The Unforgivable Sin
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Good evening students! I am so glad to see each and every one of you here tonight. Tonight, I want us to continue in our study through the Gospel of Mark. So, open in your Bibles to the book of Mark chapter 3. We will see tonight what is one of the most often confused and misinterpreted passages of Scripture within the Bible.
If you remember from last time, Jesus had called the 12 disciples after a time of solitude and prayer on top of the mountain. After calling the disciples, Jesus ventured home where the crowd had followed Him. The crowd did not have concern for Jesus as they were calling for Him to come out and heal them. Likewise, the crowd even began to turn on Jesus calling Him crazy or out of His mind. Now, we transition to a scene that is very familiar within the Gospel of Mark. The scribes and the Pharisees come to oppose and accuse Jesus. What a shocker right? These Pharisees and scribes have sought to accuse and antagonize Jesus at every turn. In doing so, Jesus has had plenty of opportunities to reveal that He is God’s Son and the Messiah.
Now, we come to Mark 3:22-30. Let’s read this passage together.
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said 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 is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Pray.
As the scribes and the Pharisees have arrived, they are ready to accuse Jesus. Before we dive in to understand this passage, we must understand the full context of this passage. Remember, Matthew, Mark, and Luke are what we call the Synoptic Gospels. That means that we can put them side by side as the give similar accounts of Jesus’s life and ministry on earth. In the Gospel of Matthew, we see a few more details are given regarding this accusation posed by the scribes. Any time we read and study Scripture, we must seek to understand the context of the given passage. What we mean by the word context is, the time, place, historical period, and details that happen around the even. So, from the Gospel of Matthew, we see that Jesus has just healed a man that is both lame (can’t talk) and blind due to demonic possession. Jesus, having this demon-oppressed man brought to Him, heals the man and casts out the demon. Upon seeing this, the crowd that was around began to question or wonder.
Look at Matthew 12:22-23
22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?”
They began to wonder and question saying, “Can this be the Son of David?” Now, remember from our first series as together what is called the Davidic Covenant. The Davidic Covenant was a bond that God had made with King David promising a coming King who would establish His throne forever and save people. Ultimately, it was a promise of the coming Messiah. Jesus has now come and He was demonstrating through His teaching, preaching, and healing that He was God’s Son Who came to bring salvation. It is clearly evident that Jesus is Who He said He was.
So, as the people began to wonder if Jesus was the Son of David or fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant, the Scribes and Pharisees launched a smear campaign against Jesus. They were seeking to taint or ruin His witness and associate Him with satan. The Pharisees and scribes were panicking because the crowd as identifying Jesus as the Messiah and the religious leaders could not fathom that the Messiah would come and staunching oppose them. Because of this, they claim that Jesus can only heal because He is empowered by the devil.
Look at verse 22 of Mark 3
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.”
This is a very dangerous and sinful claim and statement to make. The scribes were saying that Jesus was empowered by satan. The word beelzebul was another name for satan used by the Jews. These religious leaders were claiming that the only way in which Jesus could perform such miracles was by the power of satan.
John MacArthur says, “If they could position Him as a representative of satan, the religious leaders knew they could poison the multitudes against Him.”
This was the sole goal of the scribes. They wanted to smear Jesus and spread the lie that Jesus was a representative of satan and performing all these signs by the power of satan. This accusation is very strong, stupid, and damning for the Jewish religious leaders.
As the religious leaders make this false accusation about Jesus, He provides them with an answer pointing out how outrageous this accusation is.
Let’s look back at what Jesus says:
23 And he called them to him and said 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 is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
Jesus calls out these Pharisees and scribes, as He normally does. In doing so, Jesus points out just how crazy and ridiculous this accusation is. The scribes have stated that Jesus performs miracles and casts out demons by the power of satan. Jesus responds by saying, that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. If satan is casting out his very own demons, satan would be defeating himself. It is completely illogical for satan to defeat himself, or cast out his own demons.
Jesus is explaining this to the crowd, and He teaches them using a parable. Jesus would oftentimes use parables to shade the truth or veil the truth from unbelievers.
11 And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to the one who has, more will be given, and he will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.
Jesus taught in parables so that the truth would only be unveiled to those who believe in Him. So, Jesus teaches the crowd using a parable. In this parable we see a strong man that is in possession of plunder or material things. The strong man is satan and the property that he possesses are his demons and people that are under his persuasion. Jesus says that no one can enter into the strong man’s house and plunder his goods unless he is bound by someone else. This someone would have to be stronger than the strong man in order to bind him.
