The Unforgivable Sin

(by Dave, 10-15min)

Scripture

Mark 3:20-30

Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”

Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”

“Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.

Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

The family of Jesus

Don’t you wonder why Jesus and his disciples were not able to eat? Was the crowd so zealous they couldn’t be persuaded out for even a short time? If that’s the reason, why would the family of Jesus believe he could escape just because they sent someone in to get him? It seems the crowd is not the problem. Jesus is the problem. He is caught up in some religious fervor to the point of neglecting his own bodily care and the crowd is just enabling him.

The family is blind to what’s happening. Jesus is not crazy or overcome with zealotry. On the contrary, he is filled with the Holy Spirit and doing God’s work which is why the crowd wants to be with him. Curiously, Jesus does not rebuke his family for calling him outside. He does not resent their lack of understanding nor condemn them for thinking he is out of his mind. Instead, he uses their presence to redefine the meaning of family now that he, the Spirit of God in human form, has intruded into our world.

Into the middle of this story Mark inserts the interaction between Jesus and the scribes. The Lord’s response to them is very different than that to his family. By placing these two stories together, Mark contrasts blindness to God’s presence with profane resistance to Him.

The scribes

The scribes also think Jesus is out of his mind. Rather than crazy they believe he is possessed by Beelzebul, a demon prince. The Lord observes the illogic of the scribal claim, but this observation is followed with a far more provocative notion.

The parable Jesus is telling is about himself. The only way he could enter Satan’s house and reign over his demons is if Jesus was able to prevent Satan’s response. The message is clear. Demons are being cast out by Jesus because he has bound their master. He can bind their master because the Spirit of God is with him and all creation including Satan is subject to that Spirit.

Jesus then warns the scribes that there is one sin for which forgiveness is not available: blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. No similar warning was given to the spiritually blind family of Jesus.

People and God respond

These stories illustrate two responses to an encounter with the Spirit of God. The first is the crowd. They perceive the Spirit in Jesus, decide to follow, and so are named members of the family of God. Jesus’ blood family and the scribes do not perceive the Spirit and so must consider another source for the Lord’s behavior. The question the Scripture then answers is how does God respond when someone fails to recognize His presence in the world?

On the one hand, Jesus ignores his related family and leaves their conclusions about him unaddressed. Instead, he invites anyone to perceive the Spirit of God within him and to follow. This response is rather gentle and inviting for there is nothing stopping Jesus’ family from joining the crowd and God’s family.

The Lord’s response to the scribes is terrifyingly different. They also fail to perceive the Spirit of God in Jesus. Like the family, they offer an alternative explanation. The spirit within Jesus is the opposite of holy; an evil demon rather than God. Because it is, they will stand in direct opposition to it.

Rather than ignoring this interpretation as he did with his family, Jesus identifies it as the consummate blasphemy. A blasphemy so dire the scribes risk un-redeemable, eternal damnation for it.

Hope and warning

Hope

I am guessing you haven’t called the Spirit of God Beelzebul. Of what relevance, then, is today’s Scripture verse to us? At least two lessons emerge. The peril Jesus depicts is not directed at those who are blind like his mother and brothers. Indeed, the once blind crowd listens to what he is saying and believes. Because they do, he considers them his mother and brothers.

This is comforting when I think about those I love. My father lived a good, honorable life, but was blind to who Jesus really is and rejected him. I have a few friends like this as well. One from my days at the University was as sweet and honorable a person as you can imagine.

My hope is that sometime during his final weeks Dad privately accepted and embraced the truth. I have the same hope, albeit earlier in life, for my unbelieving friend(s). Like the crowd, anyone who does this can join the family of God.

Blessedly, there is no equivocation in this from Jesus. In the preamble to his scribal warning he says: “people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,…“ . This comforting hope before the warning was true for the family of Jesus, and I believe for my father and others I know like him. In short, there is always hope to be found in Christ for the spiritually blind.

Warning

The second lesson is relevant to why my father had a lifetime of disbelief. As a young man, Dad noticed that Christians were horrible hypocrites. They would go to confession, leave and resume the behavior they just confessed. They would leave a worship experience on Sunday and curse a person in the church parking lot who inadvertently cut them off. To Dad these people were hypocrites, but more importantly, it showed him the faith they professed was an empty one. Therefore, he rejected Christianity.

The Christians in my father’s life danced perilously close to the warning Jesus gave the scribes. Over the course of my lifetime so have I. Raised as a Christian, I denied the calling of the Spirit and was an atheist for many years. The arguments I had with Christians during that time attempted to undo their faith. I was actively thwarting the Spirit of God in the life of believers and at least once it did serious damage to a person’s faith. If the hypocrite Christians my father saw were close to the unforgivable sin, I was closer and now feel it’s chill.

Actions that lead another to doubt, that raise suspicion in a human heart about the Spirit of God within us, step into the shadow of the unforgivable sin and that should chill us. We are to be the light of the world, and if our behavior leads someone to darkness, we are treading on very dangerous ground indeed.

Now we may say to ourselves, yes but no action of mine profaned the name or thwarted the will of God by calling the Holy Spirit evil. True, but do you want to be anywhere near the one thing the King of mercy declares is unforgivable?

Today’s Scripture is more than just a story of Jesus dealing with the hypocritical religious leaders of his time. Amidst all the mercy found in the New Testament, this Scripture is a stern, uncompromising warning. The faithful are to be about the business of listening to the Spirit and carrying out the will of God in every aspect of their lives.

We should not behave in ways that cause someone to legitimately conclude “those Christians are such hypocrites.” To do so impedes the Spirit’s work in another, and impeding that work walks toward rather than away from the unforgivable sin. Perhaps we should strive to live exactly as Paul recommends in Romans: “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good“. Then we will give a wide berth to the sin even Jesus cannot help us overcome.

I hope you feel the Spirit of God strong within today and the comforting warmth that comes from being in the will of God. Thanks for reading,

Dave