What Does This Mean?

[Pravoslavnik]

I would appreciate hearing a proper Orthodox interpretation of the following holy scripture from the Gospel of St. Luke from our members, please. I am posting this scripture on the "Traditional Orthodox Churches" board because this particular scripture seems possibly relevant to the current discussion about ecumenism, and Cyprianism-- e.g., which churches have grace and which have none.

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Frankly, I have pondered this puzzling scripture for the past twenty years of my life as an Orthodox Christian, but I have never found an Orthodox interpretation.  The man under discussion is apparently "outside" of Apostolic (i.e. Orthodox) circles, and yet the Lord says in this context, "Whoever is not against you is for you."  Is there any implication regarding the presence of divine grace within heterodox Christianity (and/or ecumenists) in the interpretations of the Holy Fathers?

 Does the Lord, Himself, condemn this apparently non-Apostolic believer?

Luke 9:49-50

49 "Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us."

50 "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."

[GOCPriestMark]

See pages 465-466

"By their fruits ye shall know them"; not by appearances, not by outward show, but by fruits.

Please note; The person mentioned in scripture is casting out demons in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he is not doing the salvific work of the Mysteries given to the Church; Holy Baptism, Chrismation, the Eucharist, etc. In the lives of the saints we also see that God works miracles through the saints and their relics even on those outside the Church; in His inscrutable wisdom He does this. He also sends the rain on the just and the unjust, but again, none of this is the salvific grace of the Mysteries given only to the Church.

[Ephrem]

In The Explanation of the New Testament by Blessed Theophylact of Ochrid, compiled by him in the 12th century from the works of the early church fathers (and especially St. John Chrysostom), this scripture is interpreted in the following way:

"... For the man (the one casting out demons) had not received together with them (the apostles) the gift of working miracles, nor had the Lord sent him out as He had the disciples, nor was he even a follower of Jesus. What then does the Lord say? ' Let him do what he is doing. He is also trampling down Satan, and since he does not hinder us from preaching, he is not working with the devil, and therefore he is on our side. Whoever is not against God is for God, just as whoever is not gathering with God is with the devil.' Marvel with me, O reader, at the power of the name of Christ. See how divine grace is at work even in those who are unworthy and not His disciples, when only Christ's name is spoken. Therefore, if a priest is unworthy, nevertheless God's grace is still active, sanctifying all, even though the priest is impure."

Blessed Theophylact also gives great importance to the scriptures directly preceding this one, where the disciples, upset because they could not heal the demon-possessed child Christ has just healed, "quarreled over the failure" and argued over which was the greatest. The Master teaches them, saying, "He that is least among you all, the same shall be great." John, therefore, became ashamed that they had told the man to stop driving out demons, realizing that he had placed himself above the man. Christ uses this man to shame the apostles, who had not yet learned that the greatest must be the least.

While this scripture is a good defense against Donatism, which claims that the moral worthiness of a priest determines his ability to perform the sacraments ("Therefore, if a priest is unworthy, nevertheless God's grace is still active..."), it doesn't account for grace in heretical churches. For they are not priests, nor bishops, but false priests and pseudo-bishops. They, unlike the man in the story, certainly do "hinder us from preaching" by their persecutions and deceit. They certainly do not "gather for God", either. The apostles called false teachers "antichrists".

[Pravoslavnik]

Ephrem,

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 Yet, would we not also say of those heterodox who proclaim Christ as the divine Son of God, and preach the canonical Gospels; [i]"those who are not against you are for you ?" [/i] The Lord said as much about this particular man, who was outside of the Apostolic community.

 This is one reason that I have always been uncomfortable with those in the Orthodox world who go around denouncing and judging various heterodox Christians.   Certainly, these heterodox do not know the full truth about the Church, but does that mean that we should condemn or denounce them as the Apostles did in the case of this man?

[Macrina]

I would appreciate hearing a proper Orthodox interpretation of the following holy scripture from the Gospel of St. Luke from our members, please. I am posting this scripture on the "Traditional Orthodox Churches" board because this particular scripture seems possibly relevant to the current discussion about ecumenism, and Cyprianism-- e.g., which churches have grace and which have none.

Code: Select all

Frankly, I have pondered this puzzling scripture for the past twenty years of my life as an Orthodox Christian, but I have never found an Orthodox interpretation.  The man under discussion is apparently "outside" of Apostolic (i.e. Orthodox) circles, and yet the Lord says in this context, "Whoever is not against you is for you."  Is there any implication regarding the presence of divine grace within heterodox Christianity (and/or ecumenists) in the interpretations of the Holy Fathers?

 Does the Lord, Himself, condemn this apparently non-Apostolic believer?

Luke 9:49-50

49 "Master," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us."

50 "Do not stop him," Jesus said, "for whoever is not against you is for you."

My 2 cents.
Those scriptures from Luke are an example of Jesus' tolerance and breadth of vision. As someone else has pointed out, the disciples had to learn a lesson of humility as they are not above the desire for worldly glory and power.
It is a temptation for us to want everyone to have a spiritual practice exactly like ours, to do things the way we do, and to be in our group.
How many schisms have occurred in church history because people missed Jesus' lesson here.

[Ephrem]

Ephrem,

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 Yet, would we not also say of those heterodox who proclaim Christ as the divine Son of God, and preach the canonical Gospels; [i]"those who are not against you are for you ?" [/i] The Lord said as much about this particular man, who was outside of the Apostolic community.

 This is one reason that I have always been uncomfortable with those in the Orthodox world who go around denouncing and judging various heterodox Christians.   Certainly, these heterodox do not know the full truth about the Church, but does that mean that we should condemn or denounce them as the Apostles did in the case of this man?[/quote]

Keep in mind that when Christ said this, a lot of things were still left unfinished. The difference is mostly this: at that point, the Jews were still the only Israel. The Church, the true Israel, still had not yet been formed on Earth. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and guided them into all truth. The Church, therefore, became Apostolic, meaning that the Church was those who accepted the teachings which had their origin in the Holy Spirit's revelation to the Apostles. My point in saying this is that the "apostolic community" you speak of isn't comparable to the Apostolic "community" of the Church.

Furthermore, after the descent of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles condemned their fair share of false teachers. Most of the New Testament epistles are at least partly concerned with denouncing "antichrists". The Apostles urge us to protect ourselves from false teachers, "lest we lose our reward." Clearly, if the Apostles took Christ's saying to mean that they can't denounce false teachers, they would not have done so later.

[Pravoslavnik]

Good answer, Ephrem. After the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the Apostolic community, the Church, was guided in the way of all truth in a manner that did not fully exist within the community previously. The proper implications of this scripture must, then, be understood in that historical context.