The Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit in Mark 3:7-35The Importance of Understanding it in Context

 This article was first published in French at TPSG.

A great deal of confusion exists around the meaning of the term “the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.” Many sincere Christians fear they that may have invertedly committed this unpardonable sin. A closer look at Christ’s words, in context, will help us understand just what Jesus meant by the term.

 

Turning Point: Jesus Heals on the Sabbath

In Mark 2, tension is mounting between Christ and his adversaries. Jesus’ unwillingness to bend to the Pharisees’ manmade rules, particularly by healing on the Sabbath, serves to heighten this tension. Following one such incident, Mark tells us, “The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.” (Mark 3:6).

 

Four Groups of People Come to Jesus

1.     The Multitude

The literary unit that follows offers four scenes of four groups of people who come to Jesus, each with their own agenda based on their understanding of the identity of Jesus. In the first, the multitude comes to Jesus in hopes of a miracle, as they see him primarily as a healer (v. 7-12). Is Jesus a healer? He certainly is, but he’s so much more. Their understanding of Jesus is incomplete, limited.

 

2.     The Disciples

In the second scene, Jesus calls to himself the twelve disciples, who come to him, Mark tells us, “so that they might be with him” (v. 14). These men would spend day and night with Jesus for roughly the next three years, learning from him as they preach and cast out demons (v. 15). To them, Jesus is rabbi, teacher, lord. And while their understanding of Jesus may remain incomplete, they come to him because they can’t resist such an invitation.

 

3.     Jesus’ Family

The third scene begins as Jesus’ family comes to seize him because they think he is out of his mind (v. 21). To them, he is a fanatic, perhaps a zealot and an embarrassment to them. They have grossly misunderstood the identity of Jesus.

 

4.     The Scribes

Mark interrupts his account of the interaction between Jesus and his mother and brothers to tell us about the fourth group of people who comes to Jesus: the scribes (v. 22-30). They come for one reason: to accuse Jesus. Having been eyewitnesses to his healing power, they can’t deny the reality of his miracles, so they opt for the only explanation available to them. Unwilling to submit to his authority, they conclude that Jesus is a false teacher who drives out demons by the prince of demons (v. 22).

 

Jesus Speaks through Parables

He answers them with two parables:

 

“How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 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. (v. 23-26)

 

Jesus' logic is very simple. In the history of mankind, nations that have not endured were often marked by internal divisions that led to their destruction. 

 

But the scribes desperately cling to this accusation, and Jesus shows how illogical it is. Jesus not bound to Satan. On the contrary, he triumphs over his forces throughout his ministry! To further illustrate this point, Jesus uses a second image:

 

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. (v. 27). 

 

The strong man is Satan. The house is this fallen world. The goods that the strong man comes to plunder are the souls of men under the power of the devil. And who is the one who enters the house of the strong man? It is Jesus! This is his identity! Jesus is the one who is stronger than the strong man! He is our Deliverer! He comes not to do the works of the devil, but to destroy them (1 John 3:8). He comes to free those who suffer under the yoke of slavery to the evil one.  Yes, Satan is strong, but Jesus is stronger. Yes, the Accuser is powerful, but Jesus is the Almighty!

 

And this is the context in which Jesus issues his well-known warning against the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus Speaks with Divine Authority

Jesus opens this famous warning passage with the words, “Truly I say to you.” (v. 28) When Jesus says this, we must pay close attention. In the Greek, the phrase is literally "Amen, I say to you.” In the New Testament, only Jesus uses this expression, because he alone speaks with divine authority. He continues:

 

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” (v. 28-30)

 

Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit

What exactly is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Two major interpretations prevail among New Testament scholars:

1.              Attributing Jesus' miracles to Satan: in the context of the passage, this makes sense. In this case, it is no longer possible to commit this sin, because we are not eyewitnesses of Jesus' life and ministry to be able to make such accusations.

2.              To harden one's heart to such an extent that one rejects the identity of Jesus and the redemptive work that accompanies it: In this case, it is, in fact, the sin that every human being who dies without Christ commits. It is the only unforgivable sin because those who do not take refuge under the cross of Jesus have no other remedy for their sin and condemn themselves to eternal suffering, away from the presence of the Savior. 

 

Agonizing Over the Past

The youth pastor who led me to the Lord once told us that while he was in college, his fiancée left him for his best friend. He had such a crisis of faith that he got angry with God and even told him, "Get out of my life!” For years afterwards, he feared that he had committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. He had returned to the Lord after the initial crisis and wanted to serve the Lord wholeheartedly. But he agonized over his past, believing he had committed the unpardonable sin. Now that we have considered these words of Jesus in context, do you think my pastor committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? Absolutely not! With time and maturity, my pastor understood this and served the Lord in freedom and joy and continues to have a fruitful ministry. 

 

If you have ever felt the same fear as my former pastor, know this: those who question the possibility of having committed such a sin are the least likely to have done so. Know also that Jesus' work on the cross is sufficient to forgive all your sins. He did not come to save us from smalls sins, if that can even be said. He came to save us from small and big sins. His grace is greater than the worst of our sins. Glory to God!

 

Jesus’ True Family

Following this strong rebuke of the scribes, Mark returns to the account of Jesus’ family members who are looking for him (v. 31-35). Someone informs Jesus that they’ve come, and Jesus replies with these surprising words:

 

And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” (v. 33-35)

 

Here is the contrast between Jesus' physical family and his spiritual family, that is, his disciples: His physical family remains outside; his disciples sit all around him. His family, therefore, stays out of personal fellowship with him; his disciples are "with him," in intimate fellowship with him. His family wants to seize him; his disciples want to sit and listen to him. His family comes to do their own will; his disciples do the will of Jesus.

 

Which Group are We?

In our world today, many are those who judge Jesus. Who question God. Who think they could do better than he did. Who even think he is out of his mind. And what about us? Which ones are we? Those outside or inside? Do we come to Jesus to tell him what to do, or do we sit at his feet and listen to him? Do we come to him to do our own will or his? 

 

If we put our trust in Jesus, if we do his will, we too are his brothers and sisters and mother. This is the identity of Christ: He is our brother!

 

The Importance of Reading in Context

Understanding the context in which Jesus issued this warning is essential to applying it to us as believers. These four scenes, which form a single literary unit, challenge us to take a stand. The crowd, the disciples, the scribes, and Jesus' family all come to him. Each group has its own motivations. What about us? How will we come to Jesus? Will we come like the crowd, out of self-interest?  Or like the scribes, to accuse him? Or like his parents, to judge him? Or will we come to Jesus as his disciples, to do his will, to be with him? 

 

Or, from another angle, let's think about what this passage reveals about Jesus' identity. Who is he to us? A simple healer, as the crowd thought? A false prophet who does the works of Satan, as the scribes said? A fool, as his family said? Or the Master, worthy of our allegiance and our whole life, like the disciples? 

 

Mark's invitation to us is this: Come to Jesus to do his will, and he will be with you forever.