A reflection on Mark 9:41
Wednesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
©2022 Gloria M. Chang
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.” 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. For he that is not against us is for us. 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.
Mark 9:38-41 (RSV)
The Name of Christ is Boundless
Vast is the heart of Christ like a billowing sea without borders. How can the Spirit of Christ be confined to the small spaces of our conceptual frameworks? Jesus recognized the work of the Spirit in outsiders casting out demons in his name, for “no one can say, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).
The principle of unity in the Body of Christ, the Holy Spirit, moves permeably through all boundaries. Strangers anointed by the Spirit are also brothers and sisters, Jesus says, “for whoever is not against us is for us.”
In Hebrew culture, the name denotes the character and authority of a person. Christ-bearers anointed with the Holy Spirit speak and act with the authority of the King of Kings.
For the one whom God sent
John 3:34
speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
Whoever slakes the thirst of a Christ-bearer,
Honoring the Name, is with us a sharer.
Traditional Chinese Translation
《聖名的靈》
若有人使屬基督的人止渴，
尊榮基督的名，他是與我們同國也是一個分享者。
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“Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength.
And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.”
From Acts of the Apostles
May we continue to bring healing in the name of Jesus!
Amen!