Mark 3: The work of God is what God has done, and the work of man is what man has done.
Mark 3: The work of God is what God has done, and the work of man is what man has done.
22 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."
29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."
As Jesus healed various diseases and drove out demons from people, the temple leaders of the time did not recognize Jesus' work as God working through him. Why couldn't the legal experts from Jerusalem accept Jesus? It was because of a struggle for authority and power. Jesus' healing and liberating ministry was perceived as a challenge to their power. Jesus explained that to deny the work God has done is to commit the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and he tried to persuade them. The behavior of belittling the work of the Holy Spirit as the work of evil spirits is endless. It is not because the sin is too great to be forgiven, but because of the relentless nature of human belittlement. Humans categorize sins into big and small, unforgivable and forgivable. When denying God is a sin, can there be levels to sin? Isn't categorizing sin the epitome of fallen human wisdom?
Such behavior of blaspheming the Holy Spirit by people is commonplace. One day, people cornered Jesus with the question of whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar instead of God. Unable to suppress their nature of grading sins, they compared the authority of God and the Roman Emperor. However, Jesus countered their trap with the famous saying, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." It was a warning not to blaspheme the Holy Spirit by equating God and the Roman Emperor through the standard of money (taxes). If the legal experts of Jerusalem at that time had recognized Jesus' work as his own and their work as their own, the insult of turning the Holy Spirit into Beelzebul would not have occurred.
22 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."
29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin."
As Jesus healed various diseases and drove out demons from people, the temple leaders of the time did not recognize Jesus' work as God working through him. Why couldn't the legal experts from Jerusalem accept Jesus? It was because of a struggle for authority and power. Jesus' healing and liberating ministry was perceived as a challenge to their power. Jesus explained that to deny the work God has done is to commit the sin of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and he tried to persuade them. The behavior of belittling the work of the Holy Spirit as the work of evil spirits is endless. It is not because the sin is too great to be forgiven, but because of the relentless nature of human belittlement. Humans categorize sins into big and small, unforgivable and forgivable. When denying God is a sin, can there be levels to sin? Isn't categorizing sin the epitome of fallen human wisdom?
Such behavior of blaspheming the Holy Spirit by people is commonplace. One day, people cornered Jesus with the question of whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar instead of God. Unable to suppress their nature of grading sins, they compared the authority of God and the Roman Emperor. However, Jesus countered their trap with the famous saying, "Give back to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's." It was a warning not to blaspheme the Holy Spirit by equating God and the Roman Emperor through the standard of money (taxes). If the legal experts of Jerusalem at that time had recognized Jesus' work as his own and their work as their own, the insult of turning the Holy Spirit into Beelzebul would not have occurred.