The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is
possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out
demons.” Mark 3:22
By this time, Jesus was fully engaged in His public ministry. He
had healed the sick and lame, cast out many demons, called the
Twelve Apostles and given them authority over evil spirits, and
preached the Good News to many. Just prior to this Gospel passage,
some of Jesus’ own extended family had criticized Him, claiming
that Jesus was out of His mind. Then the scribes began their public
condemnation of our Lord.
The scribes were faced with a dilemma. They saw Jesus cast out
demons from those who were possessed, so they needed to come up
with an explanation. They concluded that Jesus was able to cast out
demons by the power of the prince of demons. Jesus goes on to
address the scribes’ criticism by identifying their condemnation as
a sin against the Holy Spirit. Jesus explains that every sin can be
forgiven except the sin against the Holy Spirit. He says that
“whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have
forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” Why is
that?
In this case, the sin against the Holy Spirit is not only the false
condemnation spoken by the scribes against Jesus. First and
foremost, their sin is one of obstinacy. They spoke falsely about
our Lord, which is a grave sin, but what’s worse is that they did
so in such a way that they remained firmly grounded in their error.
They refused to humble themselves and reconsider their error. And
it is this stubbornness that leaves them with an “everlasting
sin.”
Perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from this passage is
that we must avoid remaining stuck in our pride in an obstinate
way. We must always be humble and be ready and willing to reexamine
our actions. Humility will help us to perpetually remember that we
can easily become misled in life. And though this will happen from
time to time in various ways, if we remain humble and open to
change, then we can always receive the mercy of God and find
forgiveness. But if we are prideful and continually refuse to admit
our errors, then we are also potentially guilty of a sin against
the Holy Spirit.
Reflect, today, upon any tendency you have in your life to be
stubborn. Stubbornness can be a virtue when the stubbornness is an
unwavering commitment to the Gospel and to the will of God.
However, you must always intentionally reexamine the path you are
on so that you can change when that path begins to deviate from the
Truth of God. Humble yourself this day and allow God's voice to
lead you back from any errors with which you now struggle.
My merciful Jesus, I sin every day and will continue to fail to
follow You with perfection. For this reason, I thank You for Your
abundant mercy. Please help me to always be open to that mercy by
regularly re-examining my decisions in life. Give me humility, dear
Lord, to always repent and to turn back to You when I stray. Jesus,
I trust in You.
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Featured image above: The Pharisees and the Saduccees Come to
Tempt Jesus By James Tissot, via Wikimedia Commons
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