And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." – Mark 3:22

Today's Scripture Reading (December 18, 2023): Mark 3

The unforgivable sin has caught our imagination. What is the unforgivable sin, and have I transgressed to that place where I can never come back? I have often replied that if you are worried about the unforgivable sin, you probably aren't guilty of breaking it. But it is a good question.

Jesus was causing a stir. But what was worse was that the authorities were starting to take notice. Even Jesus's family was getting concerned and came to get him, saying he was out of his mind. And then the scribes, the teachers of the law, made this accusation. "Jesus is possessed by Beelzebul."

In Hebrew, the name Beelzebul means "Baal the Prince". Baal the Prince was the chief God of Ekron. Baal, the God of fertility and thunder, was also worshiped by the Canaanites when the Children of Israel entered the promised land. But at the time of Jesus's ministry, Beelzebul had been designated as the chief of demons in Jewish Demonology. Another name for him was Satan. By whatever name, he was considered the primary power of evil and in charge of a host of demons.

 Jesus hears the accusations of the religious elite, and he decides that this is the time to tell a parable to those following him.

So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man's house (Mark 3:23-27).

If you listen to Jesus's heart here, he tells the Pharisees that Satan will not oppose himself. And that is what would be happening if Jesus were to be possessed by Beelzebul and was using Satan's power to cast out demons. The only way Satan can be defeated is by a Power that is higher than his. So, Jesus makes it clear that his power is not from Satan, and it is not the power of man, but it is the power of God, manifested through the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus.

The scribes were questioning not only Jesus's authority but also the authority of the Holy Spirit that worked through Jesus. So, Jesus continued and said,

Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter,  but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."

He said this because they were saying, "He has an impure spirit" (Mark 3:28-30).

According to Jesus, you can question him all you want, but questioning the power of the Holy Spirit in this world is unforgivable. The language that Mark uses here means not that these Holy Spirit accusers said it once but that they said it continually. They attributed the good the Holy Spirit did in people's lives to Beelzebul or Satan. This was the same Spirit who wanted to do a work in them. By continually asserting that God's Holy Spirit in Jesus and alive in Israel was really Beelzebul, they were denying the Holy Spirit access to their lives. And if it continued, that was the unforgivable sin.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Luke 6