of treating sin lightly.
43 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. 45 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. 47 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, 48 where
”‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
“Look, guys,” Jesus is saying, “You are worried about getting your due recognition in life. What you really need to be concerned about is your eternal destiny. If you are not thinking about how the other disciples are maneuvering for position, you are watching out for “outsiders” moving in. Do you want to know whom you need to worry about? It’s you. Examine your own lives. Practice radical surgery on yourselves. Do whatever you need to do to protect yourselves from sin.”
This is a good lesson for us all. We are so concerned with controlling everyone else around us so that we can get the life we think we deserve. We want so badly to get the respect we deserve or the attention or the money. The real issue, though, is how right are we with God? We are told today, even by churches, that God is not really angry with us. There really is no hell. And certainly God would not send us there for trivial sins we commit. Jesus apparently differs: 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, 48 where
”‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’
And, by the way, 49 Everyone will be salted with fire. It is getting tough to follow Jesus’ train of thought, but here is where I think he is going. The next sentence reads: 50 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again?
Both Matthew and Luke record the same sentence. Like most preachers, Jesus repeated sayings in different sermons and lessons. Matthew records the saying following Jesus’ remark about his followers being persecuted for his name. Luke records the saying following Jesus teaching about the demands of following him. In all three gospels, then, Jesus makes radical statements about what being a disciple entails – persecution (Matthew), giving up everything (Luke), and cutting off whatever leads to sin (Mark). This is being salted with fire. It is this salt, which either sets apart the true disciple of Christ, or which becomes insipid in the person who fails the test.
Are you salted? Has God’s salt penetrated into your fiber so that you are distinguished from your former life and from the people of the world? This salt is more than being a good moral person. It involves living a radical life, a life characterized by service to others; a life that embraces everyone who lives under the name of Jesus; a life that opposes the evil seduction of sin. It is a life that doesn’t make sense to those who do not belong to Jesus; a life that is to be pitied, if indeed Christ has not risen from the dead (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:19).
Jesus tells his disciples and us, Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other. Be at peace in the family of God. Don’t worry about getting recognition; rather, be concerned with how you might serve others; give attention to your own heart, so that you might be seasoned with the very salt of Jesus Christ.
