Luke 9:49,50 “Master,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.

Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

John’s father, Zebedee, became prosperous enough to hire laborers to assist him in his fisherman’s office (Mark 1:20), of which John was present alongside his associates and now disciples of Jesus, Peter, and Andrew (Luke 5: 8-10).

Intolerance is not a recent problem. The reaction of James and John demonstrates this. They did not admit to seeing another director of the works of the Kingdom without the proper authorization of the group. Intolerance is a problem that affects many relationships in the family and in other communities. Intolerance prevents unity. What Jesus wanted to teach the disciples was just that: it is possible to walk side by side without giving up our personal convictions and styles.

mico#10

The reaction of the priest Hananiah before the prophet Jeremiah showed what an intransigent and vain attitude can produce: – Why did the Spirit of God speak to you what he did not say to me? Jeremiah was imprisoned for being faithful to the word that God gave him, but he was freed. Hananiah was bound by the intolerable presumption that God would only recognize his position.

Groups of intolerant people form social cartels. The Holy Spirit is a specialist in breaking up cartels. Jesus warned that He would be like the wind. They did not have much data to predict its causes and consequences. The Holy Spirit convinces the sinner and sustains the believers in a powerful and unpredictable way.

The disciples knew the day-to-day life of the boats in the Sea of Galilee. The winds could suddenly turn into a storm. The wind brought the idea of power. They dealt with the random change of direction of the wind. The wind carried the idea of unpredictability. The Holy Spirit convinces the sinner and sustains the believers in a powerful and unpredictable way.

To try control the Holy Spirit is madness. It’s impossible. To say that He does not have to do certain things, which He has done in the past, is at least reckless. To say that the Spirit is going to do something without being sure what you are talking about is false prophecy. And there’s a caveat: the spirit of man may be talking a lot in the churches. For some preachers, thirsting for prestige, there is exaggerated tranquility when one speaks of the pulpit. A lot of security can lead the man to speak what he wants to talk about! It can get you to pay the mico (brazilian giria about action or failure to understand correctly) to control the Spirit.