2/16/2026 – My thoughts on Luke 9:49-50
I apologize for skipping a week with my posts, whereas I could not make a decision on what to focus on-I’m just in the middle of a lot of things in my different bible studies and nothing was really jumping out at me. Then, after church yesterday, I had more than enough to go on from my Sunday school lesson and the preacher’s sermon. I finally decided to focus on the last two verses mentioned at the end of the sermon –
“And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
And Jesus said unto him, forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.” Luke 9:49-50 KJV
So, this part kind of caught me off guard. From what I’ve read, seen, and heard of John and the other disciples so far, they were very welcoming of other’s faith and need to get close to Jesus – so why are they telling this person to go away? To “forbade him, because he followeth not with us”. Have you ever witnessed someone not wanting someone else to do the same thing as they are because they aren’t in the same social class as them? Or they feel like they started it, and this other person isn’t allowed to do it because it didn’t start with them? Even in churches, one church group starts something positive that is very successful at bringing others to discovering the glory of God, and when another church group does something like the first, instead of uplifting and empowering the others on their similar spiritual journey-the first group gets offended and are unsupportive. I haven’t seen this personally, but I have heard of it happening in other places. Shouldn’t the first be honored that they were able to help someone else reach the same accomplishment – bringing others to God? Because, I promise, that’s what He wants-for all of us down here to lead people up there!
In these verses, we find a profound lesson on humility and inclusivity within the kingdom of God. The disciples, in their human nature, are feeling exclusive and don’t want to let in outsiders-which is why their immediate reaction is to stop him. BUT, they are quickly redirected by Jesus who emphasizes that ALL those who act in Jesus’ name are allies in the faith, challenging the disciples to broaden their perspective and recognize that unity in purpose is more significant than exclusivity in association (https://godsbless.ing/commenary/luke/luke_9_49-50
).
This commentary website does on to say how this message of inclusivity resonates strongly in today’s fragmented world, where divisions often overshadow the common ground shared by believers-drawing parallels with other biblical passages; Mark 9:38-40, 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, and Romans 14:4. These passages reflect the importance of cooperation, acceptance, and mutual respect among believers, regardless of individual differences in practice or tradition. This is so important to remember in today’s world! We must remember, we ALL serve Christ and we must unite in that! That’s why it makes me happy to see many churches becoming non-denominational. We shouldn’t be tied down by boundaries and judgement of someone who worships different than we do, we need to seek out allies in faith and use our different ways in which we contribute to the work of Christ to learn from each other and focus on our shared goal of advancing the Kingdom of God!