“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” ~Luke 11:23
There is a seeming contradiction in the Book of Luke which has bothered me for some time. I finally researched the verses in the Greek and got to the bottom of the problem, which can simply be attributed to a fallacious translation, as unfortunately happens in the extensive text of the Christian Bible.
In Chapter 9 Jesus states, “If they are not against us, they are for us.” But then in Chapter 11 follows up with, “If you are not for us, you are against us.”
It cannot be both ways. Those statements are mutually exclusive. If one exists, the other cannot exist. They both cannot be true.
The mystery lies in one simple but profound word translated as ‘for’ in the latter part of verse 49 of Chapter 9, usually translated as: “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us.” However that word in the Greek means much more than ‘for’, it is the word ‘huper’ which means ‘over’ or ‘superior to’. But what can Jesus mean by that? If we substitute in that meaning we get: “Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is over us?”
Yet let us back up and look at the context in which Jesus is speaking to His disciples in Chapter 9. John had told Jesus they saw (the Greek word for ‘to see’ here also means ‘to know’) someone casting out demons in Jesus’ name, and they prevented him because he was not someone they knew. Jesus countered John by answering that if someone is casting out demons in His name, and he is not against Jesus (an antichrist spirit or agent), he must be doing this deed by a superior authority, and is actually over His disciples.
Wow. That suggests that other entities were at work whom the disciples did not know. This word ‘huper’ is also used in Romans Chapter 13 when it states all men are subject to the highest authority superior to all; and that rulers, while over men, are also under this highest authority, which is superior to them. In all translations ‘huper’ is simply translated as ‘for’ or ‘over’, without its divine meaning carried forth.
So for practical purposes, if man is lackadaisical and lives in a way that is not against Jesus Christ, but is merely apathetic or agnostic, if you will, it does not mean that he is FOR Jesus. The context of this statement is when good works are done by those professing Jesus’ name but whom we may not know or recognize as brethren. Jesus tells us to allow this to happen, because if miracles are worked in His name, and they are not worked by those against Him by false prophets or an the antichrist (i.e. by magic or subterfuge as with the Egyptian magicians), they are being done by a Higher Authority, someone infused with the Holy Spirit, or an angel.
Jesus goes on to state very clearly later in Luke’s gospel that,
“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters.” ~Luke 11:23
This is what we need to remember: To be lukewarm about Jesus means to be against Him and to prohibit God’s Kingdom. Doing nothing to promote the name of Jesus by those who know His name, means to be against Jesus.
We need to be proactively FOR Jesus Christ. Anything less than this means we are against Him, and therefore God Almighty.
~Song of Mary~ 