Verse of the Day Devotion.  Mark 3:29

“But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.” Mark 3:29 

Now, at this time in His ministry, Jesus was followed by a great crowd. “And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the multitude, in order that they might not crowd Him; for He had healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions pressed about Him in order to touch Him.” Mark 3:9. He had healed so many that He became known throughout the land because of this.  And He called for a boat that He could be on it and able to speak to the crowd without being interrupted.

Now it happened that the scribes of the Pharisees came down to where He was. It appears that Jesus’ ministry had made an impact on the leadership in Jerusalem, and they came in order to confront Christ. They do not deny Jesus has the power to perform miracles, but how. “And 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.” Mark 3:22. They were accusing Jesus of being possessed by Satan himself. They believed that because of His power, it could not simply be a demon. They do not accuse him of faking it. They indeed recognize his power to perform miracles, but they deny His power was from God and instead claim it was from Beelzebul.

Then Jesus calls them to Himself and spoke directly to them. “How can Satan cast out Satan? And 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 he is finished!” Mark 3:23b-26. Jesus said this to show that if He did these things through Satan, then surely Satan’s kingdom was in a civil war and would not stand. Jesus said this to show that Satan would not work against himself; this would be like a house divided against itself. This would cause nothing but contention and discord. If citizens should fall out with their leaders, or with one with another; or if the heads of families quarrel with and divide from one another, the whole would be destroyed. And the same would be said of the kingdom of Satan. Then He points directly at the Scribes. “And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? consequently they shall be your judges.” Mark 3:26.

Then He adds the following. “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.” Mark 3:27. Jesus here calls Satan the strong man and Himself as the One who enters the house and plunders it. Of course, before Satan allows his domain to be plundered, he must be incapacitated. Jesus was not in league with Satan, as the scribes suggested, but had come to the earth, to what is essentially Satan’s house, in order to bind Satan and plunder his goods, which are the souls of men. Note this verse regarding this being Satan’s realm. “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” 1 John 5:19.

Then we end with this. “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 3:28-30. This is a difficult idea. But what is important is that the Scribes and Pharisees knew of the coming of the Messiah. And they also knew of what the scriptures spoke of Him. But they refused to accept the truth, and in so refusing to see Jesus as the Messiah, the refused to believe He was doing all this through the Holy Spirit. We read in Isaiah the following. “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” Isaiah 11:1-2. I believe they knew what this spoke of and should have seen who He really was. But they refused to believe and thus accused Him of being of the Devil. They saw His works, His healings, and heard His teachings. They knew if they spoke of Him as the Messiah they would lose their authority, and so they refused to accept it. They took it a step to far in claiming He was filled with Satan. And because of this, they hardened their hearts and thus lost their opportunity for repentance.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, for their