Mark 3:29 “. . . will never be forgiven . . .”
Many a sensitive soul has agonized with the fear that he or she had committed the unpardonable sin. When I was a pastor folks came to me from time to time wondering, truly worrying, if they were guilty of an “eternal sin.” (Mark 3:29) In every case I was glad to assure them that they had not committed this unpardonable sin. As I explained, anyone who is concerned about their sin, has not committed the unpardonable or eternal sin.
The context for Jesus’ words about the “eternal sin” make clear that the people in danger of this sin were those who had seen the miraculous work of God and yet they called that work the ministry of demons (v. 22). They were in danger of the eternal sin, but Jesus did not say that they had actually committed this sin either.
Those who questioned Jesus were not alone. Even the family of Jesus had questions about his ministry. They heard rumors about Jesus. People were saying that Jesus was “out of his mind” (v. 21), and the family responded by coming to “take charge of him.” Perhaps, they planned to take him home where he could rest and get back to normal.
Indeed, the atmosphere around Jesus must have been intense, Such large crowds were coming to Jesus that he and his disciples had no time even to take a break from their teaching to get a meal. The potential for total exhaustion seems to have been quite real. So, understandably his loved ones wanted to extricate him from the crowds and the growing intensity which seemed to them abnormal. We can see how they could have missed the eternal importance of what he was doing because of their concern for him as a family member. Jesus made clear that he could not stop this important work. He even said that family, finally, means the people who are doing the will of God. More important than our kinship connection is our connection to one another as believers. (v. 35)
The other people in this passage who had questions about the ministry of Jesus were not concerned for his welfare. They were religious leaders who made the remarkably unreasonable statement that Jesus was doing his work by the power of Beelzebul, by the power of Satan. Jesus explained what was obvious: Jesus was doing good. Satan does evil. So, if Jesus is defeating the work of Satan he cannot be working for Satan.
On that issue turned the idea of the unpardonable sin. If, in fact, the religious leaders could not distinguish between good and evil, then how could they ever hope to repent of sin? How could they come to good if they could not recognize good. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and call us to repentance (John 16:8) One who cannot receive the Spirit’s guidance about good and evil cannot come to God.
Of course, the implication is that these religious leaders actually could discern evil from good, but they were so jealous of their position and so fearful of the people coming to Jesus instead of them that they chose to call evil good and good evil. The unpardonable sin is to resist and to deny the truth that one has received from the Spirit. The failure of Jesus’ family to understand his mission is understandable; they were blinded by their concern for his health, but the religious leaders, in contrast to the family, illogically and stubbornly refused to acknowledge what had been revealed by the Spirit. God was at work in Jesus who was the Christ. When we know the truth about Jesus, and refuse him we are committing a sin that can keep us from God eternally.
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