Nm 11:25-29; Ps 19; Jas 5:1-6; Mk 9:38-43,45,47-48

COMMENTARY

Three Key Principles in God’s Mission

The Gospel reading for today presents us with three teachings of Jesus on His journey to Jerusalem, the goal and culmination of His mission. These teachings were previously revealed to the disciples on two occasions. They constitute three key principles that Jesus left to all His followers, who are called to walk the same missionary path with their Master. These principles are inclusiveness, reward, and utmost attention to scandals.

1. The Principle of Missionary Inclusiveness

The account begins with a curious situation presented by John, one of Jesus’ close disciples: “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” It is evident that the disciples felt entitled to defend their prerogative to perform exorcisms in the name of Jesus, a right that they believed was bestowed upon them by Jesus himself in the course of carrying out their mission. From the words of the apostle, we can surmise that, even before presenting the problem to Jesus, the disciples may have attempted to prevent the person who was outside their group from performing exorcisms, but that person may have chosen to ignore them. For this reason, they may have felt compelled to report the situation to Jesus, in the hope that he would be able to provide a stronger and more decisive intervention.

However, Jesus’ response takes an unexpected turn, one that leaves both those present at the time and, arguably, a number of His contemporary followers perplexed: “Do not prevent him.” Why? “There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.” And He formulated the principle of inclusivity for the mission: “Whoever is not against us is for us.”

This teaching presents a comprehensive vision of magnanimity and universality in mission. This concept is based on God’s dream that all His children “prophesy,” that is, that all receive the Spirit of God and then speak and work in His name. This is the fundamental aspiration that was explicitly articulated by Moses during the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land (as depicted in the first reading). All are invited to participate in God’s mission for the salvation of all, each according to his or her abilities, which are often given to us poor human beings in a divine and therefore mysterious way. Therefore, these authoritative words of Jesus, the Messiah of God, “Do not prevent him,” must be the divine light for His disciples in every age in carrying out the divine mission, so that they do not easily fall into an exclusive view of “us and the rest of the world”. It is imperative that they conduct themselves with divine magnanimity, operating under the assumption that all individuals who do not oppose them can be incorporated into the salvific plan of Christ, His Son, which God continuously executes for humanity in collaboration with Christ’s missionary disciples and through all benevolent individuals whom He loves.

2. The Missionary Reward

In light of the universal divine mission, Jesus continues his teaching by gently reiterating that anyone who support his disciples will be assured of a reward: “Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.” By offering divine assurance of reward for even the smallest act of kindness, such as providing a glass of water, Jesus extends an invitation to all to continue performing such acts of generosity and goodwill towards His disciples, who are sent to be His witnesses wherever they may be. Thus, even in our day, we hope that the ranks of “benefactors” of Christ’s missionaries around the world will continue to grow. In this context, the Pontifical Mission Societies will continue to work hard to raise funds to support missionaries, not only from the Christian faithful, but also from all people who, although they are not believers, feel inspired to offer their help, whether small or large.

On the other hand, the image of Christ’s missionary who, in Christ’s words, needed even a glass of water from people of good will, must make us reflect on what is the true way to witness to Christ among people. Perhaps it would be helpful to remember that Christ’s disciples were not sent with money (lots of it) in their pockets to use for themselves and/or to distribute to all the needy wherever they went. No! They were poor in material wealth, but rich in the knowledge of Jesus and the grace of the Gospel. They fulfilled the mission of evangelization without great financial resources, but with the generosity of a heart full of God and Christ.

(Today, perhaps, we are more accustomed to carrying out the mission of evangelization by relying on our economic security, rather than opening ourselves to the various aids that God sends to His missionaries through local people of good will).

3. Beware of scandals

In continuing the teaching from a mission perspective, Jesus concludes with a series of particularly stern words about scandals. These words thus serve as an admonition to all disciples to avoid becoming a source of scandal, that is, a reason for others to stumble, particularly, for the “little,” that is, the weak, believers in Christ. At the same time, they should strive, without compromise, to avoid every source of scandal on their own journey toward the Kingdom of God. The hyperbolic language employed by Jesus, like any good Jewish teacher, serves to underscore the gravity of the situation. Consequently, Jesus’ invitation is not to amputate a hand or foot or to pluck out an eye, but rather to resolutely and radically avoid even the slightest obstacle or deviation in the path of faith.

Such an uncompromising stance is applicable to each and every believer and disciple of Christ. It is not solely for their own salvation, but also and most importantly, for the benefit of all others. We are all connected spiritually and engaged in the same mission of bearing witness to the world of the new life in the Spirit. In this way, we extend an invitation to all to enter the Kingdom of God.

In light of Pope Francis’ vision, which reflects God’s dream for all his people, we might consider how we can participate in God’s mission. In doing so, we can keep in mind the teaching of Christ that we have reflected on today: