Mark 3:22-30 (2)

Mark 3:22–30 (KJV (WS))

22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. 23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. 28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: 30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

Introduction

Have your kids ever tried to get you to watch them do something that they think is pretty cool.

You can tell they are excited.

They obviously feel like they have learned a pretty important skill.

So you watch and they do something like this?

You’re a good parent, so you don’t want to tell them that that was really weird looking.

Externally, you are like wowwwww, cooool!

Internally you are thinking, did I look like that when I was a kid?

He must take after his mom.

Sometimes, we just don’t see the value in what others think is important.

If it’s our child, then we compliment them because we love them.

Their siblings though are not as polite.

An older sibling may watch the same thing as blurt out that was dumb.

You looked like a fish flopping on the ground.

It seems like there’s always someone ready to rain on our parade.

They either declare that it wasn’t that great what we had done.

Or, they claim that we didn’t do it right.

Or, they claim that they could do it better.

Jesus’ fame was growing exponentially.

There were those out there who were energized by what they had seen him do.

There were others though that were unimpressed.

Rather than accept Jesus, they are ready to do everything they can to expose and delegitimize what he is doing.

We are going to see how Jesus responds to this in our passage tonight.

The scribes make accusation against Jesus.

It’s been a while, but the last miracle that Jesus performed in vs 11 was the casting out of unclean spirits.

Word of this had gotten back to Jerusalem and the Sanhedrin.

The Jewish leaders had come up to a response to explain this supposed miracle.

They sent the scribes out to publish the Sanhedrin’s response.

Their claim was that Jesus was performing these miracles, especially the exorcisms through the power of Beelzebub (a synonymous title for Satan).

This is a serious claim, before we go to far, it is important for us to explain the meaning of the word Beelzebub.

Beelzebub means master of the house.

It also means Lord of the dwelling.

Remember that for later.

Back to the Scribes.

Anyone and everyone could see that amazing things were occurring around Jesus.

That’s why the Sanhedrin felt like it had to respond.

Of course they responded with opposition.

It is strange that in times of revival and manifest working of God’s Spirit, it is often religious leaders that oppose God’s work the most strenuously.

Now, the religious leaders could not deny that Jesus had cast out demons.

They just couldn’t bring themselves to admit that he had done so in the power of God.

Prejudice had blinded their eyes.

Rather than give glory to God, they credit Satan for Jesus’ works.

Of course, Jesus knows what they are doing and what they are saying about him.

What Jesus does here is pretty neat.

Jesus summons the Scribes to reason with him.

I think it’s an interesting glimpse into Jesus’ character that Mark tells us that Jesus invites the scribes to come and listen to him.

He is going to respond to their accusation by sharing two parables.

Each parable stand on it own to discredit the scribes argument against Jesus.

Parable #1 (vss 23-26)

First, Jesus proves that the scribes accusation is illogical.

If Jesus operated by Satans power, then Satan was fighting against himself.

This would mean that Satans house and kingdom were divided and on the verge of collapse.

Satan had been guarding the demoniacs because he doesn’t want to lose any territory.

Jesus deliverance of the man had proved that he was actually not in league with Satan.

It also proved that He was greater in power and authority than Satan.

This is more clearly brought out in the second parable.

Parable #2 (vs 27)

Victory must first be attained before the plundering can commence.

Jesus is spoiling Satans house.

This is because Satan has already been bound.

When was Satan bound?

He has always been subservient to God.

When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness he proved Satan had no power over him.

There is only one possible explanation if Jesus expelled demons.

He was in possession of a power and authority stronger than Satan.

This could only be the power of God.

Jesus’ response is that it is illogical for them to claim he is in league with Satan when his actions are liberating people enslaved by Satan.

He also shows how his actions show that he is greater in power and authority than Satan.

Though this addresses their claims, Jesus has one more thing to say.

Jesus warns the scribes of what is waiting for them further down the road they are traveling.

They are growing colder and harder of heart due to their disdain for him.

Their refusal to believe in him is also a lack of submission to the work of the Holy Spirit’s work.

Resistance to the Spirit’s work is a dangerous thing for any human to commit.

Jesus tells them that there is forgiveness for all sins.

No matter what you may do, there is forgiveness.

Even blasphemy (such as they had spoken of him in vs 22) could be forgiven.

According to vs 29, though, there is one sin that cannot be forgiven.

Some call this the unpardonable sin.

What is the unpardonable sin???

It’s given a lot of people problems trying to reconcile these words.

I don’t think that this verse is as problematic as people make it.

In fact it is quite reasonable and expected.

Obviously, form Jesus’ words, this sin has to do with a person’s reaction to the activity of the Holy Spirit.

What does the Spirit do?

My High School theology class learned that he convicts of sins, leads people to the truth, illuminates the Bible for Christians.

So what it mean to blaspheme the Holy Spirit?

IS it saying a bad word about Him?

One author said this, “blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the sin of the willfully blind, who persistently refuse the illumination of the Spirit, oppose the Spirit’s work, and justify themselves in doing so.”

The Jewish leaders did this by rejecting the Spirit’s work in pointing people to Jesus.

This was true throughout Jesus’ life and even after the Spirit empowered the church at Pentecost.

Many continued to resist the Spirit’s work, up until their deaths, but not all of them.

Acts 6:7 “7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

I can only assume that many of these priests were among those that had rejected Jesus in his life, only to later be…pardoned.

The only unpardonable sin is to resist the Spirit’s work in drawing you to Christ for so long that you ultimately die in a state of rejection.

The reason this is unpardonable is because if you reject Jesus, there is no other source of forgiveness.

The scribes were headed that direction.

If they didn’t repent, then there would be no forgiveness, no pardon for them.

Application

What do you think about when you think of the scribes and their efforts to explain away or discredit the miraculous work of Jesus?

Do you judge them?

I mean how could they not see what was so plain?

Why would they not glorify God for the works of Jesus?

Why would not believe in their Messiah as he stood before them?

We must be careful, because we may not condemn them.

All of us are former rebels.

All of us are guilty of hardness.

Instead, we must ask, Are we blind also??

Ask yourself tonight, is there something that God is at work to accomplish that I am willfully blind to?

If so, repent and glorify god for his work.

Even if that work is outside of your will and way.

Far from being a statement of despair that some sinners are simply unpardonable, Jesus’ words are actually words of hope.

As long as a person is alive, there is hope for their redemption.

I know it’s hard.

We must never despair of any sinner.

We must continue to pray and witness until we have no more opportunity..

Conclusion

Let’s guard our hearts against becoming like the scribes.

If God is at work, give him credit.

Let’s also be warned from this passage not to give up on any sinner.

As long as they are breathing, there is a chance for them to repent.