Trying to throw some light on a difficult passage (7 June 2015)

Mark 3.20-35
‘Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.’ [Mark 3.29] One of the joys and challenges of using the church lectionary is that sometimes you can’t dodge the most difficult biblical texts.

We hear a lot about blasphemy these days especially in the context of Islam e.g. the Danish cartoons and Charlie Hebdo affair. But it’s nearer home too. As has been highlighted in a recent Village Web article there are many in this country today, who can rarely get through a conversation without breaking the third commandment and misusing God’s name. But what about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? What is it exactly and why is it unforgiveable? Let’s take a look at the context in which Jesus makes the statement.

We’ve been away from Mark’s gospel for a while but we are back now chapter 3. It’s early on in the ministry of Jesus but there are already much controversy. The ordinary people have flocked to him; they’ve recognised the goodness, the God-given character that lies behind the wonderful things that Jesus is doing. They have come in great crowds to see him and receive ‘healing grace’ from him. Mark tells us that the very first thing that Jesus does, after calling his disciples, is to perform an exorcism – he heals a man by driving out an evil spirit from him. That sort of thing draws a crowd; no one doubted that Jesus was a miracle worker; the question was: where did the power come from? The ordinary people received him with joy but what about his own family and what about the religious leaders?

This family had come to take charge of him, to take him away. ‘He is out of his mind’ they said. In the first century that meant he was demon possessed. So they weren’t just thinking ‘Oh, he’s just lost it’, no, he was under the influence of demons. Even Mary his mother, who Luke tells us had received angelic messengers and treasured so much up in her heart, clearly doesn’t at this stage understand her son. Anxious for him she wants to take him home.

And what about Israel’s leader? Well, the big guns from Jerusalem have come too. These are the top lawyers, the teachers of the law. They don’t doubt that Jesus expels demons, but their verdict is: ‘He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.’ In spite of seeing or hearing of the wonderful things that Jesus is doing, their verdict is ‘He’s satanic!’ How can they come to that conclusion? Are they blind?

Well, Jesus deals easily with their absurd statement. Doesn’t Satan try to induce madness and disease and falsehood not remove them? If he is fighting against himself then its civil war and his kingdom is doomed. But in fact the exorcisms and healings show that the devil’s kingdom is now being plundered. Now, you can’t rob a strong man unless you first overpower him and tie him up. Jesus, by the power of the Holy Spirit, is defeating Satan robbing him of his possessions. That’s Jesus’ mission statement in Luke’s gospel: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’  [Luke 4]

The teachers of the law appear to be blind to who Jesus is. The question is: are they being wilfully blind; are they knowingly misrepresenting him? If they are, then they are putting themselves beyond the reach of God’s salvation. If you get to the point of saying that when Jesus acts in the power of the Spirit it is actually satanic, then you are truly lost and you have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit. Getting to the stage of saying that evil is good, means you have reached the place of extreme opposition to God.

Whether that was true of these teachers of the law I’m not fit to judge, but Jesus just warns them of a terrible possibility. The sadness is that many people today may read this passage and fear, because of their past, that they have committed an unforgiveable sin.  David Instone-Brewer, a scholar of Tyndale House in Cambridge, is very helpful on this point: ‘The very fact that someone wants to repent and be reconciled with God is proof that they have not irrevocably decided to reject him. God is always ready to receive a sinner, and Jesus died for every sin. …for those who reject Jesus’ sacrifice, there is no other source of forgiveness. This doesn’t mean that the rejection itself is an unforgivable sin, but it emphasizes that Jesus is the only source of forgiveness. If you reject Jesus’ sacrifice there is nothing left. But if you have the longing to repent, this demonstrates that you have not ultimately decided to reject Jesus – and God’s arms, like the arms of the Prodigal’s father, always remain open to welcome you.’

When Mary and his brothers come to take charge of him Jesus says: ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ That sounds rather callous but Jesus is making a fundamental point. Intimacy with him is not automatic and an outward thing – like being a blood relative. It’s a spiritual thing; we are brothers or sisters of Christ when we do the will of God. That goes beyond the acquisition of knowledge and just intellectual ascent – these are of themselves inadequate. It means listening to his word and putting it into practice. In other words, it means being a disciple, a learner of Jesus.

Our job therefore is not to judge others but to stay close to Jesus. Yes we will often fail but we must get up and carry on. The shadow of the cross has already fallen over Mark’s narrative here in chapter 3.6  And we know that things are only going to get worse. Everyone will eventually fall away – but that won’t be the end. The disciples and Mary and his brothers (James and Jude) will come to trust him, they will come to recognise more clearly who he is - that he is, of all people, not out of his mind but he is the one who has the words of eternal life.