He who is not against us is on our side

 Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."  And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.

And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.

Then a dispute rose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."

Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us in on our side." 

- Luke 9:37-50

In yesterday's reading, we read of the Transfiguration of Jesus.  He took Peter, John, and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  As He prayed, the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening.  And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of His decease which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.  But Peter and those with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men who stood with Him.  Then it happened, as they were parting from Him, that Peter said to Jesus, "Master, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles:  one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah" -- not knowing what he said.  While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were fearful as they entered the cloud.  And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son.  Hear Him!"  When the voice had ceased, Jesus was found alone.  But they kept quiet, and told no one in those days any of the things they had seen.


Now it happened on the next day, when they had come down from the mountain, that a great multitude met Him.  Suddenly a man from the multitude cried out, saying, "Teacher, I implore You, look on my son, for he is my only child.  And behold, a spirit seizes him, and he suddenly cries out; it convulses him so that he foams at the mouth; and it departs from him with great difficulty, bruising him.  So I implored Your disciples to cast it out, but they could not."  One thing we observe about this scene, and that is the difficulties with which people must bear in the grip of the "evil one" or that which oppresses the world.  Jesus is here as a liberator, to free us from afflictions.  As Messiah (which has just been revealed through the Transfiguration), Jesus is subject to the many expectations of Israel for liberation.  But His liberation is one of a spiritual kingdom, and it calls upon His disciples to bear spiritual fruits as a part of that Kingdom.  Here the disciples cannot cast out something which is obviously very oppressive, punishing to a boy, someone's beloved and precious only child.  The father appeals to the Teacher.

 Then Jesus answered and said, "O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and bear with you?  Bring your son here."   Jesus' words, "faithless and perverse" seem strange to us but they tell us a story.  In the Greek, the language becomes more clear in spiritual or theological terms.  "Faithless" in an apt translation, but it tells us in the Greek of the opposite of what is required:  Jesus has stressed faith (a word akin to trust in the Greek) all along as a key, even the "work" of those who would be disciples.  So here there is a lack of faith.  "Perverse" is a translation from a word that means "twisted" -- even bent back to become two -- turned from its proper shape.  It is an identity of something that has gone backward, in some sense, from where it is supposed to go or to be.  To be twisted into a double is also in some way an analogy of being turned into oneself, self-centered rather than Christ- or God-centered.  So, if we could infer from Jesus' language here, what is required is both faith and the proper discernment that comes from spiritual discipline, a life of the journey of faith. 

And as he was still coming, the demon threw him down and convulsed him.  Then Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, healed the child, and gave him back to his father.  We again observe the militantly rebellious spirit of the demon, even acting to harm the child on his way to Christ.  The child is returned to his father; Christ reconciles that which is in good order, proper, and restores both Father and son to love.

And they were all amazed at the majesty of God.  But while everyone marveled at all the things which Jesus did, He said to His disciples, "Let these words sink down into your ears, for the Son of Man is about to be betrayed into the hands of men."  But they did not understand this saying, and it was hidden from them so that they did not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask Him about this saying.  My study bible says that "the majesty of God is His greatness and power shown through Jesus' miracles."  And yet, here is the warning, coming so soon after an amazing miracle of power over evil, Jesus' tremendous testimony to the power of a pure faith.  He is about to be betrayed; this must be allowed to "sink down into their ears!"  But they can't take it in, they can't perceive this bad news, terrible news, and they are afraid to ask about it.  This is a much too frightening challenge to their faith!

Then a dispute rose among them as to which of them would be greatest.  And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, and said to them, "Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me.  For he who is least among you all will be great."  My study bible says, "The disciples themselves are not above the desire for worldly glory and power.  One of the last lessons they will learn before Christ's Ascension is that of humility and service.  Jesus teaches them by a simple illustration:  a little child -- an icon of dependency."  As the "news" begins of Jesus' death, so dissension sets in, a typical human response with notions of power.  Some commentaries suggest that the disciples have taken Jesus' words about death and resurrection (see Monday's reading) to mean that the full revelation of the Kingdom is imminent, and so the struggle begins for their places.  But Jesus begins spiritual discipline by first teaching about power and hierarchy in His kingdom and under His discipleship:  they must be prepared to meet the little ones with humility, as if He is standing before them.  And this will be the key to true leadership of those who wish to be "great" among them.

Now John answered and said, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us."  But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us in on our side."   Another translation reads "he who is not against you is on your side."  My study bible says that "this is an example of Jesus' tolerance and breadth of vision.  It is a temptation for us to want everyone to have a spiritual practice exactly like ours, to do things the way we do, and to be in our group.  How many schisms have occurred in Church history because people missed Jesus' lesson here!" 

There are many lessons to take away from today's text.  But really, they boil down to elements of discipleship and training for leadership in the Church, especially after Jesus is gone.  The disciples must learn the true power of faith.  It is discernment, and purity of heart, that creates the power to deny evil.  This really can't be overemphasized.  There's a common saying in American parlance that tells us, "You can't cheat an honest man."  In other words, a person's own greed is used against them in games or schemes to cheat a person out of something.  So it is with the spiritual discipline that Jesus calls the disciples toward:  a kind of purity of heart that is the product of a depth of faith and the discipline of a life of faith -- even through immensely difficult challenges like the news of Jesus death -- produces the power to cast out evil, and ultimately to help to liberate those who are afflicted in the world around us, the wiles of the "evil one" and whatever form that may take in our day and time.  He gives us the keys to this power in showing us where it is not:  in the words faithless and perverse.  But all the teachings in today's reading tell us about true discipleship and leadership in His Church.  The very next thing He does is warn them about what is to come, and demand that they "let the words sink down into their ears."   He is to be betrayed.  We can't expect all of life to go our way, no matter what sort of spiritual achievements we have.  Indeed, if we are to take to heart the story here, God's plan for us may be radically different from our own ideas of what is good and beneficial.  We may need to meet terrible challenges in our lives as followers of Christ -- and we must be ready to do so, in faith and in His Way for us.  There is tremendous emphasis here on humility, an important key to acceptance.  Here humility is presented as a requirement for greatness in this Church, for a true leadership role, and we will remember also here His final commandment given in John's Gospel:  that we must love one another as He has loved us.  Humility then extends to peace, to efforts at tolerance.  I like the very personal nature of the alternate translation:  "He who is not against you is on your side" -- it brings it home to understand how we are to live and walk in this world as His followers.  So the keys here in today's reading really tell us not just about walking the walk of faith, after His "exodus" from this world (see the Transfiguration reading again and His discussion with Elijah and Moses), but also they are key to the true "greatness" and leadership in His kingdom.  We begin with the healing of a child, a father who is distraught and prays for his son, begging for help, and we are to understand once again Jesus' great emphasis in all His conflicts with leadership and authority in the temple:  "Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  All of our practices in His name boil down to this, all of our traditions must be subject to this question.  And let us remember the teaching on tolerance, and the note in my study bible:  "It is a temptation for us to want everyone to have a spiritual practice exactly like ours, to do things the way we do, and to be in our group."  We really don't need to go around picking out enemies, and if we look closely at the reading, we understand that Christ's betrayal will come from one of His own.  Christ is greater than all the rest of what we do in His name, and unites us as persons, as children of God by adoption.  We must remember what real communion means, and how it is linked to dialogue, not "sameness."   In this way, also, we show that we are His children and disciples.