The Sunday lectionary gospel reading for Trinity 18 in this Year B is Mark 9.38–50. It is a rather unusual reading; it completes the collection of sayings that we began last week, and there is some continuity across the two passages; and it does belong (as we noted last week) to a section of teachings of Jesus in between narrative sections.
On the one hand, the boundaries of the kingdom of God are open—yet on the other, the responsibilities of the kingdom are serious, for others and for ourselves.
Come and join Ian and James as they explore all the issues! Full written commentary on this passage can be found in the previous post here.
For those casting out demons, they were obviously aware of the “Name” of Jesus
As Jews [perhaps] they would be well aware of the significance of any “Name”
See EX.33:17 And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.
33:18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
33:19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
33:20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
33:21 And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
33:22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
34:8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
Later, Jesus says in John 17, “I have declared to them your name”
John in his first chapter came to fully understand “the name” and “they saw his glory”
As it were like the [Essential Nature]Glory of God in Ex.33 &34.
Some names were given by God to name their child, some were given a new name, some names had spiritual significance, some names incorporated the name or characteristics of God, and of course Jesus was given a name above every name.
Unfortunately in so many instances we tend to tag on to our prayers “in Jesus name,”
or derivatives thereof, without understanding its great significance.
Take for example ACTS 19
19:13 Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.
19:14 And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
19:15 And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
19:16 And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
19:17 And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
It is incumbent upon us to declare the Name of God /Jesus in all its fulness which has can and will overcome the demonic + doctrines and the satanic manifestations.
They overcame him[ the Devil ] Rev 12:11… by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
We are to be Overcomers not be overcome of the Satanic.
Glad you got onto the question of how to preach well on this. Earlier this year I ended up being given the linked passage at the start of Matthew 18 to teach to a group of children in years 4-6 and ended up being drawn to the point about not despising the little ones. I found a point of entry by asking the kids to reflect on when they might have felt looked down on.
It was interesting reflecting on how the little ones not to be despised probably didn’t refer to children specifically but rather the self-humbling believer… as I was teaching the former who could well have also been the latter. Not sure I ended up nailing the delivery on that point, but it was fruitful to think through.
That is very interesting! It is rather challenging when you realise that this language is not about children, but about little old us!