He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see

Transcription

1 Unforgivable Sin Perhaps we have all felt that we have sinned either to such a great extent or in such a bad manner that we can never be forgiven. Somewhere in our memory we are haunted by a snippet of an obscure Bible passage about unforgivable or unpardonable sin. Have we done this? Are we already out of the cleansing power of Jesus because we have done this unforgivable sin? This morning, we will look at passages where Jesus did caution about a sin for which there is no forgiveness. We will see the circumstance that led up to His caution and maybe we will have a better understanding of the forgiveness that we have in Jesus. We will start by opening our Bibles to the 3 rd chapter of Mark. Mark is most likely the earliest written gospel. Some believe that Matthew and Luke draw from the gospel of Mark and perhaps another source that has been lost. The scene is early in the ministry of Jesus. He has been seen healing people and He has a following. The religious leaders of that day had to make up their mind. Is Jesus the Messiah? Accepting that Jesus is the Messiah would mean that they expect certain behavior. Jesus did not conform to their expectations. Yet-these miracles. How could He heal the sick, lame, paralytic if He is not from God? Basically, they had to figure out what to do with Jesus. 1

2 After being questioned about harvesting from the field on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23-27), He healed a man with withered hand. Again, the questions about the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-5) He entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there whose hand was withered. They were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. He said to the man with the withered hand, Get up and come forward! (lit Arise into the midst) And He said to them, Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill? But they kept silent. After looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. (Mark 3:1-5 NASB) Another miracle-again in front of a crowd of witnesses-a miracle in the synagogue. Jesus has power which cannot be ignored so it must be explained. We now arrive at our main text for today. We are still in Mark the 3 rd chapter as we pick up at the 20 th verse. And He came home (or into a house), and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal (or bread). When His own people (or kinsmen) heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, He has lost His senses. The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, He is possessed by Beelzebul, and He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons. And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, 2

3 that house will not be able to stand. If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished (or he has an end)! But no one can enter the strong man s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. 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 because they were saying, He has an unclean spirit. (Mark 3:20-30 NASB) Beelebub, Beelzebul, similar variations of the spelling is defined by the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia in this manner. In the time of Christ this was the current name for the chief or prince of demons and was identified with Satan and/or the Devil. We previously looked at the source of the word as the Lord of the Flies (or Lord of Dung) so we won t spend any more time on this word. Similar events are found in Matthew and Luke. In Matthew the 12 th chapter we read about Jesus healing someone and His abilities being attributed to Beelzebub again. Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, This man cannot be the Son of David, can he? But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons. And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, Any (or Every) kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any (or every) city or house divided against itself will not stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against 3

4 himself; how then will his kingdom stand? If I by Beelzebul (Beezebul; i.e. ruler of demons) cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can anyone enter the strong man s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters. Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. Whoever speaks (or will speak) a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks (or will speak) against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matthew 12:22-32 NASB) In Luke, we see a similar scene as recorded in the 11 th and 12 chapter. Someone is healed, Jesus is accused of healing through the power of Beelzebub and Jesus again telling us that speaking against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. We will read in Luke the 11 th chapter verses 14 through 20 and then flip over to the 12 th chapter and pick up with 8 th verse. And He was casting out a demon, and it was mute; when the demon had gone out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons. Others, to test (or testing) Him, were demanding of Him a sign (or attesting miracle) from heaven. But He knew their thoughts and said to them, Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against itself falls. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast 4

5 out demons by Beelzebul. And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? So they will be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (Luke 11:14-20 NASB) And I say to you, everyone who confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God; but he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God. And everyone who speaks (or will speak) a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. (Luke 12:8-10 NASB) In each case, Jesus is accused of healing people through the power of the prince of evil (Beelzebub). Jesus hears the accusation of using the power of evil to do good and he prefaces His pronouncement with the promise of forgiveness of sin- Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter. Then He utters the sobering phrase that tells us there is something that is beyond forgiveness. Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. Why? Why would Jesus say such a thing? We may have a hint as we continue to read: because they were saying, He has an unclean spirit. In each case we have read this morning, Jesus, through the power of the Holy Spirit, had done good for someone in an unfortunate situation. To accuse the good done through the power of the Holy Spirit as evil is unpardonable. It points to another issue that is alluded to in the 5 th verse of Mark 3. The religious leaders 5

6 were more concerned about trapping Jesus as He did something good than actually helping people. Jesus felt two honest emotions: After looking around at them with anger, grieved. His grief was over their hardness of heart. The hardness of our hearts will lead us to a point where we no longer see, hear, or accept the goodness of the gifts from God. The writer of Hebrews warns us about hardening our hearts. We are told that God clearly demonstrated how He deals with it by reminding us of the generation that died in the dessert because of their hard heart. Hebrews 3:7-11 NASB) Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS. THEREFORE I WAS ANGRY WITH THIS GENERATION, AND SAID, THEY ALWAYS GO ASTRAY IN THEIR HEART, AND THEY DID NOT KNOW MY WAYS ; AS I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER MY REST. (Hebrews 3:7-11 NASB) We are also warned about returning to our sinful life after receiving salvation. This is not an occasional slip but an indication that we are so self-willed that we refuse to change. Let s read in Hebrews 6 beginning in verse 4. 6

7 For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. (Hebrews 6:4-6 NASB) When our hearts are so hard that we cannot or will not change from our sinful ways, there is no more sacrifice for us. If we fail to change and live a new life, our hard heart will no longer allow us to repent. Peter writes about those who taste the goodness of God and then turn away from it. Just as surely as the religious leaders accusing Jesus of using the power of evil and not seeing the good, we risk exchanging God s grace for something of much less value. We read 2 Peter 2: For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb, A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT, and, A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire. (2 Peter 2:20-22 NASB) Peter is not talking about a slip-up. He clearly states again entangled in them and are overcome. 7

8 To sin the unforgivable sin is not something that is done accidentally. It takes time to harden our hearts against the goodness and grace of God. It is not easy but it is possible. 8