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Mark 3:20–30 (ESV)
20 Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.” 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house. 28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
In a church with multiple generations, one of the greatest challenges is communication. Every generation has its preferred method of communication, and each method has its own subtle nuances, which can make the message muddled and misunderstood as each person adds their own layer to the conversation.
Here in our passage, the word is getting out regarding what Jesus is doing, and naturally, people are sharing stories. These stories about Jesus are spreading everywhere, to the point that some scribes come from Jerusalem to offer their own explanations for the miraculous healings Jesus is performing.
For these religious leaders, there are only two options to explain what Jesus is doing.
The option that the scribes choose is that Jesus is in league with the devil. Their only other choice is that Jesus is the Son of God and acting in the power of the Spirit of the Lord. They reject this second option because it would mean that everything Jesus has been doing is God’s work and that this is how the kingdom of God is breaking into the world: through love, grace, healing, forgiveness, and mercy, not in the way they expected at all, and certainly not in conformity with their rules and regulations.
This is not what they were expecting, and because it is entirely contrary to how they operate, they choose option B, rejecting Jesus and all the good things He has been doing by saying that Jesus is in league with the devil.
Quick interesting side note here. The scribes' accusation is actually proof that all this is true. The early church would not have made up this confrontation and accusation if it didn’t really happen.
Jesus’ response to their accusation is really astounding. One of the things that catches my attention is verse 27 regarding the “strong man.” Jesus said that you can’t plunder the house unless you first tie up the strong man. This is all about what Jesus is doing with the miraculous healings. Jesus has already tied up and won the victory over the strong man who is the devil during His time in the wilderness being tempted by Satan (Mark 1.12-13) and now Jesus is plundering the devil’s possessions with every healing and every time He frees a person from the influence of an evil spirit.
Then Jesus gives this warning about blasphemy and the unforgivable sin. Blaspheming, by definition, is to speak irreverently about God or sacred things, and the warning Jesus gives us regarding blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is a little puzzling and even unsettling to us. Jesus says that all sins will be forgiven and whatever blasphemies they utter, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven—what does that mean?
Keep in mind that Jesus gives this warning when He is accused of being in league with the devil and casting out demons by the prince of demons. That context matters if we’re going to understand what Jesus is saying.
You see, what Jesus’ accusers were doing was calling the work of the Spirit, the work of the devil. They were in fact twisting the work of the Spirit, calling evil—good, and good—evil. The warning of unforgivable consequences is regarding associating Jesus with the devil and the denial of the good work of the Holy Spirit. It’s not just that one won’t be forgiven in that situation. The reality is that one can’t be forgiven because they’ve cut themselves off from the source of forgiveness, which is Jesus Himself. I love how N.T. Wright expressed this: “Once you declare that the only remaining bottle of water is poisoned, you condemn yourself to dying of thirst.” To use another image from Wright, “If you decide firmly that the doctor who is offering to perform a life-saving operation on you is in fact a sadistic murderer, you will never give your consent to the operation.”
That’s good stuff, and as I think about this passage, I’m coming back to the point of choice regarding Jesus. Looking at all that Jesus has done as we’ve read through Mark’s Gospel so far, we have two options before us; Jesus is either the Son of God (as God the Father and even the unclean spirits proclaim) and the kingdom of God’s love and grace is breaking into the world through Him and He is worthy of our whole lives, or Jesus is not. Which do you choose?
God bless you, and know that you are constantly in my prayers.
Scott
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