39. Forbid him not. Christ did not wish that he should be forbidden; not that he had given him authority,
or approved of what he did, or even wished his disciples to approve of it, but
because, when by any occurrence God is glorified, we ought to bear with it and
rejoice. Thus Paul, (Philip. 1:18,) though he disapproves of the dispositions
of those who used the Gospel as a pretence for aggrandizing themselves, yet
rejoices that by this occurrence the glory of Christ is advanced. We must
attend also to the reason which is added, that it is impossible for any man who works miracles in the name of Christ
to speak evil of Christ, and therefore this ought to be reckoned as gain;
for hence it follows, that if the disciples had not been more devoted to their
own glory than anxious and desirous to promote the glory of their Master, they
would not have been offended when they saw that glory heightened and enlarged
in another direction. And yet Christ declares that we ought to reckon as
friends those who are not open enemies.
40. For he who is not against us is for us. He does not enjoin us to
give a loose rein to rash men, and to be silent while they intermeddle with
this and the other matter, according to their own fancy, and disturb the whole
order of the Church: for such licentiousness, so far as our calling allows,
must be restrained. He only affirms that they act improperly, who unseasonably
prevent the kingdom of God from being advanced by any means whatever. And
yet he does not acknowledge as his disciples, or reckon as belonging to his
flock, those who hold an intermediate place between enemies and friends, but
means that, so far as they do no harm, they are useful and profitable: for it
is a proverbial saying, which reminds us that we ought not to raise a quarrel
till we are constrained. (John Calvin, Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
3 vols. [trans. William Pringle; Bellingham, Wash.: Logos Bible Software, 2010],
2:373, emphasis in bold added)
