Mark 9:39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me
John was a zealous follower of Jesus, and as one of His inner circle, may have acquired a bit of the “I’m special” disease, thinking if your not with his group, following Jesus physically with the group, you were not following Jesus.
This disease is common among believers, for we often reject those who are in the family of God because they may understand Jesus differently than us, go to a different denomination, observe rituals we may not, yet they are manifesting the Spirit of Christ.
The “I’m special” disease is alive and well, but for this post I want to consider the impact of a small phrase Jesus mentioned when John came to Him, trying to control the movement of the Spirit amongst others.
Jesus stated that “no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me”
Soon afterward?
First off, let’s establish that if the man is expelling demons, He is doing that by the Spirit of God. Consider Jesus arguement when the Pharisees argued of His source of authority /power as He expelled demons.
Mark 3:22-27
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”
23And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.
26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.
27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
Although Jesus is arguing that the Pharisee’s complaint is fallacious, it may also be applied to this situation in order to establish this follower as being in the faith.
Yet Jesus says that “soon after” phrase and it got me thinking. Yes He speaks of reward in the passage, and as a believer who was once a committed OSAS adherent, I would have claimed this demon casting man would have lost a reward but not his salvation.
But consider
1 Corinthians 12:3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.
Speak evil of Jesus. Jesus is accursed. Personally, I don’t see a difference, and it appears Paul is setting a standard that argues against my previous “loss of reward” understanding.
In summary, I might suggest that as Jesus speaks of “not soon after” in our topic verse, He is referring to the repudiation of Life in the Son, and not just rewards.
But on second thought, let us consider who Jesus is referring to in this verse. Let’s review the context for a moment.
Mark 9:39 But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
Mark 9:40 For the one who is not against us is for us.
Mark 9:41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward.
The term “reward” speaks of payment or of wages. μισθός misthós
Is Jesus speaking of rewards in relation to the one who was casting out demons (verse 39), and then speaking evil, showing that he has walked away from Life in the Son. Or might He be speaking of those who are in the Body, faithfully serving, even a glass of water. Note that there is a verse in between where Jesus speaks of the unity of the family of God.
Jesus mentions a glass of water being given to those who belong to Christ. This glass of water represents any good that is offered to those in the Body of Christ, and that the one who does good in serving will receive a reward. Note that there is no mention of loosing the reward. The one speaking evil has walked away. Casting out demons is definitely a sign of a good work being performed. But this follower seems to have departed, speaking evil of Jesus as he departs.
I might suggest that the one who provides blessing will not loose his reward. Does this apply to the one who speaks evil of the Savior?
Consider how this small phrase actually speaks of the importance of faithfulness in the believers life, of seeking to maintain a love for the Savior, and not slipping into the Spirit of the age, where it is common to speak evil of the One who rescued us from the evil one.
Let us be thankful for the opportunity to be believers, that we may , in the name of Jesus, do good and speak blessing on those we meet.
As the Master has said, the reward is for servants serving the Body of Christ, even in the smallest of ways.
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