As we read and understand this parable, we understand that satan is the strong man and his property represents those who are under his persuasion and the demonic forces. As satan is the strong man, he must be bound. Who can bound satan? Jesus is the one who has bound satan and his house. Therefore, Jesus has authority and power over satan and can cast out demons from others. It is clearly evident that Jesus has authority and power over the forces of satan as He withstood the temptations of satan. He casts out the demons that have possessed others. Jesus has all power and all authority and nothing can stand against Him.
Jesus has revealed that He is the One with all power and authority and can bound satan. Jesus cannot be working as a representative of satan as He is continuously casting out demons and overcoming the kingdom of darkness. The actual agents of satan are the Pharisees and scribes that are being used by satan to stand in opposition to Jesus as Jesus is the Son of God and Messiah.
As John MacArthur states, “The fact that Jesus spent His earthly ministry exposing, confronting, rebuking, and casting out demons provided self-evident proof that He was not empowered by satan.”
Jesus was not empowered by satan. Jesus is God descended in human flesh to save humanity. As God, Jesus has authority and power. He is all-powerful and has the ability to heal, cast out demons, and teach/preach God’s Word. The Pharisees and scribes were being used by satan to accuse and antagonize Jesus seeking to thwart His ministry.
For us today, we must be certain that we are always seeking to follow God and contribute to the building of God’s Kingdom. Satan wishes nothing more than for us to fall to sin and hurt the church and hinder God’s work. Therefore, guys and gals, we must seeking to draw near to God through the reading of His Word, prayer, and living out the Gospel message. We live in a world that in which sin run rampant and as we stand against sin, times will get tough; however, we must hold fast to the Word of God and faith in Christ. Jesus will preserve His saints.
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
God has begun a good work in those who truly place their faith in Him and He will sustain us until the end. Therefore, let us be sure to always be serving Christ because He is the One who paid it all for us on the cross of Calvary. Upon placing our faith in Him, He will continually work in us for the building of His Kingdom and our holiness. Therefore, I encourage you guys to be faithful to God each and every day.
Think about playing a sport or instrument. In order to get better, you have to practice, right? In Christ, you are saved by grace through faith. Upon that salvation get this, God will work in you to sanctify you or make you more like His Son. God does all the work all you have to do is be obedient and continually draw near to Him through His Word and prayer. So, guys and gals do not seek to thwart the work of God. Draw near to Him by reading His Word, praying, and living/sharing the Gospel and allow God to grow you more into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.
So Jesus has just pointed out how insane the accusation thrown at Him is. Now, Jesus turns and points out the unforgivable sin. Let’s look at verses 28-30.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— 30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Jesus teaches the crowd that all sins will be forgiven even those that are blasphemies or disrespectful speech against God. No matter what you have done, Jesus paid for that sin upon the cross. His blood was poured out on the cross for all the lies, hate, bad words, adultery, lust, murder, disobedient that we have committed. He paid for that on the cross. He even paid for the sin of those who never ever place their faith in Him. However, He points out that those who commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, but will commit and be guilty of an eternal sin.
What is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. He draws us to faith in Jesus Christ. Upon placing out faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit indwells us and leads us to honor God. Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is when someone rejects the message of Jesus Christ.
In order to understand this, we must look at the context of the passage in which it is contained.
We look at Mark 3. We must look at the scribes and Pharisees. They had seen Jesus. When Jesus came to earth, He came in perfect submission to God the Father and empowered by the Holy Spirit. While on earth, the Holy Spirit was working throughout the ministry of Jesus healing, teaching, preaching, and casting out demons. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus as He lived in submission to God the Father and made it clearly evident that He truly is God’s Son and the Messiah. However, the Pharisees and scribes rejected the clearly evident truth that Jesus is God’s Son the Messiah. They attributed Jesus’s work to satan rejecting Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah. In rejecting Jesus, they had committed the unforgivable sin of rejecting Jesus. The result of this unforgivable sin is devastating. Upon rejection, a person is cut of from God’s grace because of their rejection of Jesus. They also are eternally condemned as forgiveness of sin is not granted to those who reject Jesus.
Those who hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are drawn by the Holy Spirit and place their faith in Jesus. Those who hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are drawn by the Holy Spirit and reject commit the unforgivable sin of rejecting Jesus/Blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. Those who harden their hearts and do not believe the Gospel will not be forgiven of sin. Ultimately, those who reject the Holy Spirit’s testimony of Jesus Christ will not be forgiven and saved. However, those who hear the testimony of the Holy Spirit about Jesus, the Gospel, and repent and believe will be saved by the blood of Jesus, His death, and His resurrection.
Invitation.