An Unforgivable Sin (Mark 3:22-30)

Mark 3:22-30   22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons."  23 And Jesus called them to him, and spoke 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 his end has come.  27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.  28 "Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter;  29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"--  30 for they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." 

It happens all the time.  People don't like their opposition, so they make up lies about them.  The religious people of the day were losing their power because of Jesus' popularity.  Jesus wasn't promoting the law or respect for the law followers or their leaders.  He wasn't checking in with the heads of "denominations" to make sure he was good to go with his teachings and miracles.  Jesus was completely out of line.  So reason has it that he must be part of the powers of evil.  And starting a rumor like this would put some fear into those who might follow him.

So not only do the religious leaders reject Jesus, but they ascribe his acts of love and kindness to be evil.   And they encourage others to reject him too.  Does this mean that anyone who does such a thing becomes unforgivable?  I don't think so...  I think of the apostle Paul who did this sort of thing before his conversion.  He was obviously forgiven.  But it should cause us to pause whenever we judge a person's actions or motives to be evil.  What if they are actually following Jesus and we are mistaken?  Do we realize the seriousness of our judgement and what it says about us?

So what then is this unforgivable sin?  I think Paul touches on it well in Galatians.  He says there that all of Jesus' followers are marked by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit enters them and they are set aside to do God's work.  The Holy Spirit enables believers to be in a relationship with God - and this defines eternal life.  It starts here and now - not when we die.  Those who ascribe the work of the Holy Spirit as being evil have not entered into relationship with God - they have not allowed the Holy Spirit to enter their lives and mark them for God's service.  And hence they have not entered into eternal life.  This is the unforgivable sin - one that causes humanity to remain in eternal death rather than accepting the life that Jesus offers.

Jesus' purpose in coming to earth was to forgive us (through his death and resurrection) cleansing us so that the Holy Spirit could inhabit us - permanently mark us - set us aside for God's holy use.  The Holy Spirit only binds with those who are forgiven.  Hence those who reject the Holy Spirit reject life.

Are you living up to the Holy Spirit's calling on your life?

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The other gospels weigh in...

Matthew 9:32-34  32 After they had gone away, a demoniac who was mute was brought to him.  33 And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed and said, "Never has anything like this been seen in Israel."  34 But the Pharisees said, "By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons."

Luke 11:14-15   14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed.  15 But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons."