The Blasphemy Of The Holy Spirit - Mark 3:20-30 (Matthew 12:22-37) Series

Mark 3:20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind." 22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons." 23 So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. 28 I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an evil spirit.”

Jesus Examined

I’ve titled this message “Jesus in the Dock’ – a slight adjustment of the title to C.S. Lewis’ book “God in the Dock.” In England, they use the word “dock” to refer to the enclosure the defendant sits in during a trial. So the idea is that Jesus was on trial – in the dock. Jesus was always being examined – and not with friendly eyes.

Mark 3:2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.

Rooting for Failure

That shows what’s in their hearts. Why did the Pharisees get so upset about Jesus breaking their Sabbath rules? Was it because they wanted people to honor God? No. They were actually hoping Jesus would break the Sabbath so they could have an accusation against him.

Any time you find yourself hoping that someone fails – you’re the one failing. That can be a temptation. Someone is merciless toward you because of something in your past, holding it against you, it’s easy to start thinking, “I hope he falls off his high horse one of these days.” And you can actually find yourself rooting for them to fall. If that ever happens, repent because that is a heart that is very far from the heart of God.

If someone is like that toward you, Jesus can sympathize. Jesus was always being critically examined, and still is to this day. There has not been a generation in the human race since his time who has not examined and reexamined Jesus looking for some flaw. He is the most examined person who ever lived, and yet he remains the most admired person who has ever lived. And he is also the most rejected man who ever lived. And that’s what we see here. We’re going to see two different forms of rejection, based on two different verdicts about Jesus – one by Jesus’ family, and another by the scribes.

Family Verdict

Jesus comes down from the mountain after appointing the Twelve, and he’s right back into the chaos of the crowds.

Mark 3:20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.

The crowds have become unmanageable. They almost crushed him before he went up on the mountain. Now he comes back down, goes in a house, and the crowds just follow him right in the house. Someone in the news might have reporters camping out in his front yard. But these crowds weren’t in Jesus’ front yard. He would go inside for dinner, and they would follow him right into the house, and press around him so much that he couldn’t even eat a meal. The whole thing was absolutely out of control.

21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

The word for take charge of means to seize, or to arrest, or to take into custody. It’s used in Mark of Jesus’ arrest and the arrest of John the Baptist. They are going to take hold of Jesus and bring him home – whether he wants to come or not, because this is getting out of control. He’s got the authorities so upset they are trying to kill him, and he keeps throwing more kindling on the fire and stirring up more frenzied crowds. And that has ramifications for his family.