22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 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.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31 And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” 33 And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
The scribes came down from Jerusalem and accused Jesus of being possessed by Satan. They attributed His ability to cast out demons to a partnership with Satan. Jesus showed them the flaw of their argument by using parables. First, a house divided cannot stand. If Satan is casting out his own demons then where is his power? He is defeating himself. The next point Jesus makes is the opposite. Satan does have power and has bound many with demon possession. The only way to rob Satan of his power is for One more powerful to come and tie him up and take away what he has. Jesus was showing, by freeing people from their demon possession, that He was that stronger one who was able to successfully plunder Satan of his goods.
The Jesus gave a stern warning that anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit commits an unforgivable sin. This sin seems to be completely localised to the Jewish leaders who were in effect calling the Holy Spirit Satan. We need not be concerned that we might inadvertently commit this unpardonable sin. The only sin that cannot be forgiven is the sin of rejecting Jesus up to one’s death, because after death there is no further opportunity to receive His saving grace. If you have not received Jesus’ free gift of salvation, then today is the day!
Mark returns to the story of Jesus’ family coming to rescue Him from the crowds. Jesus uses that opportunity to point out that everyone has an opportunity to have a family relationship with Him. Whoever does the will of God (John 6:29) is a member of Jesus’ family.