This sermon focuses on the second half of Mark chapter 3. We see Jesus’s authority as He faces opposition and Him drawing crowds of people to himself. There are two important themes in this section of scripture. The first shows Jesus explaining to the scribes why his power can’t come from Satan. The second is Him teaching about blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
Below are some takeaways from Mark 3:20-30.
1) A house divided can’t stand.
If Jesus was casting out demons by the power of Satan, then Satan is fighting himself. His entire motivation is to separate people from God. That’s what he started with the angels who fell from heaven with him, who became the demons. The Devil continued it with Adam & Eve when he tempted them to sin, causing their separation from God. By exercising demons from people, it gives an opportunity for them to come to God.
2) Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is unforgiveable.
This is also referred to as the unforgivable sin. This is refusing the Holy Spirit’s work at drawing you to salvation. The context of this scripture came because the Scribes were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” According to Strong’s Greek dictionary “blasphemy” is a compound of “to hinder” and “a saying.” The Holy Spirit’s job is to draw us to salvation. So, it stands to reason that blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is rejecting his efforts to draw us to Jesus. It’s unforgivable because we refuse to let Jesus forgive us.
Jesus keeps forcing people to choose sides. There were crowds that followed him. There were other crowds that tried desperately to stop Him.
We have the same choices today. We can either refuse the work of the Holy Spirit, or we can accept his invitation of forgiveness.
Since this is Sunday, I’ll change my normal closing. Rest well and smile often today.
You can read along with us and get ready for next week’s sermon by SOAPing through the scripture with us. Click here to learn about the SOAP method of scripture reading.