Mark 9:40 — Community Reflections

MARK 9:40 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“For he that is not against us is on our part.”

For whoever is not against us is for us — the maxim is the complement to the divided-kingdom argument of chapter 3 (whoever is not with me is against me — said to those attributing Jesus' work to Satan). Here the context is different: the exorcist is doing the kingdom's work, not opposing it. The two maxims are not contradictory but context-dependent: in the context of active opposition to the kingdom, neutrality is impossible; in the context of effective kingdom ministry done outside the formal group, the kingdom's broad work is to be honored.

Church Fathers on Mark 9:40

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.
Bede · 8th century

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.
Theophylact · 11th century

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…
Augustine · 4th century · de Con. Evan., 4, 5

Read all 9 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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