We spend much of our time as Christians in the firm belief that every sin is forgivable, however today’s Gospel of Mark tells another story. Perhaps it is impossible today for someone to commit the sin outlined in Mark 3. Because the Pharisees at the time did not want to accept that Jesus’s power was indeed divine and his healing powers invoked the power of the Holy Spirit, instead they said they his powers were derived from the devil.

Aside from the fact that is is not much of a contest between God and devil when it comes to real match up (aside when our human free will plays its part), it is unimaginable that Jesus would drive out demons from the “unclean spirits” from those needing healing. Particularly if you accept the argument of the Pharisees that he is an agent of the devil. Getting rid of evil spirits of his own making? I don’t think so.

However, it does make you think about some of the arguments made today that vilify Jesus and the sources that make them. Many of these are atheists, who you could argue don’t believe in God, therefore are not blaspheming in the same way at the Pharisees who were believers, but did not want to recognize the power of Jesus, feeling it would reduce their own. (Source: New Jerome Biblical Commentary, Raymond Brown, p604)