“And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.”
Mark 9:38 — Greek Interlinear
Church Fathers on Mark 9:38
John, loving the Lord with eminent devotion, thought that He who performed an office to which He had no right was to be excluded from the benefit of it.
Or again, some unbelievers, seeing that the name of Jesus was full of virtue, themselves used it, and performed signs, though they were unworthy of Divine grace; for the Lord wished to extend His name even by the unworthy.
We must take care that this saying of the Lord appear not to be contrary to that where He says, 'He who is not with Me is against Me.' [Luke 11:23] Or will any one say that the difference lies in that here He says to His disciples, 'For he that is not against you is on your part,' but in the other He speaks of Himself, 'He who is not with Me is against Me?' As if indeed it were possible [ed. note: St. Augustine has here quasi vero, instead of quasi non, which hardly makes…