“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin” — for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” Mark 3:28-30
Redeemable
This passage can be a weird one to work with because the subtlety of context is often missed. From yesterday’s bLOG, we heard the scribes accuse Jesus of being Satan, the unredeemable angel cast from heaven. Jesus responds that this does not make sense because he would be attacking himself.
Now Jesus follows up with this statement where he declares that any sin a human commits is forgivable, even blasphemy. Human sins are redeemable. Then Jesus turns on a dime and says that the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness; he refers to Satan. That one is guilty of a sin that never receives redemption, which is why he was cast from God’s presence.
Unlike the scribes, in a nuanced way, Jesus is delivering hope to the people that they are not beyond redemption as long as he’s on the job, and that will be eternal too!
Over the years, I have worked with people who think their sins are not forgiven because they are unredeemed. I often find out that their struggle results from listening to the wrong voice(s)!
Hear the words of Jesus once again: “ALL sins will be forgiven the children of humanity…”
You are Redeemable!
Lord Jesus,
When we are down on ourselves because of our missteps, help us hear your grace-filled words of redemption from the cross, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
I pray this in the name if my Redeemer. Amen!
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