Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit

Mark 3:20–35 NASB95

And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal. When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. “If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. “If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished! “But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! “For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

I. Introduction

a. Last week we learned that Jesus moved from the town to the shore of the Sea of Galilee and there he preached and healed.

b. The we saw Him go up on a mountain to pray and commune with God the entire night and after that prayer time.

c. Then in the morning came and ordained 12 to be His apostles, “To Send” to preach the gospel and to heal and cast out demons.

d. Now we see Jesus came back to Capernaum and this is what happened.

e. Set the stage:

Matthew 12:22–32 NASB95

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? “If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. “He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. “Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.

II. He has gone mad!

a. Jesus was in the house and instead of the people being stacked up around the house, they were actually in the house, where He couldn’t even eat a meal.

b. John 7:2-5, “Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. “For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”

c. Now there is a couple of thoughts of what is going on here:

i. Jesus family is concerned that He is exhausted and they are coming to rescue Him so He can rest.

ii. However that is not exactly what the scriptures says, as they were hearing what He was teaching and what the people were saying and figuring He has lost His mind. Because, He was doing things and talking about things that makes Him the Messiah. Because they didn’t even believe in Him.

III. Cast demons out by Beelzebul

a. Now at the same time this is going on with His family, there was some Scribes and Pharisees who had come down from Jerusalem, and they have been continuously stating that He is not casting demons out by the power of God but by Beelzebul.

b. Beelzebul - Be-elzebul, Beelzebub. Epithet meaning “lord of the flies” or “lord of the manure pile,” referring to Satan. It was used against Jesus by his enemies.

c. Please understand something they were calling the Holy Spirit the lord of a manure pile.

d. To add insult to injury, Beelzebul was the evil spirit opposite of Baal which the Philistines consider the good god and Beelzebul the evil god and was like the Lord of the flies or manure pile.

e. The scribes were telling the crowds, in public for all to hear, and since they were saying He was casting out demons by the lord of the manure pile, it indicates they were saying this to get the crowd to laugh and make a mockery of what was happening.

f. But look what Jesus does, He calls those scribes to Himself and instead of just outright defending Himself and arguing with them, He uses it as a time of teaching.

IV. Kingdom divided cannot stand

a. First Jesus calls into question of what they were saying by first asking them a question. This is going to make them think about what they are saying. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” How is it that Satan, who is out to destroy the kingdom of God, undermine his own work.” Because if he is now bound up and released from dominating a person, then isn’t that counterintuitive to what he is trying to do? Then Jesus gives them three statements to make them think about what they are saying. These three statements contradict what they are saying.

b. If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

c. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

d. If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he is finished!

e. Then Jesus explains what is going on when He casts out demons, that a strong man, Jesus Himself, enters a house (person) that Satan has inhabited, binds him up and then frees that person from bondage.

f. but remember what Jesus said in Matthew 12:28 “But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. “

V. Eternal Sin

a. What does it mean to commit the eternal sin that someone cannot ever get forgiveness?

b. First this sin is saying that the Holy Spirit is evil and it is a complete rejection of His power.

c. Second, no true believer of Christ can ever commit this sin. Because you have accepted that Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and submitted to Him as Lord and Savior.

d. This sin can only be done by an unbeliever. The reason is that they reject the power of God, the Holy Spirit, and consider Him as evil, false and never surrender to that power.

e. because of their rejection of never has forgiveness, because they never submit to the power that grants forgiveness, they will be lost forever.

f. because to accept that the Holy Spirit is holy and what He is doing in Jesus Christ is true, then that means they need to submit to Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, where forgiveness is granted.

g. This is not a one time deal where these scribes were accusing Christ of this scorcery, they said over and over again, as it is this is written in the Talmud, “Jesus was hanged on Passover Eve. Forty days previously the herald had cried, “He is being led out for stoning, because he has practiced sorcery and led Israel astray and enticed them into apostasy. Whosoever has anything to say in his defense, let him come and declare it.” As nothing was brought forward in his defense, he was hanged on Passover Eve.”

VI. Who is the true family of Christ?

a. So we see that Jesus family never made it into the house, but was beckoning the crowd to let Jesus know they were outside. Remember they there to take Him away because they thought He has lost His mind.

b. But Jesus then says that His true family are those that do the will of God, and what is the will of God? John 6:28-29, “Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

VII. Summary

a. Anyone that has believed on Jesus Christ, who God sent can never be guilty of the eternal sin of Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, because those individuals agree and know that the power of the Holy Spirit is of God and is good, perfect and holy.

b. but for those individuals that continue to deny the power of God, the Holy Spirit, and say that it is evil is in danger of eternal damnation in hell.

c. do you realize today, they are calling anything and everything that is of God, evil? Think about what you hear in the news. Think about who they are accusing of being the problem of bringing in progressive ideas and laws?