Mark 3 - What is "Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and Why Is It Unforgiveable?"

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Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

Once again Jesus is healing on the Sabbath. Since was the Sabbath was an area that was overseen strictly by the Pharisees, they got very nervous about Jesus' intrusion into this arena. Yesterday Jesus' disciples were eating in the grainfields on the Sabbath and they rebuked him. He concluded, 

“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

On this Sabbath a man with a "withered hand" was in attendance at the synagogue. Most people assume this was a paralyzed hand, or what we might call "neuropathy". Whatever the case it was pretty serious because everyone knew about it. Jesus didn't intend do heal him privately so he says, 

"Stand up in front of everyone.”

Obviously Jesus meant it to be a "teachable moment" for all. And he asked them, 

“Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.

He was challenging their assumption about the purpose of the Sabbath. It had become so legalistic, they could not even answer this simple question. Or, they were afraid of backlash from the Pharisees if they were they to have their own opinion on the matter. 

Their indifference made Jesus very angry citing their "indifference and stubborn hearts". So one has to ask if the Pharisees had rubbed off of them in this matter? Or, perhaps this was his anger at the Pharisees that they had shepherded their flock so poorly. 

Whatever the case, the man's hand was completely restored "as he stretched it out".  Jesus didn't need to touch his hand or say anything. The man merely needed to stretch out his hand (another theory is that the withered hand meant one hand was shorter than the other, which this would lend itself to). The Pharisees were so furious Jesus was doing this on their turf, they went out to the Herodians to plot how to kill Jesus. 

“The Herodians were not a religious party; they were a group of Jews who were sympathetic to King Herod and supported his rule.” (Wiersbe)

In this, Jesus commanded the man with the withered hand to do something impossible – to move his paralyzed hand. But as the man put forth effort, God did the rest. God never commands us without enabling us. (Guzik)

Crowds Follow Jesus

As Jesus withdrew from there and headed to the Sea of Galilee, a large crowd from various places all around followed he and his disciples there. The people who came from Jerusalem traveled about 70 miles, which was usually a 2 and 1/2 day walk. Tyre and Sidon were 35 and 50 miles away respectively. 

The crowds came to Jesus near the Sea of Galilee from distant places. Yet it seems that this crowd was attracted to Jesus more because of His miraculous works than because of His message (when they heard how many things He was doing). Guzik

The people surrounded him and he was healing everyone, so he had the disciples push him out into the water in a boat. The people who wanted healing from diseases were all wanting an audience with him. I mean think about it, if you were suffering from an incurable disease and heard the news about Jesus, you would probably have walked 70 miles too. 

How far are you willing to go to seek Jesus?

While it will take quite a bit of time for the religious leaders and Jewish people to know who he is, the evil spirits knew right away.  

"You are the Son of God.” But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.

You will see Jesus say this quite a bit . In one sense he wants people to know who he is as the Son of God, but he also realizes the faster the news spreads, the less time he will have to reach the people. 

Jesus Appoints the Twelve

Jesus had another purpose in getting away from the crowds. He chose this time to "call" his first 12 disciples. Mark says, "He appointed twelve". I suppose there are similarities in the two words, but the significance of the word "appointed" becomes more clear when we see what Jesus appointed them to do. 

"He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons."

Notice a couple of things. One, they were sent out to "preach!" What were they to preach or announce. The same thing Jesus did, "Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand!" They were also "sent out". They weren't supposed to sit around and wait for people to come to them. It also says they were to "be with him". Jesus didn't send them out on their own. He was going to continue to do ministry with them gradually giving them more opportunities to do the things he was doing..

This is always the model for ministry in the New Testament. Disciples who make disciples who make disciples who make disciples. The organizational design in the New Testament is always very "flat". There is no hierarchy. Everybody has the same authority to do the things Jesus did.  

Finally, remember we said that Mark's gospel is the "power gospel". The other thing Jesus appoints them to do was to drive out demons, which he gave them the power and authority to do. Jesus had already shown his authority in this area, and now he was giving it to them. Jesus never appoints us to do something he won't empower us for. 

"When someone has been with Jesus, and is sent out to serve Him, they can expect that Jesus will give them the power to serve Him, including the power to see miraculous works (heal sicknesses and to cast out demons) done in their midst." Guzik

“The business of a minister of Christ is, 1st. To preach the Gospel. 2nd. To be the physician of souls. And 3rd. To wage war with the devil, and destroy his kingdom.” (Clarke)

Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law

We have seen Jesus opposed by the Pharisees (who are also called Teachers of the Law or Rabbis) but even his family gets in on it when they hear he had gone to a neighbor's house instead of coming home for dinner. Family could also refer to his "family and friends". In Jesus' day family and friends were more interchangeable than today, because they lived so close to each other, often under the same roof. 

Specifically they claimed that Jesus was, "out of his mind!". It was time for an intervention. 

Undoubtedly, it was far more painful and challenging for Jesus to deal with the way His own people rejected Him. It isn’t easy to be profoundly misunderstood as you try to walk with God. “When the Lord said ‘a man’s enemies will be those in his own home’ (see Matthew 10:36), He may well have been speaking from bitter experience.” (Cole)

Then, the teachers of the law, who had also traveled 70 miles to see Jesus (they came down from Jerusalem) made an absurd claim.

"He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”

Jesus breaks down their argument simply by saying, "Why would Satan try to drive out Satan." It would be like Jesus' disciples killing each other. 

Jesus tells a parable to explain why they are not making any sense. 

Jesus showed that if He were an agent of Satan and was working against Satan, then surely Satan’s kingdom was in a civil war and would not stand. Jesus said this to show that Satan would not work against himself.

With this Jesus answered the charge that He was in league with the Devil. He said, “I’m not under Satan. Instead, I am proving that I am stronger than he is.”

Finally, Jesus makes a statement that has been widely discussed as to its meaning and application. He says, 

"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.”

So let's tackle this. We need to start with what we know to be true. First, Jesus died for all sin so there is no "unforgiveable" sin. If there was a sin that wasn't covered by the shedding of Jesus' innocent blood then it was not an all sufficient sacrifice, which we know it to be. 

But, in particular Jesus accuses them of "blaspheming against the Holy Spirit".

Here is a good definition of this, 

"Blasphemy against the Spirit—the unforgivable sin—is ongoing hardening of your heart against the Holy Spirit who is trying to lead you to repent of sin and believe in Christ." biola.edu 

So in what sense is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit an "unforgiveable sin"? If we don't come to faith in Jesus, we are still dead in our sins. The only way we can come to faith in Jesus is if the Holy Spirit leads us to saving faith in Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. Therefore, if we deny the work of the Holy Spirit, we are unable to come to faith and in that sense our sins are unforgiveable. Why? Because they deny the very means of forgiveness, Jesus' work on the cross. 

Finally, Jesus defines true family. Here is the situation, 

 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.”

Jesus is not demeaning his family of origin. He will honor and respect them all of the days of his life. What he is describing is what do relationships look like in the kingdom of God. Specifically what does our "spiritual family" look like. When someone is born again, we become children of God and inheritors of eternal life. John 1:12-13

Therefore, all believers are children of God and are part of a bigger family which we call the body of Christ. Or, the church.  Our family of origin will always hold a special place in our hearts. What makes it even more special is if the members of our family of origin also become members of the kingdom of God. This is a double blessing. 

This is one of my favorite parts of being a Christian. If you are reading this and you believe in Jesus, you are my brother or sister in Christ. This is why when you meet a fellow believer for the first time, it is as if you have known them for a long time. When we get to heaven there will be the biggest family reunion of all time! 

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Nabe 

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