A reflection on Luke 9:49-50, Mark 9:38-40, Numbers 11:25-29
Monday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
©️2021 Gloria M. Chang
Whoever is Not Against You is For You
Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”
Luke 9:49-50
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”
Mark 9:38-40
The Spirit on the Elders
The Lord then came down in the cloud and spoke to Moses. Taking some of the spirit that was on Moses, he bestowed it on the seventy elders; and as the spirit came to rest on them, they prophesied but did not continue.
Numbers 11:25-29
Now two men, one named Eldad and the other Medad, had remained in the camp, yet the spirit came to rest on them also. They too had been on the list, but had not gone out to the tent; and so they prophesied in the camp. So, when a young man ran and reported to Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp,” Joshua, son of Nun, who from his youth had been Moses’ aide, said, “My lord, Moses, stop them.” But Moses answered him, “Are you jealous for my sake? If only all the people of the Lord were prophets! If only the Lord would bestow his spirit on them!”
Divine Diffusion
Moses and Jesus were less interested in forming an elite cadre of prophets and disciples than in diffusing the divine goodness everywhere. The infinite Spirit of God cannot be limited or restricted.
The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes,
John 3:8
but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes…
The name of Jesus is like sea and sky.
Who can bottle or limit the Most High?
Traditional Chinese Translation
《聖靈隨著意思吹》
耶穌的名猶如大海和天空。
誰能將至高者裝瓶或限制祂呢？
Dear GMC, whenever we don’t love one another or surrender our will to God, we limit or bottle the Most High. Love releases him in our heart and into the world where He longs to be with us. Thank you, GMC, for helping me contemplate such things in my life. Things that I don’t always reflect upon, but should.
If it be evil doing,
Cut it out of power.
If it comes back to taunt,
Grow your hope like a flower.
Sweetness takes away sour;
Love prevails every hour!