Mark 9:40 …For & Against (12/19/16)
“Whoever is not against us is for Us.” ~ Jesus (Mark 9:40)
This verse reflects a most intriguing biblical conundrum, for while Jesus here claims that everyone who is not directly opposing him is his ally, Matthew 12:30 flips this saying on its head and has Jesus claiming that everyone who is not actively supporting him is his enemy …
While this seeming contradiction could be written off as simple author-error (the author of Matthew wrote his gospel many years after the Gospel of Mark, used that original Gospel as his primary inspiration, and often altered its contents to suit his own aims), it is also possible that Jesus was using these two very different sayings to communicate two very different Truths to two very different audiences about two very different subjects … Please consider the following facts:
*In Mark 9 Jesus is speaking to his disciples about a man who is “inappropriately” using Jesus’ name while intending to do great good for others – fulfilling the essence of Jesus’ Way of Love and thus meriting support instead of condemnation.
*In Matthew 12, on the other hand, Jesus is speaking to the Pharisees (his religious enemies) either literally of internal demons or figuratively of the internal ego – both of which must indeed be cast aside for any True Self to shine forth and walk the selfless Way of Love. All three of these forces (i.e. religious zealots, tempting demons, & the self-fixated ego) are indeed always against the blossoming of Self – and thus are ever & always “against us” us well (see Matthew 12:22-32).
And this analysis might very well explain why the author of the Gospel of Luke included both of these sayings in his tome (see Luke 9:50 & Luke 11:23), something he would not have done had they in any way actually contradicted one another.
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