28 But if I throw out demons by the power of God’s Spirit, then God’s kingdom has already overtaken you. 29 Can people go into a house that belongs to a strong man and steal his possessions, unless they first tie up the strong man? Then they can rob his house. 30 Whoever isn’t with me is against me, and whoever doesn’t gather with me scatters.
Insulting the Holy Spirit
31 “Therefore, I tell you that people will be forgiven for every sin and insult to God. But insulting the Holy Spirit won’t be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Human One[a] will be forgiven. But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit won’t be forgiven, not in this age or in the age that is coming.
Reflection
You may want to read the verses before our scripture if you are not acquainted with this story. It is also in Mark 3:22-27. Jesus healed a man who was blind, mute, and demon possessed. The religious people accused him of being Beelzebul (Satan). Jesus’s argument to them was basically (I am paraphrasing) that makes no sense. If I am the devil, then why would I drive out demons? Wouldn’t I want them to stick around? The religious people did not want to believe that Jesus had the power of God – it is not anything they had seen, and they were afraid of that power, but they did recognize it as God’s power. They were just trying to degrade Jesus. Jesus then went on to say in our scripture that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the worst offense we can cause. He was basically saying that if we don’t believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to heal for God and Jesus, then we don’t believe in God.
Jesus said if they were not with him, they were against him – what does that mean for us today? Obviously, this has been an ongoing question, and we can clearly see it playing out daily in our public discourse. People who claim to be Christians and claim to know what God wants and who God wants to win wars etc. do not seem to be practicing much of anything Jesus taught. They are calling out people who are doing justice work and those caring for the poor, sick, mentally ill, immigrants, and others in the margins. People who are in the margins and those helping them are basically being called dangerous to our society. We are then drawn to think of those Jesus defended – women, children, tax collectors, those who were sick, poor, and those who were on the margins of that society. So where do we fall on being on Jesus’s side or on the side of being against him? Do we get it perfectly right? No, I’m sure we don’t all of the time because we do have our biases and blind spots about people, but should we strive to help those who Jesus would have defended?
Absolutely! Is it hard sometimes? Of course! Let’s be guided by what Jesus said is the first commandment – to love your God with all your heart and mind and secondly – love your neighbor as yourself. I don’t think it could be any clearer.
by Janet Warwyck
For Pondering and Prayer
Do you remember WWJD – what would Jesus do? It was a phrase that was on everything for a bit and became kind of kitschy, but in reality, isn’t that what we should be asking ourselves and striving to do to further the kindom?
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for showing us the way. Thank you for your acts toward others in the face of grievance and ridicule. Give us wisdom and courage to be with you and to try to do what you would do. In your name we pray, Amen.
