Reproving Sinners as a Means of Grace.

Discourses 3 and 6 on the Sermon on the Mount list activities that Wesley considered works of mercy:

Giving alms, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, assisting the stranger, visiting those that are sick or in prison, comforting the afflicted, instructing the ignorant, reproving the wicked,  exhorting and encouraging the well-doer.

Unlike Discourse 6, doing good to others’ bodies and souls is not explicitly designated as a means of grace in Discourse 3, however the following statement does imply that when we engage in works of mercy, God’s grace is working through us—

This power [to do good to the soul], indeed, belongeth unto God. It is He only that changes the heart, without which every other change is lighter than vanity. Nevertheless, it pleases Him who worketh all in all, to help man chiefly by man; to convey his own power, and blessing, and love, through one man to another.

Wesley’s Notes for Ephesians 5:13 also implicitly identify reproving sin as a means of grace. Paul’s statement is intriguing—
τὰ δὲ πάντα ἐλεγχόμενα ὑπὸ τοῦ φωτὸς φανεροῦται,              
            all        exposed     by           light     is lit up  
πᾶν γὰρ τὸ φανερούμενον φῶς ἐστιν    
all            that lights up         light     is
 
(John 3: 20 and 21 contain similar themes of exposure by an illuminating light.  In the case of the gospel, Jesus is identified as the light that can expose the nature of human deeds.)

In Wesley’s opinion when Christians reprove sin, heavenly light is working through them.  This is not an explicit biblical precedent for Wesley’s claim that reproving sin is a means of grace, but it comes close.

Brother Lawrence and Wesley

ἐκβάλλω in Mark

Okay Greek scholars, I'm going to need your help with this one.  The verb ἐκβάλλω and its conjugations appears 18 times in the Gospel of Mark.  Most of the time ἐκβάλλω is used in reference to casting out demons (1:34, 39; 3: 15, 22, 23; 6:13; 7:26; 9:18, 28, 38; 16:9, 17).  The verb shows up once in the parable of the wicked tenants (the tenants kill the owner's son and cast his dead body out of the vineyard, 12:8).  Jesus casts out moneychangers (11:15), mocking mourners (5:40), and a healed leper (1:43).  Jesus tells his disciples to cast out their eye if it causes them to stumble (9:47).

However, the first time ἐκβάλλω is used the occasion is not a demon exorcism or a rebuking of sinful behavior.  Instead, immediately after his baptism the Spirit ἐκβάλλει Jesus into the wilderness.  Matthew and Luke use versions of the verb ἄγω, which means that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness, a much milder version of this episode.

At the beginning of chapter one, the Spirit treats the newly baptized Jesus the same way that Jesus treats the newly healed leper at the end of chapter one.

1: 12-- εὐθὺς τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτὸν ἐκβάλλει
1: 43-- εὐθὺς ἐξέβαλεν αὐτὸν

Jesus as the newly healed who can't be completely trust and so the Spirit cast Jesus out of his old life and into the wilderness for further purifying?  Is that what's going on here?  The newly healed leper is not trustworthy; he is cast out and then disobeys Jesus' warning.  Jesus is trustworthy; he is cast out and then resists temptation.  

Jesus knows what it feels like to have the Spirit turn on him.  I think that's the idea that's got me doubting my interpretation and its implications. 

Acts 19: 1-10; Ephesians 3:18