Mark 9:38
"Teacher," said John, "we saw someone driving out demons in your
name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." 39 "Do not stop him," Jesus
said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say
anything bad about me, 40 for
whoever is not against us is for us. 41
Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you
belong to the Messiah will certainly be rewarded. 42 "If anyone causes one of these little ones--those who
believe in me--to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone
were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to stumble,
cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go
into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is
better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into
hell. 47 And if your eye causes
you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God
with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where " 'their worm does not
die, and the fire is not quenched.' 49
Everyone will be salted with fire. 50
"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty
again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other."
The reading this week picks right up where
we left off in Mark from last week. Just about all commentators note that this
reading seems to have 3 main divisions:
(1) The ministerial 'success' of someone outside of the core group of
Disciples; (2) the teaching on causing another to stumble (Gk, skandalise); and (3) the teaching on
guarding one's self from stumbling. While these oracles from Jesus may
initially appear not to have a lot in common, from my reading of the text it
seems possible to discern at least two common denominators.
COMMON DENOMINATOR #1
has to do with what I would call the earnestness
of the message. Who Jesus is, why he came, and what he's all about is so serious, that it trumps everything.
The fact that there is someone else out there performing exorcisms in his name
is much more important than the fact
that he's not part of the inner circle. A cup of water may seem like a minor
thing, but when given in the loving name of the Savior it becomes a major
thing... etc. etc.
COMMON DENOMINATOR #2
has to do with the idea of stumbling.
In a lot of ways the direct English translation of the Gk skandalizo as 'to cause to stumble' amounts to a pretty weak
rendering. You or I stumble all the time and usually we catch ourselves and
keep going with no problem. The idea behind skandalizo
seems to be much more serious, however. Other English translations at least
attempt to wrestle with this word. The Good News and God's Word translations,
for instance, render it as "to sin." Vs 42, then, would read: whoever causes one of these little ones who
believe in me to sin... That's not
bad. I think the HCS translation probably comes closest, however, when it says:
whoever causes the downfall of
one of these little ones... The
point is that skandalizo causes the
wreck & ruin of someone or some thing. It's a train wreck; it's a disaster;
it's not something one recovers from, or at least not easily. The point that
Jesus seems to be making in discussing skandalizo
is that it is a complimentary idea to the first point on the
seriousness/earnestness of the message. The message is so serious, so timely,
so needed, so urgent, that one dare not cause the ruination of someone doing
good in the name of Jesus even if he is an outsider; one dare not cause the
ruination of "little ones" who believe (ether literally children, or
those who are young in The Faith); and lastly, one dare not let anything cause one's own ruination. To
be skandalized is not a trivial
matter; it's not even a simple matter of committing "a sin,".... it
is really nothing short of being driven outside of the fellowship of Jesus. It
is the loss of everything! That's why Jesus brings it down to brass tacks at
the end when he constantly contrasts entering the Kingdom of God vs entering
Hell.
From an application
perspective, the passage should give us pause. It's one thing that our words
and/or actions may have an impact on our own belief etc., and it is certainly a
lot to ponder in terms of our own faith walk. However, Jesus broadens the
scope. Not only can our words and actions influence others for good (giving
them a cup of water in the name of Christ, etc.)..... but turns out, our words
and actions can also have the opposite impact.
A few years back I read
a fascinating little book entitled: I'm
fine with God, it's Christians I can't stand. The author's point was that
he had sadly encountered many believers who presented a 'message' that
portrayed God as hateful, vengeful, etc. etc. and entirely devoid of any
Gospel. How many people have you encountered that have said something along
that line? People who say they want nothing to do with the Christian God
because of their experience with Christians? They have been 'skandalized.'
cheers,
TM
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