Today’s passage: Mark 3:22-35
Helpful thoughts:
- After Jesus’ earthly family called Him crazy, the religious leaders called Him demon-possessed.
- Blasphemy is defined as “Irreverent and insulting or slanderous expressions against God.” (MacArthur’s and Mayhue’s “Biblical Doctrine”)
- To say that what Jesus was doing and saying were the work of Satan was incredibly slanderous.
- One of the works of the Holy Spirit is to point people to Jesus! To deny the identity of Christ and to reject Him as Lord and Savior is to blaspheme the testimony of the Holy Spirit.
- When we remember the context, Jesus’ family were calling Him to take Him home because they thought He was out of His mind (Verse 21).
- It is right to see the church as family and not to allow unbelieving family to keep us away.
- However, Jesus is not advocating here for an abandoning of the earthly family or family responsibilities for the church.
Questions to consider:
- What is the right and healthy way to see church as family? What are some passages that help us to understand that our responsibilities to our homes/earthly families are not negated by these verses?
- If the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is to reject His word concerning Christ, then what is truly the unpardonable sin? What is true of those who reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (1 John 5:12, John 3:18)?
- If a person does not reject or blaspheme the ministry of the Holy Spirit, what will they believe and what will then be true of them? (John 3:5-16)