26th Week in Ord. Time, Monday – 27th September 2021 — Gospel: Lk 9,46-50
Unlimited power of God
The second scene in today’s Gospel (9,49-50) takes place before Jesus turns towards Jerusalem. Like the first scene (9,46-48) this also shows the disciples of Jesus in a poor light, especially of John who appears alone only in this scene in the Synoptic Gospels. Here he acts as the spokesman on behalf of the group. This incident seems to illustrate the behaviour which the Lord had just told the disciples to avoid in the first scene. The irony is that they were not able earlier to cast out a demon (9,40). The reason to stop the unnamed exorcist is because he does not belong to the “inner circle.” In other words, they had refused to receive a child of the Lord in His name. They should have been glad that the demon had been cast out of the man. They should never be jealous of any man or group that might cast out more demons than they did. However, we need to wonder how God seems to work in other people who are not part of any particular group. Jesus’ response calls for openness and tolerance. Jesus also seems to say that one’s actions will determine who belongs/ does not belong to the kingdom. For Jesus uses all sort of people to bring about the seemingly impossible tasks of bringing God’s will to fulfillment. Let us realize that the power of God is not limited by our human imperfections.
