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Gospel according to Mark 9: 38-41 (NIV)
38 “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone 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. “For 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. 41 Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.”
This passage once troubled me, not because of the sense it makes in its own right but because I thought it contradicted Jesus’ words in the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 12:
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
The same subjects are raised in the Gospel according to Luke (9: 49-50 and 11: 23). When addressing the Mark/Matthew passages, we consider those in Luke too.
So let us examine the passages from Mark and Matthew, each in its context.
The passage in Mark 9 follows immediately after the account of the argument among Jesus’ disciples as to who was the greatest. (The sequence is the same in Luke 9.) Did John mention someone who “was not one of us” to divert attention? We do not know. Presumably this “someone” was neither one of the twelve nor one of the other disciples who travelled with Jesus and learned from him on the way.
Jesus’ explanation of his reason for stating “whoever is not against us is for us” (verse 40) is as clear as it is logical: “no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me” (verse 39).
The context surrounding the passage from Matthew 12 is very different. The Pharisees had uttered a damning statement about Jesus’ healing of a demon-possessed man so that he could then both talk and see (12: 22-24). They asserted that only by the prince of demons could Jesus cast out demons. They alleged that the “Son of David” was in league with the devil!
Jesus explained at that moment that he healed “by the Spirit of God” (verse 28). His following statement, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” is associated with the preceding verses. Jesus’ next words demonstrate this. Jesus’ reference in verse 32 to “speak(ing) against the Holy Spirit” was a direct response to the Pharisees’ allegation against him with its implied allegation against the Holy Spirit.
Jesus’ response to the Pharisees makes it abundantly clear that, if a person is not “with” Jesus, there is no neutral option. The only alternative is to be “against” him. That means the person is, at the same time, against the Father and against the Holy Spirit. The alternative to being against the Triune God can only be to be “for”. As Jesus said in Mark 9, one who “is not against us is for us”.
Have you decided where you stand: “for” Jesus and “with” him – or “against” him?