Salted with Fire
TRANSLATION
(38) John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he was not one of us.” (39) But Jesus said, “Do not try to stop him, for no one who does a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say anything bad about me. (40) For the one who is not against us is for us. (41) For truly I tell you whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will not lose their reward.
(41) “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and be thrown into the sea. (43) And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter life maimed than to go to hell, into unquenchable fire, with two hands. (45) And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It would be better for you to enter life crippled than be thrown into hell with two feet. (47) And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It would be better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to be thrown with two eyes into hell (48) where the worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. (49) For everyone will be salted with fire. (50) Salt is good. However, if salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
OBSERVATIONS
This segment began with Jesus answering John’s question regarding someone other than the disciples driving out demons in Jesus’ name. It continued with some very sobering admonitions. Several repetitions help us discern its message. We find “in your/my name” twice (vss. 38 & 39) as well as the verb, “stop,” twice in the same verses. In Jesus’ warnings to the rest of the disciples, we find the phrase, “causes to sin” four times (vss. 42, 43, 45, & 47). In each case, Jesus used the accompanying phrase, “It would be better.” Twice we find the command, “cut it off.” In the final two verses we find a form of “salt” repeated six times (vss. 49 & 50). Note that verses 44 & 46 which are simply repetitions of verse 48 do not appear in the older, more authoritative manuscripts.
OUTLINE
I. We should not be concerned about “rivalries” among those who minister in Jesus’ name. (39-41)
II. We should always be concerned about the impact our lives have on others. (42)
III. We should likewise be concerned about what causes us to sin. (43-48)
IV. Our lives should act like salt restraining corruption in the world around us. (49-50)
IDEA STATEMENT
Rather than being concerned with what others in ministry are doing, we should focus first on the impact our lives are having on those around us and then on what causes us to sin.
APPLICATION
This is the only time in the Synoptic Gospels where John, the “beloved disciple,” acted as a spokesman for the other disciples. The concern he expressed regarding others casting out demons in Jesus’ name reflected a spirit of competition or rivalry among the disciples which Jesus quickly corrected. Instead of focusing on what others were doing, his disciples were to concern themselves with their own behavior. Using exaggerated language, Jesus repeatedly warned his followers about anything that would lead them into rebellion or cause others to stumble. He was not calling for a literal disfigurement of the body, that is, cutting off hands or feet or plucking out eyes, but rather taking whatever steps might be necessary to avoid sinful behavior.
Jesus’ statement “For everyone will be salted with fire,” needs further explanation. In Leviticus we read the command, “Add salt to all your (grain) offerings” (Lev. 2:13). Just as salt was added to all grain offerings, so “fire,” that is, trials and testing, will inevitably be added to our lives as we pursue our ministries. In Job we read, “For affliction does not come from the dust, nor does trouble sprout from the ground, but man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:6 & 7). The issue is not avoiding the inevitable obstacles and problems that life brings our way but rather responding to such difficulties in ways that honor God and enhance our growth in godliness.