The Other Disciple

The apostles saw a man removing a demon. Since the man wasn’t an apostle, they thought this was out of line. When they reported the encounter to Jesus, He told them not to interfere with anyone like that. Just because the man wasn’t an apostle didn’t mean he was not authorized for demon removal.

At first glance this might appear to be a case of a religious free agent who was kind of venturing out on his own in his own way. This in turn might suggest to some that when it comes to doctrine today, as long as a teacher is giving Jesus the credit, then that approach is “good enough.”

However, Jesus was adamant about the danger of false teachers. He referred to them as “ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15), so it seems unlikely He would be okay with someone promoting the gist of the truth. Therefore, this is not a platform for tolerance of religious teaching as long as it includes the name of Jesus.

It’s important to remember that at one point, Jesus sent out 72 disciples, giving them authority to do miracles. This authority included the ability to remove demons (Luke 10:17). The only way this man the apostles encountered would have been able to do what he did was if he had been recruited by Jesus beforehand. He was not a free agent. He was a disciple. He just wasn’t an apostle.

The apostles were already having greater-than-thou issues. It’s no wonder this same immaturity drove them to call this “lesser” man out. Once again, Jesus had to call them out on their apostolic arrogance.

As far as teaching the truth, the other man was good to go, but only because he was sent by Jesus too.

- Bret