How Should Catholics Understand the Rogue Exorcist in Mark 9?

[Michie]

In Mark 9, we hear about a man unaffiliated with the disciples who casts out demons in Jesus’s name:

John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is for us. For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward.” (Mark 9:38-40)

This same episode is also recorded in Luke 9:49-50, while St. Matthew’s Gospel includes a variation on the warning Jesus delivers to His disciples: “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters” (Matt 12:30).

For Catholic readers of the Gospels, the exorcist passage raises some interesting questions. Is Jesus saying that obedience to the apostles and their successors is unimportant? Is He implying that all branches of Christianity are equally valid? And if not, then what exactly is He trying to teach us in this passage?



The Necessity of Following Jesus

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How Should Catholics Understand the Rogue Exorcist in Mark 9? - St. Paul Center

In Mark 9, we hear about a man unaffiliated with the disciples who casts out demons in Jesus’s name: John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty...

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