“Eternal Sin Eternal Family”
Text: Mark 3: 22-35 Esv
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." †
Family matters
We finished last week’s text with Jesus’ family (a bunch of uncles, I imagined) out to get him because they think he is “out of his mind.” Today’s text gives us the ultimate clash between Jesus and the scribes, and Jesus’ own take on family values. As we review the text, let us remember to look for ourselves in its mirror.
1. JESUS FORGIVES BLASPHEMY
As Jesus has drawn interest and interested followers from the far south to far north points of Palestine, he is clearly the talk of the town in Jerusalem. Nevermind those Galilean scribes and Pharisees—they’re amateurs!—it’s time to send some top-notch, cream-of-the-crop scribes from Jerusalem down to check this guy out. So they come—the top dogs—the ancient equivalent of professors from Oxford, Harvard, and Princeton Theological Seminary. Now we’ll have a real verdict on this Jesus. Could he be the Messiah? The experts will let us know for sure.
Their verdict? They are in perfect agreement: this Jesus does in fact do healings, but he is not the messiah; he is The Devil himself. They call him Beelzebul, which means “Lord of the dung.” Closely related is Beelzebub, which means “Lord of the flies.” These names were used interchangeably to refer to the powers of Satan—they were demonic Princes, dark archangels—and they were the greatest evil in Judaism. The pagan god Ba’al is in the name, and to say that Jesus was healing by the power of Beelzebul was to say that there was nothing of the Lord in him.
Their proclamation is that he is worse than a nuisance; he is Sorcerer doing healings by black magic. This charge alone could have had Jesus executed if pursued. From our point of view, to call Jesus Beelzebul constitutes the ultimate blasphemy. They are looking God Almighty in the face—these religious leaders—and they call him The Devil.
Now Jesus could have—perhaps should have—struck them dead on the spot. Like the sons of Korah, God’s justice and glory almost demand that the earth open up and swallow these scribes and experts for the level of their blasphemy, but Jesus does something much more interesting, and more excellent as well:
23 And he called them to him
and said to them in parables…
Jesus calls them to himself. This is a kind, gentle, gracious response to their extreme hostility. Jesus models love for his enemies. He gathers them around, inviting them to process through their thoughts, and then he speaks to them in parables. This means he is meeting them on their own terms. Parables were classic rabbinical teaching tools. Jesus shows them respect (though they don’t deserve it) and meets them speaking in their own tongue.
Now before we look at what Jesus says to them, look at what he’s done: they have pronounced him—in front of the crowds and his own followers—the greatest imaginable insult! Jesus welcomes them and now instructs them. He welcomes his most bitter and vile enemies. This is strength. The scribes think that Jesus needs them and their endorsements. He does not need them. He has the truth. He is The Truth. That’s why he is neither angry, nor defensive, nor anxious. He welcomes those who despise him and teaches them. He can do this only because he needs nothing from them. He is a giver and he gives on his own terms—though he meets them where they are.
• Would Satan weaken Satan?
Jesus asks them, “How can Satan cast out Satan?” In other words, Jesus says to them, “Okay, supposing you’re correct—supposing that I am the prince of the demons, why then would I be casting them out rather than in? Wouldn’t my mission be to put my demons into as many people as possible? Into you (Zap!) and you (Pow!) and you? If I’m casting demons out, I’d be weakening myself, my mission, my cause and my kingdom! Now friends, does that make any sense at all?”
If anyone means to overthrow the kingdom of a very strong king, he must first capture the king; then he can set up a new rule. Jesus is letting them know that he is plundering Hell and ransacking the house of Satan because Jesus has authority over Satan—over Satan’s house and kingdom.
Through his teachings, healings and exorcisms, Jesus is clearly the world’s chief source of Satan’s destruction. How can that be evil?
• Jesus sets the boundaries
Verse 28 gives us a glimpse into the plan of God that hasn’t been revealed before:
28 "Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,
Catch that first phrase: Truly, all sins will be forgiven humankind, even blasphemy This is our first glimpse into the bigger plan of God in Christ. The Disciples’ eyebrows would have lifted at this, for we have heard nothing about Jesus planning to forgive all of humankind before. He forgave the paralytic’s sins before healing him, yes, and it was not inconceivable that the messiah should forgive the sins of Israel, but all humankind? Here is the plan of good news!
Jesus is kind and winsome in his approach and teaching. He is hospitable and welcoming. But he also makes known to them the real boundaries of what they’re doing—the real cause of destruction:
whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"
This is fair warning. The Holy Spirit points to Jesus. Jesus is the only source of forgiveness. To deny Jesus is to deny forgiveness. Jesus is not saying that the scribes have no hope, for they can change their minds. But those who persist in rejecting the Holy Spirit will have no one left in their corner but Satan.
2. jesus and family values
Like last week, our episode ends with an ironic family twist. Last week, the family was all out to get him. This week, his mother and siblings are looking for him (perhaps to warn him about all those uncles out to get him?). Jesus is busy teaching when someone interrupts him to say his mother and brothers were outside wanting to see him. Jesus says:
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
Anyone who tries to co-opt Christianity into a family values agenda gets zero support from Jesus! There is little elsewhere in the New Testament. Jesus was single—didn’t even have a family of his own. The apostle Paul was single. He says in 1 Corinthians 7, verse 8:
To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am.
Paul even says it’s “better”—not equal to or as good as—but better to be single. The Catholics picked up on this, but we Protestants have tossed it out. What is worse, we Protestants have twisted the Gospel into a pro-family-values political agenda, which is a form of gospel abuse, in my opinion. Nowhere in scripture do we find Jesus or Paul extolling the virtues of being a good family (though Paul does give pastoral guidance to families as such). The fact is, so-called family values are as secular as sin itself. Jesus is the sword that divides fathers from sons, mothers from daughters[see Matthew 10:34].
Good families are as much an interest to pagans and atheists as Christians. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “If you love only those who love you, of what benefit is that? Even pagans do the same.” This applies equally to family. If you love your own family members, don’t think yourself some kind of saint—most unthinking mammals do as well, and so do atheist families.
We must resist the temptation—we must not allow faith to be turned into family self-love.
Yes, your christianity is expressed as a witness to and through your family, but your family name is not eternal. Your Christian name is!
As parents, your first concern is leading your children into God’s eternal family. The family that worships together—that knows Christ and is known by Christ together—that is an eternal family. Jesus says it:
"Here are my mother and my brothers!”
That is the family we are interested in.
†