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Scripture Text (NRSV)
3:20 and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even
eat.
3:21 When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for
people were saying, 'He has gone out of his mind.'
3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beelzebul,
and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.'
3:23 And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, 'How
can Satan cast out Satan?
3:24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot
stand.
3:25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not
be able to stand.
3:26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he
cannot stand, but his end has come.
3:27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his
property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the
house can be plundered.
3:28 'Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and
whatever blasphemies they utter;
3:29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have
forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin'--
3:30 for they had said, 'He has an unclean spirit.'
3:31 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside,
they sent to him and called him.
3:32 A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, 'Your
mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.'
3:33 And he replied, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?'
3:34 And looking at those who sat around him, he said, 'Here are my
mother and my brothers!
3:35 Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and
mother.'"
Comments:
| Posted by |
Comments: |
steve souther
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Friends,
Jesus had a family.
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| Posted by |
Comments: |
Rick in Canada, eh?
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Hi all.
Ah yes, the "unforgivable sin." I
suspect you, like me, have heard people asking
about this, and I suspect you, like me, have heard
well-meaning teachers and/or preachers turn
themselves into theological pretzels trying to
explain this away, and reassure concerned
parishioners that, if they are afraid they may
have done this, that is evidence that they have
not, etc., etc.
As I see it, there are two primary issues in
addressing the unforgivable sin.
1 - Jesus calls out the scribes when they claim
that God is not with a person who does things
differently than they do. They assumed, or just
plain asserted, that anyone who challenged their
interpretation of life and faith and tradition,
must be acting on behalf of the deceiver.
It's a common method of avoiding the real
challenge, the real question being raised. Shoot
the messenger instead of engaging the message.
The sin was not the scribe's denial that the
Spirit was with Jesus as the Messiah. The sin was
the scribe's denial that the Spirit was with Jesus
as a person who saw and did things in a way that
called their assumptions into question.
And who hasn't done that?
Which leads to point 2.
(Warning: Lutheranism about to be unleashed!)
2 - The other issue brought into the light by
naming this the "unforgivable sin," is
the whole "How are we brought into a saving
relationship with God" question.
And as hard as it is for us good moral people to
hear, we are not brought into a saving
relationship with God, nor are we maintained in a
saving relationship with God, by avoiding sin.
Which is pretty good news, especially in the
context of the current discussion.
Let's be honest, we have all denied the presence
of the Spirit in others, at one time or another.
In fact, we have all denied the presence of the
Spirit in OURSELVES at one time or another. We
have all said "No" to the promptings of
the Spirit at one time or another.
And while these denials have certainly put
blinders on us in terms of our ability to see God
with the other, and/or with ourselves, that does
not in any way diminish God's actual presence with
us.
God is found with every atom of creation: every
rock, tree, mountain... and person. (And if you
want to get political, you could even say, every
wedding cake, too!)
Denying this presence hurts, certainly, but it
hurts the denier. And Jesus came, and comes,
specifically for hurting people.
No matter how the hurt was caused.
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| Posted by |
Comments: |
steve souther
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Well spoken, Rick.
I have turned myself into one of those theological
pretzels you mentioned.
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| Posted by |
Comments: |
Throck in Oz
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Rick and Steve... oh yes!
Thank you.
Rick, you have put it in a nutshell for me!
and Steve, I hope I can straighten out my pretzel
a bit too!
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| Posted by |
Comments: |
Throck in Oz
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Rick and Steve... oh yes!
Thank you.
Rick, you have put it in a nutshell for me!
and Steve, I hope I can straighten out my pretzel
a bit too!
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| Posted by |
Comments: |
steve souther
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Friends,
Speaking of seeing the Spirit of God at work
(Rick): if a person is unable to recognize the
Spirit of God at work inside them, it will be near
impossible to see it at work in others.
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| Posted by |
Comments: |
steve souther
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My comment about seeing the Spirit at work came
from a George MacDonald, and wasn't intended to
cast shade on anyone.
Speaking of that, we shouldn't be surprised when
someone takes what we're doing or saying wrong. It
happened to Jesus in this very text.
Maybe a point we can take from this is to realize
the journey we're on (following Jesus) is perilous
and we shouldn't be afraid of making mistakes
along the way.
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| Posted by |
Comments: |
Rick again
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Or perhaps that when we are misunderstood (whether
accidentally or intentionally), it doesn't mean we
made a mistake! ;-)
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