Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

We have come to probably one of the most talked about, one of the most misunderstood, and yet one of the most frightening passages in Scripture.

Jesus stands before those opposing him and those following him and makes a chilling statement, jump down to verse 28

“Truly I say to you...” this phrase is found no where in the NT but only the mouth of Christ.

“Truly I say to you,” It only appears in the lips of Jesus.

It seems to have been a phrase that He used to identify something that had very significant meaning and was, in fact, a representation of divine truth that needed to be heard.

“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.”

Now it might strike you as strange that there would be a sin that would not be forgivable.

Don't we say that God offers forgiveness to sinners?

Doesn't the gospel promise that the Lord will forgive all our sins?

That He'll pass by all our iniquities?

Isn't He a pardoning God who overlooks sin?

Doesn't He bury it in the depths of the sea, remove it as far as the east is from the west and remember it no more?

Isn't God gracious and merciful as the prophet says, who is a pardoning God like You?

When we preach the gospel, don't we say that God will forgive all your trespasses, all your sins?

Doesn't this sort of contradict that?

It doesn’t contradict and I will show you why.

With that said this passage should make those who are comfortable afraid because there are some who may have committed this sin and and are comfortable with no idea they are headed for eternal destruction.

Yet at the same time there are those who are afraid they have committed this sin, terrified of the guilty verdict coming from heaven, they should be comforted.

My goal today is to make those who are comfortable, those who think they are ok,

As we have traveled the 3 and half chapters of Mark we have seen enough evidence to come to the conclusion that Jesus is the Messiah the Old Testament has prophesied about, that he is the Son of God that Mark has proclaimed that he is.

HIs Baptism

His victory over temptation

the lame are walking

the deaf are hearing

the dead are rising

those filled with demons are liberated

CS Lewis says There are only 3 conclusions to come to when you Behold Jesus, “When Jesus claimed to be God, there were only three options.

Either He is God or He is a lunatic, or He is a liar pulling off a very, very grand scheme of deception.”

Yet we have a world who wants to say that Jesus was a good person, a wise sage, a noble teacher… the problem with all that is Jesus claim to be God.

I would say Creston Thomas is a good man, he is a wise person, he is a good teacher, but the second he stands up and says I am God, one of us is fixin to be gone.

Why? because the moment he claims to be God it cancels out him being a good man, a wise person and a good teacher, unless it’s true!

That is the deal with Jesus you cant say he was a good man a wise sage or a noble teacher because he claimed to be God.

So either Christ is telling the truth or he is a liar.

As we have seen throughout Mark he is backed up HIs claim with miracle after miracle.

The other option is that Jesus is a lunatic.

Which is the conclusion his family came to.

Jump back up to vs 20-21.

John7:5 “For not even his brothers believed in him.”

His brothers didn’t believe in him.

They thought he was crazy.

Which is what we would think again if Creston came up here and said I am God.

Where were his brothers?

In Nazereth, where Jesus did no miracles, why?

Because of their unbelief, so they are just hearing about everything that is going on, they are not witnesses to it.

What conclusions do they make?

We have to go take our brother by force, we have to arrest him and bring him back home before something happens to him and before he ruins our family name.

They came to the conclusion that Jesus was going cray cray.

As word about Christ spread it spread to Jerusalem and what we see here is that Jerusalem sends an official delegation down to the region of Galilee, which we know is hostile opposition.

I.

The Hardened Heart Calls Good Evil

A. The Scribes were saying

This isn’t a one time event.

The Greek verb is written imperfect implying that they were continually saying this.

This was there all out assault on Christ.

Mathew has a the same account recorded in Mathew 12

But if you go back to

and

has an account recorded which happens, not in Galilee but Judea, which is a separate event.

In Just the few chapters of Mark we have seen the religous leaders accuse him of blasphemy, questioned his association with sinners and tax collectors implying he was like them, quesitioned him about fasting because in other Gospels they accused him of being a glutton, on two separate occasions accuse him of breaking the Sabbath, which the last one in says they began to Counsel with the Herodians on how to destroy Jesus.

This state of unbelief was not a one time event, but it was a continual refusal, a continual hardening of their heart to the plain, full and obvious revelation of who Jesus is, the Son of God.

B. The Heinous, Blasphemous Acusation

Posessed by Beelzebul

Now Beelzebul had become a name for Satan.

There was another one the Jews used, Belial, remember that?

Beelzebul was a name for Satan.

It was basically a name that meant what Mark says they said in the second statement, verse 22, He cast out the demons by the ruler of the demons.

Beelzebul was a name to designate the ruler of the demons.

And Luke says Beelzebul means the ruler of the demons in .

By the way, that word Beelzebul is used five times in the Old Testament, so it had been around a long time.

The Jews were familiar with it and used it.

Now where did it come from?

Probably from Beelzebub which came from Baal.

Baal means lord and the Ekronites...Ekron was a city in Philistia and according to 1 Kings, or rather 2 Kings chapter 1, the Ekronites had a god named Baalzebub which means the Baal of the high place, or Baal meaning lord, lord of the high place, lord of the dwelling, lord of the temple.

That was Beelzebub, that was the Ekronite god.

Well the Jews purposefully corrupted Beelzebub into Beelzebul because when you change it from the B to t he L, it goes from being the lord of the high place, to being the lord of the manure...a very purposeful corruption showing Jewish disdain for the false Canaanitish god.

So through the years, this Beelzebul, lord of the dung, or lord of the flies that collect on the dung, had become the name for Satan.

2. They are declaring the Lord of all, the Lord of Heaven and earth, the creator of all things and saying he is the servant of Satan, the lord of the sewer, the lord of the of the flies that collect on the sewer.

II.

The Hardened Heart Reveals a Spiritual Blindness that is willful and intentional.

A. And He Called them to Himself...

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.

(2016).

().

Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

I love this, Jesus says guys come here.

He knew who they were, he knew what they were saying, he knew their hardened hearts.

Jesus also knew exactly what He needed to say and what everyone needed to hear.

and He said to them in Parables.

What we find in Mark in most instances is that Jesus answers the religous leaders with Parables, , , and here.

What is a parable-it’s literal meaning is to lay something alongside.

you take something difficult to understand and you use something you do understand to make it clear.

B. Jesus answers the absurdity of their claim with parables

but first a question, How can satan cast out satan?

the kingdom

a house

Satan

the positive reality Parable #2

The strong man - Satan

his goods- people possesed, people in bondage to their sin.

unless he first bind the strong man