Unstoppable

Luke 9:49-50

New International Version (NIV)

 49 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.”

   50 “Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

Two simple verses.  John, the disciple that is frequently mentioned as the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’, tells Jesus he and the others caught some outsider driving out demons.  They tried to stop the man, as he wasn’t one of the group.  Jesus, in turn, gives them an answer:

“Do not stop him.”

The disciples at the beginning of Luke Chapter 9 had all been recently sent out to practice what Jesus had demonstrated, incredible miracles and feats.  They went out filled with power and authority given to them from on high. 

Some time thereafter Jesus took the three disciples Peter, James, and John, his inner sanctum of friends, up to a mountain-top to pray.  There, the three saw Jesus lifted high and shown to be who he is—the Son of God—in a great and powerful way.  The other disciples, mind you, were not privy to this glorious moment.  They were still somewhere down off of that great mountain-top experience. 

Luke 9:37-43 give some insight into what the rest of the disciples were doing.  It appears in verse 40 that a man begged of the remaining disciples to cast a demon out from his son.  They were slaving away while a precious few of their bunch received all of the glory and attention and privilege above.  To make matters worse, they were unsuccessful at driving out the demon, which scripture shows is generally not a pretty sight.  Fortunately, Jesus came just in time to save the boy, and the disciples.  I wonder what Peter, James, and John thought at that moment in time, or if they, too, had tried and were unsuccessful in casting out the demon. 

The Bible doesn’t record the thoughts or feelings of the “left behind” disciples or how incredibly humbled or stupid they must have felt, or how they might have been jealous at not being included in the transfiguration scene.  But verses 46 thru 48 show that there must have been some sort of tension between the three and nine remaining disciples.

Verse 46 states that an argument arose among them as to which one was the greatest.  I am sure that the “left behind” disciples were thinking Peter, James, and John must be better than them.  Or even worse, Peter, James, and John might have got to thinking that they were better than the rest because of what they saw.  Jesus knew their thoughts and brought all of their pompous, selfish human desires to light in verses 47-48 by stating something contrary to human nature:

“…The least among all of you is the greatest.”

I am sure this statement made those “left behind” disciples feel the love Jesus truly had for them, and brought humility to his three closest disciples, if they had pride swelling in their hearts!  I often wonder, however, which disciple was the least among them at that time.  Was it, perhaps, Judas, who Jesus knew would betray him?  It is hard to think of any lesser disciple.  And yet the Great Shepherd would leave the ninety-nine for the least of men who were lost.

Coming back to the opening verses, however, we have a revelation of hearts, both human and divine.  In verse 49 John brings a complaint to Jesus—a man who is not even the least of the disciples is casting out demons in Jesus’ name. 

At some point between the argument of who was greatest and John’s complaint, the disciples together (perhaps humbled and brought back to unity) found one lone man declaring Jesus’ name and doing the work of the kingdom.  This man was so obscure that he is not even named in scripture, but I think perhaps from the reaction of the disciples, and what Jesus replies, this man must have been successful.  It is very ironic that the disciples found a man not in their circle of friends who was successful in something they were publicly humiliated for because of their own failure.

The point, however, is that the man did not physically follow Jesus like the twelve.  He didn’t see Jesus transfigured.  He may have sat in the crowds, listened to Jesus’ teaching, and then took to heart the kingdom of which Jesus preached.  But he was not a disciple, never invited in.  Jesus did not ask him to take Judas’ place, even though Jesus knew Judas would betray him.  We do not know if Jesus even spoke to the unnamed man who cast out demons. 

Perhaps he did.  I sometimes wonder, if when Jesus went out to pray by himself, if he ran into this unnamed man, had an unrecorded life-changing encounter with him.  Or did this man, who never spoke with Jesus, merely have great faith to cast out demons in his name?  Whatever the case may be, he was successful at casting out demons when the “greater disciples” (because they were least) were not.  And the greater disciples (greater on human standards, John included) tried to stop him because he was not one of them.

The interesting thing is that Jesus spoke up for the unnamed man and said words I wish he’d say about me—

“Do not stop him,” … and basically (Ace paraphrase), “he’s on our team.”

What about you?  Do you feel small, insignificant?  Unnamed and unknown like this random man casting out demons in Jesus’ name?  Are you not one of the “great ministers” whose names are known in every church, and even in secular circles?  Do you compare yourself to them and feel insignificant?  I want to encourage you today that God says of you—

“You are great to me.”

The man casting out demons in Jesus’ name was not named in the Bible, but his testimony to faithfulness was recorded there, and I am sure his actions are recorded in God’s Book of Remembrance.  What about you?  Even Jesus had something to say about his testimony.  I believe he says the same thing of you, though.

He says of you—

“Do not stop him.  He’s on the team.”