Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
In last Sunday’s Gospel pericope, Jesus admonished his disciples for arguing about who was the greatest among them. The Lord seized that opportunity to teach: “If you want the place of honour and to be the greatest, you must put yourselves at the service of others … When you welcome even a child because of me, you welcome me. Moreover, when you welcome me, you welcome the one who sent me.”
In today’s Gospel episode, John, Jesus’ disciple, informs Jesus about a man who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name. It is possible that John’s question was propelled by envy. In one of the Markan episodes, Jesus performed a healing miracle on a young man whom the disciples could not heal. In this context, John’s question further highlights the disciples’ poor understanding of Jesus’ teachings. It is manifest from this Sunday’s Gospel that they still tend to compare themselves to others who possess healing powers; they clearly do not want to share the Lord’s healing powers with others.
In those days, demonic possessions were associated with some form of mental illness. Exorcism was a widespread practice in first-century Palestine. Hence, what transpires in today’s is not unheard of: the fact that other disciples, who were not part of Jesus’ circle, performed exorcisms—they could drive out demons. Interestingly, one of the ways was to call upon the name of a person or character believed to have healing powers.
The disciples’ gripe and indignation arose from the fact that the unknown exorcist called on the name of Jesus to cast out demons and did so successfully. This unknown exorcist believed in the power of Jesus’ name even though he did not belong to Jesus’ circle, in that he was not a disciple of Jesus. Jesus, in dealing with this matter, makes it clear to his disciples that he recognises the immense faith displayed by this unknown exorcist. He further emphasises the importance of the disciples recognising and embracing those who profess in him, making them feel included and valued.
Notably, the Gospel ends with Jesus’ plea not to create hurdles for and discourage beginners in the faith or those whose faith is fledging but to inspire them and nurture even the grain of faith observed in them. This call to action should motivate and encourage us to play a role in nurturing and inspiring those with fledgling faith. “Whoever is not against us is for us.”