Whoever is not against us is for us

They went on from there and passed through Galilee. He did not want anyone to know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again.’ But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him.

Then they came to Capernaum; and when he was in the house he asked them, ‘What were you arguing about on the way?’ But they were silent, for on the way they had argued with one another about who was the greatest. He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.’ Then he took a little child and put it among them; and taking it in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’

John said to him, ‘Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.’ But Jesus said, ‘Do not stop him; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me. Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.'

- Mark 9:30-41

This passage says to me that Christ wishes to teach us all more about our inter-relatedness to him, and how that manifests through discipleship in various ways. First of all, he wishes to teach them in private, because he is revealing what will happen to him - more on the message of suffering. But they fail to understand him. My doctor has explained to me that he sees something similar happening repeatedly with his patients receiving a catastrophic diagnosis: people simply do not take in bad news. Perhaps this is what is happening with the disciples. My study bible suggests it is also possible that they don't ask him questions because they are afraid of his rebukes. Certainly this idea must be the furthest thing away from what they expect - given the tremendous power so far revealed through Christ and now through the disciples, to heal, to perform exorcisms, etc.

They reach Capernaum, and Jesus is aware that they have been disputing among themselves. Again, they're embarrassed to reveal what they're thinking to Jesus, but he knows what they have been about. Perhaps because of the deeds of power and teaching that they have recently been experiencing for themselves, perhaps because of Jesus' pronouncement about his second coming in glory, they have been arguing about who is the greatest. So Jesus instructs them on the relatedness of this kingdom: 'Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.' And there is more to this message: ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’ In our relatedness to Christ we are at once responsible for this service, and at the same time, the least among us also bears his name. What is done therefore to or for the least among them, is also done to him. This is a crucial lesson for discipleship. Not only will they share in his suffering, they also share in his role as servant, and the least among them bear his face. Jesus even goes one step further: '...whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.' The least among them, a child, who bears that name and that face is linked not only to Christ but to the Father. ’These are words we must continue to remember today. They are also words relevant to notions of Judgment.

Finally, the disciples bring up another issue of relatedness: they have seen someone else casting out demons in Jesus' name. Jesus replies that they are not to stop such people, because ‘... no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.' He then makes the statement: 'Whoever is not against us is for us.' Again, a question of relatedness, and the mercy inherent in that system of relation. The link to Christ is so central to Judgment that upon it pivots all: whoever is not against us is for us. 'For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.' Those who show mercy to one such related will also have mercy shown to them. This is an extension of relatedness that - it seems to me - includes all those who show mercy and how they respond to the kingdom that lives in those who bear it.

If we think about our daily lives, we can see quite clearly how we go about our day doing one thing and another. We encounter all sorts of people, and small mercies and great ones. Sometimes we encounter harshness or cruelty. But if even a cup of water makes this great difference in our relatedness to one another, then how significant is it that we practice common kindness? I contrast this with institutional acts of charity, which Jesus is not addressing here. How important that we at least remember that each of us are human beings? The smallest act then becomes one of sacrament in this sense, a recognition of the face which we are all capable to bear and a remembrance of his words here.