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Gospel: Mark 9:38-40
John said to Jesus,
“Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.”
Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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One of the tortures of jealousy is the fact that it can never turn its eye away from the thing that pains it.
Such is the case in today’s Gospel.
John is jealous. An anonymous exorcist has crept into his territory. Christ gave him and the other Apostles the authority to cast out demons. But now it seems that power is spreading beyond the Apostles.
“Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.”
Notice, John says, “he does not follow us,” as opposed to, “he does not follow you.”
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We don’t know who this person is, perhaps a listener among the crowds who once heard Jesus preach. Perhaps someone who was previously healed by the Lord. Someone who touched the tassel of his cloak.
However it happened, faith made its way into this person’s heart and now they have a good deed to prove it.
The Apostles should rejoice! Yet they’re jealous.
“Do not prevent him,” Jesus says.
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How often do you think the Lord would repeat this command if he walked into a church, an office, or a circle of friends?
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Like the Apostles, we can all succumb to jealousy, to being territorial, to claiming that a particular role is “mine,” or “ours” without being open to new people.
But Christ is inclusive. “Do not prevent them,” he says.
All are welcome in his circle.
All should be welcome in ours, too.
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Image credits: (1) Emotional Intelligence Magazine (2) Backstage (3) Deposit Photos