My Favorite Verses - Vol IV (Nov 16 to Feb 17)

Mark 9:40 … For & Against
(12/19/2016)
“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 … And 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:
*First, 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, and …
*Second, in Matthew 12 -- conversely, 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).
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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