Chapter 9 begins with the story of Jesus being transformed (transfigured in other versions.) This telling of the story is very close to the version in the gospel of Matthew. An interesting difference is who gets top billing, in Matthew's gospel Moses is named before Elijah whereas here they are reversed in verse 4. In the healing story of the demon-possessed boy there are some memorable lines shared by Jesus and the boy's father in verses 23 and 24. We read Jesus say, "All things are possible for the one who has faith." At that the boy's father cried out, "I have faith; help my lack of faith."
In the little story in verses 38-41 the disciple John points out to Jesus that there was a man casting out demons in Jesus' name. Jesus affirms the man by saying, "Whoever isn't against us is for us." This affirms any in the middle are counted in the positive side of this equation. But this differs totally of the perspective in Matthew 12:30 where Jesus says, "Whoever isn't with me is against me." Which way do you believe it is? I lean towards the former.
No comments:
Post a Comment