Mark 3 - The Unforgiven

Harry R. Truman born 1896 in Ivydale, West Virginia

Harry R. Truman owner and caretaker of Mount St. Helens Lodge at Spirit Lake near the foot of the mountain.

his opinion that the danger was exaggerated. "I don't have any idea whether it will blow," he said, "but I don't believe it to the point that I'm going to pack up." Truman displayed little concern about the volcano and his situation: "If the mountain goes, I'm going with it. This area is heavily timbered, Spirit Lake is in between me and the mountain, and the mountain is a mile away, the mountain ain't gonna hurt me."[19] Law-enforcement officials were incensed by his refusal to evacuate because media representatives kept entering the restricted zone near the volcano to interview him, endangering themselves in the process. Still, Truman remained steadfast. "You couldn't pull me out with a mule team. That mountain's part of Truman and Truman's part of that mountain."

As a result of his defiant commentary, Truman became something of a folk hero,[12] and was the subject of many songs and poems by children.[21] One group of children from Salem, Oregon, sent him banners inscribed "Harry – We Love You", which moved him so much that he took a helicopter trip (paid for by National Geographic)[22] to visit them on May 14.[20] He also received many fan letters,[23] including several marriage proposals

Conflict with the Scribes Verse 22

these are not the back water scribes that had been embarrassed by the statement of the crowed “Jesus teaches like one having authority and not like our scribes” These were cosmopolitan scribes who had come from the capital of Jerusalem. They brought with them their best new defence and accusation of Jesus. In a sense the scribes have lawyer-ed up.

Matthew and Mark (Notes)

The charge was important as recognition that supernatural power was at work through Jesus. There was no doubt that Jesus was performing unusual works. The debate was over the source of his power.

Mark is by far and away the shortest of the Gospels but He uses the word summoned or called (προσκαλέω) more than any other Gospel. Often in relation to Jesus calling His disciples or the crowds but here to the scribes as well.

John 12:32 CSB

As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.”

verse 27 Jesus’ power has effectively tied up Satan. Jesus had entered Satan’s domain and was plundering and actively destroying his ability to rule. Satan’s possession are the people enslaved by sin.

Verse 28 - 30 The Unpardonable Sin

Verse 28 “Truly, I tell you” this is the 1st of 13 uses of this term in Mark. In the Greek it is the word Amen. Amen I tell you. This statement is found only in the Gospels and always spoken by Jesus. Obviously this phrase is very solemn and is only used to signify extremely significant announcements. It is a guarantee that what Jesus is about to say will come true.

Jesus warning is marked as serious. and what is His warning. Well you probably know it as the unpardonable sin.

Matthew and Mark (Notes)

the sin was attributing to Satan work that the Spirit had done. It was the refusal to see Jesus’ work and ministry as being rooted in the activity of God’s Spirit. Mark is saying that this decisive and firm refusal to understand who Jesus is constitutes an unpardonable sin.

It should probably not be called the unpardonable sin which is what most people call it. But it should probably be called the eternal sin as Jesus calls it look at the end of verse 29.

A false view of Jesus has eternal consequences. Not believing in Jesus’ divine authority has eternal consequences. The sin of rejecting the work of Christ as God’s work has an eternal duration.

Matthew and Mark (Commentary)

The blasphemy was serious, for it was “the conscious and deliberate rejection of the saving power and grace of God released through Jesus’ words and acts”

the word Blasphemia means to slander. It is a transliteration of the Greek word and can be said of humans too.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 3:28–30

In light of the context this refers to an attitude (not an isolated act or utterance) of defiant hostility toward God that rejects His saving power toward man, expressed in the Spirit-empowered person and work of Jesus.

The verb used verse in 30 is in the imperfect (“they were saying”), so this charge was regularly leveled against Jesus.

it was not the last time Jesus would hear this accusation. Jesus was accused of this more than one time.

verse 30

There is an important juxtaposition here. Jesus acted by the Holy Spirit (3:29) despite the leaders’ false claim that he had an unclean spirit.

Their hearts were hardened like Pharaoh's heart in Egypt.

it is not unpardonable in the sense that it is too terrible of a sin to forgive. It is unpardonable in that you are rejecting the means to the pardon.

It is not that there is a sin that is unforgivable. It is that you are rejecting the means of forgiveness. That is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.

God does not send people to Hell your sins send you to Hell.

If you are on a train that is headed to a cliff and will fall off for thousands of feet. And there are multiple stops along the way.

You have to trust Jesus to get off the train.

BTW...

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 3:28–30

Jesus did not actually say the scribes had committed this unpardonable sin; but they came perilously close by attributing His exorcisms to satanic power when they really were accomplished by the Holy Spirit. They were close to calling the Holy Spirit “Satan.”

“Those who have committed the unpardonable sin are not worried about it. They are hardened in their unbelief. If you are worried that you have committed the unpardonable sin, that is a reliable sign that you have not committed it. If you are ashamed of your sin against God, then you have not committed the unpardonable sin. So instead of feeling hopelessly condemned, keep turning from your sins, and keep trusting Jesus. If you are in Jesus the Messiah, then there is “no condemnation” for you (Rom 8:1).” The Gospel Coalition Website

We should not get so focused on the unpardonable sin that we miss the reality that Jesus says there is a Holy Spirit. This is the 1st time the Holy Spirit is mentioned since chapter 1. and wont be spoken of again until chapter 12. There is a Spirit to help us and to convict us of sin.

Matthew and Mark Commentary

Various opinions were gathering around Jesus’ ability to heal. Only three options could explain what was taking place: (1) He had lost his mind and was thinking too highly of himself, as at least some in his family feared; (2) He was operating under the direction of a sinister power, as the scribes claimed; or (3) He was working by the power of the Spirit of God, the position Jesus defended by excluding the satanic option. The same idea is expressed in C. S. Lewis’ famous “Liar, Lunatic, or Lord” options for who Jesus is, which are taken from the options Mark raises in this passage. Either Jesus lied about his authority (it was really from Satan, or was only a delusion; see 3:21), or he is Lord and his authority is from God, as affirmed by the Spirit (see 3:29).

Are you listing to the Holy Spirit’s conviction?

Friends hoped that Truman might have survived, as he had claimed to have provisioned an abandoned mine shaft with food and liquor in case of an eruption, but the lack of immediate warning of the oncoming eruption may have prevented him from escaping to the shaft before the pyroclastic flow reached his lodge (less than a minute after it began). Even if Truman had made it there, the aforementioned landslide would likely have suffocated him, and/or prevented his rescue. His sister Geraldine said that she found it hard to accept the reality of his death. "I don't think he made it, but I thought if they would let me fly over and see for myself that Harry's lodge is gone, then maybe I'd believe it for sure."[12] Truman's niece Shirley Rosen added that her uncle thought he could escape the volcano but was not expecting the lateral eruption.

As the likelihood of eruption increased, state officials tried to evacuate the area with the exception of a few scientists and security officials. On May 17, they attempted one final time to persuade Truman to leave, to no avail. The volcano erupted the next morning, and its entire northern flank collapsed. Truman was alone at his lodge with his 16 cats, and is presumed to have died in the eruption on May 18. He likely died of heat shock in less than a second, too quickly to register pain,[citation needed] before his body was vaporized.

He was 1 of 57 people who died in the eruption that day.

Big Idea: If you don’t want what God has to give, you don’t get what God does give.