Mark 3:22-30

Mark 3:22-30 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.” So Jesus called them and spoke 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 and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”

The key to the above passage is the last clause: “He has an evil spirit.” Jesus is warning them that they cannot get away with saying that good originates from evil. The Spirit of God motivated Jesus to do what He was doing. Before Jesus was baptized, He did not perform these good works, but after the Spirit consumed (filled) him, his life became a message from God to the fullest extent, even to his death. He brought God's grace and mercy to the people by performing good works. "As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him." (Matthew 3:16) Jesus was baptized by the Holy Spirit; He was full of the Holy Spirit; therefore, He performed the works of the Holy Spirit. Jesus went around doing good: healing people, casting out demons, performing miracles, and teaching about God's goodness. In the above passage, Jesus uses a parable to reveal to the "teachers of the law" that they can make fun of him, make fun of his ministry, and even make fun of God, but they dare not make fun of the Holy Spirit's work. Otherwise, they cannot say that the good Jesus is doing originates from evil, for if they do, there is no other way possible for their restoration to God. They "will never be forgiven." Jesus is saying to them, "Beelzebub is not doing these good works of mine, the Holy Spirit is. The devil hates me and the good works I perform. He knows I am releasing the people from the prison of sin and death. He knows his exclusive reign on Earth has come to the end." Jesus was emphatically telling the "teachers of the law that the works they are seeing him perform are the HOLY SPIRIT'S WORKS to free people from the bondage. If people reject that message and claim it is from the devil, they have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit, and they cannot be saved. If they willingly reject THE HOLY SPIRIT'S LIGHT (Jesus' good works) and call it sin, they have no other way to God. Jesus is telling the "teachers of the law" that the work He is doing is the work of God's Spirit, and they better not reject or ridicule the Spirit's work.

When people of the world accept Jesus as a man of good works, they are not dishonoring the work of the Holy Spirit, for they are not classifying Jesus' works as of the devil or bad. However, they do not rightly discern who He truly is, and their eyes need to be opened. Many times troubled Christians believe that they somehow have dishonored the Holy Spirit. They might have strayed from God by following after the world and its attractions. They might have criticized Jesus and maybe even rejected his work in them, but the fact that they still recognize Jesus Christ as being good and not evil, and that his works (The Holy Spirit's Works) are good and not evil, places them far from sinning against the Holy Spirit. Even the anxiety they feel about whether they have blasphemed against the Holy Spirit reveals that they accept somewhere in their consciousness that Jesus' works were divine, not evil. Why is sinning against the Holy Spirit so devastating? Well, if you think evil is good, and good is evil, if you think Jesus' works are evil and not good, you have no way to God. In such a state, the way to God is opaque, for evil brings darkness; it closes the door to light; it closes the door to salvation. But that is not true for the people who read this. You would not be reading this breakfast if that were true. Your heart and mind would be darkened and hardened, and you would not be seeking God's kingdom or wanting to grow in his love and to hide more of his Word in your heart if you had truly rejected the Holy Spirit. Rejoice today because God loves you and seeks to fulfill his will in your life.