Slide 2:
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.”
39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me.
40 For he that is not against us is for us.
41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward. The Holy Bible : Revised Standard Version Second Catholic edition (2006), with the ecclesiastical approval of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press.
Slide 3:
An exorcist is a person who drives out an evil spirit from another person or place.
As we examine Jesus’ ministry we see Him act as an exorcist many times such as we just saw in Mark 9:14-18 the Healing of a Boy with a Mute Spirit.
Aren’t the apostles acting just like the Pharisees?
They couldn’t drive the demon out of the boy but Jesus did.
Since they couldn’t perform the miracle they are jealous. They are not Jealous of Jesus, as the Pharisees were, but they were jealous of another man who had the power to do what they could not.
A Medical Doctor heals many people of ailments but does that mean we, like the apostles, should instead order him to stop curing patients or should we celebrate the God given talents possessed by the doctor?
Slide 4:
The apostles were more concerned with their own group’s position than in helping to free those troubled by demons.
Jesus then tells them not to prevent the man from casting out the demons because he is performing miracles in Jesus name and thus is doing good, not evil.
While it is true the man was not one of the 12 he was doing God’s work in the world and fighting against Satan and his workers. We have seen and hopefully will continue to see healing services conducted in all Christian churches by priests and ministers.
Slide 5:
Sometimes people receive a miraculous cure, a cure we should celebrate even when the cure seems to come from a non-clergy member because they were the instrument that God chose to use to perform the miracle. Acts 19:13-16 tells us, “13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
Slide 6:
16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was, leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of the house naked and wounded.
Yes, they invoked Jesus’ name in an attempt to perform exorcisms but I would argue they were attempting to do it for their own glory, not the glory of God.
Isn’t this the reason for one religion to criticize another? The critics have lost sight of their mission.
Their mission is to bring people closer to God, not criticize those who are attempting to do the same just because they don’t belong to their group.
That is what the apostles were doing here. They were critical of a man doing God’s work because he was a perceived threat to their power.
Religion is about God, not the clergy or other practitioners.
Slide 7:
41 For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose His reward.
We should all promote God, not ourselves, and we will not lose our reward.