"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us“(Mk 9:38). "Does not follow us" seemed like such a strange expression that I went to my Greek New Testament to see what was going on.
The Greek verb involved is akolouthein, a verb that appears all the time in the gospels, and is usually translated “to follow.” Let me quote from "Vine's Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words" p.245:
"To be an akolouthos, "a follower" or "companion," from the prefix a- here expressing "union, likeness" and keleuthos, "a way," hence "one going in the same way", is used (a) frequently in the literal sense, e.g. Matt, 4:25; (b) metaphorically of "discipleship" e.g. Mk 8:34; 9:38; 10:21. It is used 77 times in the Gospels of following Christ, and only once otherwise."
When I went to a website that lists dozens of different Bible translations, I was disappointed to see that almost all Bibles translate the phrase in question with that strange "he does not follow us.” It seems to me, though, that the Greek phrase loses its punch when translated in that strange way. To be honest, even as a native speaker of English, I don’t know what that expression is supposed to mean. Were the apostles expecting to be followed?
I did find three translations, however, that seem to keep the flavor of the original Greek word (remember that the noun form hjas the feeling of "a companion on the way.". One is “he did not belong to our group.” A second is similar, “he was not of our group.” And for me the most forceful one is found in the lectionary that we used to use at mass: “he was not one of us.”
With “He was not one of us" we’re getting close to what I suggest is the real sense of this verse. We humans have this powerful need to “belong,“ and the apostles are no different in this regard: they see themselves as an “in group,” and everyone else is the “out-group.” Maybe I am over-reacting, but it looks to me as if the apostles, who had been sent out to announce the kingdom and to drive out the forces of evil, became more concerned about protecting the exclusivity of their in group than with driving out the powers of evil in the world. This man is performing exorcisms in the name of Jesus, but "he is not one of us!"
I think that our world today deserves to hear Jesus clearly inviting his disciples widen their mentality. It seems to me that Jesus is telling them: “Don't concentrate on who belongs to the in group, but rather on the the work of driving out the forces of evil and establishing the reign of God on earth.”
Meanwhile, we Christians have always been and still are preoccupied with keeping the integrity of our own in group versus the other denominations of Christians who are following Christ and who are working to establish the reign of God on earth.
We can only pray that someday the Kingdom will really break in on all of us in its full splendor, and Christ’s prayer at the last supper will at last be fulfilled: “that they may all be one.”
No comments:
Post a Comment