We  often do not allow God’s Word to sink deeply into our hearts. Jesus had just spoken about true greatness in His kingdom; yet what John said to Jesus shows that he was still stuck in worldly ways of thinking.

He told Jesus that they saw a man driving out demons (Mark 9:38). This man could have been a disciple of John the Baptist or one of the 72 disciples. The recent failure to drive out a demon was an embarrassment to the disciples, so to see others doing so (presumably successfully) must have filled them with a sense of professional envy. They therefore told the man to stop. The reason for their action was: “he was not one of us” (v. 38).

Such cliquish thinking would prove harmful in the kingdom. Jesus therefore corrected John by saying, “Do not stop him” (v. 39). The man was casting out demons in the name of Jesus. Jesus reminded John about it, and asked how a man doing ministry in His name could speak ill about Jesus, “for whoever is not against us is for us” (v. 40). The disciples thought “whoever is not with us is against us”, but Jesus corrected that false assumption. He asks for a larger heart in place of a narrow exclusiveness. After all, what unites Christians is not “us” but “His name”. Christian community is more than a social reality; it is a divine community centred on Jesus. It is He and His will that should unite us.

Jesus then developed the theme of what we do in His name, which represents His person and character. The unnamed man was casting out demons in His name: surely that would be noted by God, for even the simplest actions done in Jesus’ name would not go unnoticed by God. Jesus told the truth that “anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward” (v. 41).

The disciples knew they belonged to Jesus, but they were not sure about the other man. But Jesus urged them to be more generous in their thinking, arguing that even if the man simply gave them a cup of water in His name, he would be recognised and rewarded by God—how much more so, when he was casting out demons in Jesus’ name?