St. Mark 3:1-35: "1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, 'Step forward.' 4 Then He said to them, 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. 7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. 9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, 'You are the Son of God.' 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known. 13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, 'Sons of Thunder'; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house. 20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, 'He is out of His mind.' 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beelzebub,' and, 'By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.' 23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: 'How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house. 28 Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation'--30 because they said, 'He has an unclean spirit.' 31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. 32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, 'Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.' 33 But He answered them, saying, 'Who is My mother, or My brothers?' 34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers! 35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.'"
This pericope spans several topics, however, we will concentrate on just one. The teaching that blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the unforgivable sin. Our Lord likens this sin to a battle; a house divided against itself. This can be pictured by reflecting upon a civil war. When a nation wars against itself the nation is torn apart, and is left desolate, on both sides of the war. We can see this from our own nation's past, where differing states from the North and South battled for political reasons. In this war more American soldiers were killed than in any other war in its history. The South was left demolished, and it took many years to rebuild it. In fact, after the war, it took many years for the nation to recover as a whole.
The point is that when a house is divided, nobody wins. It is impossible for good to triumph. The same is true about our Lord Jesus, if He is casting out demons by Beelzebub, as He is accused of, how can Satan stand. For Satan desires the destruction of the human race. He loves when the human race is divided against itself. Therefore, Satan, being evil, will not allow his demons to be cast out of people, for in so doing he is doing damage to himself. Therefore, he cannot win, if he is warring against himself.
Our Lord, however, shows how the devil is defeated, and in so doing, reveals that He is not in league with Satan, but is in fact His enemy. For He is the One Who binds the strong man, which is the devil, and plunders his house, that is, this world. Therefore our Lord destroys the devils abode, cleansing it and making it ready for His Word to be preached and taught to the whole world through His Apostles, who are named in this reading. Our Lord then goes on to say that the one who accuses Him of being in league with the devil, knowing that the things He does are from God, is committing an unforgiveable sin; Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
This teaching of the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, has led to many misunderstandings about its meaning, and intention. With the assistance of the Early Fathers, we will attempt to clean up some of the mess of teachings.*
Blasphemy against our Lord, although a very great sin, can be forgiven after repentance, for our Lord was born of a lowly birth, and lived as a man. However, blasphemy against God will not be forgiven. And since the work of the Holy Spirit is to increase the kingdom of God, which shows that He is God, blasphemy against Him will not be tolerated, in this world or the next. What that means is committing this sin warrants eternal damnation. This is a very grave sentence, and causes stern consternation among those of us who desire not to be guilty of such a sin.
But we can take comfort in the fact that this sin is tied to the parable of the strong man, and the division of a house, for only those who try to prevent or limit the work of the Holy Spirit, or make His work out to be something it is not, which in reality is just preventing and limiting His work, are guilty of this sin. Part of this preventing the work of the Holy Spirit, is impenitence. For the Holy Spirit's task is to forgive sins, which He does through the means of grace that our Lord Jesus instituted for our use, but those who refuse forgiveness, or those who do not believe that their actions, thoughts, and words are sinful, remain in impenitence, and therefore cannot be forgiven. This means they have blasphemed the Holy Ghost, and have condemned themselves to eternal damnation.
To carry this thought further, those who live in impenitence, have divided themselves against the Church, and by virtue of the unity of the Church with our Lord, that is, they are Bride and Bridegroom, or Husband and Wife, if they are not in unity with the Church, they are not in unity with our Lord. Again, a house divided against itself, cannot stand. Nor can the impenitent stand in the day of judgment, for they have divided themselves from our Lord. St. Ambrose** carries this idea further by stating that the heretics, like Arius, who divided the Holy Trinity, commit the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, for they divide the Church. Therefore, all those who cause divisions in the Church, by teaching false doctrine, (we are not talking about the divisions that are naturally caused because some hold to the Truth) are blaspheming against the Holy Ghost, for they are dividing the house against itself, and sadly they are leading men into their false teachings and ultimately to their eternal damnation.
This is why it is important to remain faithful to our Lord's teachings, using as our source and norm, holy Scripture, and checking our teachings and what our church body teaches against what holy Scripture teaches. We must also examine and know our enemy the devil, which includes knowing the false teachings that have popped up from generation to generation, to see that we do not make the same mistake those who followed those false teachers have done. We must also recognize, and act upon that recognition when our church body no longer follows the teachings of the historic, apostolic, and catholic (that is, universal) Church. We cannot remain in a church body that teaches falsely, and still expect to be in unity with our Lord. For a house divided against itself cannot stand.
It is especially sad when a church body is content to go with the status quo, and through inaction, refuses to check and re-check her doctrine, so that after many errors have crept in through apathy, people blindly follow these errors, neither knowing, nor caring about the truth. This why a church body must always be concerned about the doctrine that she upholds, and hold the ministers under her care accountable for the doctrines and practice. The same thing is true of ministers and their parishes, they have a duty and obligation to make sure that what their parishes preach and practice are in line with what our Lord taught, and what He instituted to be done in His Church. All this is done to promote true unity and fellowship. And where true unity and fellowship exist, there also exists love and trust among those who are united in doctrine and practice.
Our Lord is indeed abundant in His grace. And even in this pericope He does not accuse the scribes from Jerusalem of blasphemy, but rather warns them of the danger of this sin. This warning serves for us as well. It is an admonition to strive after truth and purity in preaching. It is an admonition to repentance, confessing our sins to our Heavenly Father. It is an admonition to beware of false teachers, who desire, as agents of the devil, to divide and spoil the Church of God on earth. And it is an admonition to unity and fellowship, boldly holding firm to the teachings of our Lord Jesus, which He passed down to us, through His holy Apostles. May our Lord Jesus ever keep you in the One True Faith.
God be with you!
Deacon Dulas
* What follows is a combination of the writings of St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine from the Catena Aurea of St. Thomas Aquinas.
** de Fide, i.1
