New Testament Studies
The Gospel of St. Mark
By Robert C. Crowder
Lesson Nineteen
Mark 3:22-30
“And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He
hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out
devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables,
How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against
itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against
itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against
himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man
can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he
will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of
men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he
that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness,
but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an
unclean spirit.”
In our last lesson we closed the lesson with
the “friend’s” of Jesus trying to “lay hold” of Him because, as the
scripture tells us, “He is beside himself.”
As you will remember, this sequence of events began because
in their view, Jesus was not taking any time for rest, He wasn’t
eating well and knew very little of His sleeping habits.
He was so busy in the “work” because of the vast needs of the
multitudes that were constantly searching him out no matter where He
was day or night.
“And the
scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and
by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.”
These scribes were highly
trained and educated especially in writing skills.
Because of their accuracy and attention to detail they
recorded events and worked in the courts and government, documenting
decisions made. In Jesus
time they interpreted the law and taught it.
As the scriptures record we often would find them in the
synagogues teaching.
They were highly sought for their knowledge of the Law.
They were experts in cases where people were accused of
breaking the Law of Moses.
Many scribes were also Pharisees.
In future lessons we will see that they led in the plans to
kill Jesus.
In this passage, the scribes traveled all the
way from Jerusalem to see this Jesus and His doctrine.
When they heard that Jesus’ family was searching Him out to
help Him, they jumped at the opportunity to ‘correct’ the situation
by telling everyone within earshot that Jesus was possessed by
Beelzebub. Beelzebub is
interpreted as the “prince of the demons.”
This spelling is slightly different than the baalzebub, which
is in reference to the Philistine deity known as the “lord of the
flies”.
Jesus’ response to their slanderous remarks
shows how the scribes’ theology was misguided.
It is very clear that this was an attempt by the scribes to
discredit Jesus and destroy His popularity in those watching.
If they could prove that Jesus received His popularity from
Satan they could finally finish this radical.
“And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables”
Jesus called the scribes
to gather closer to so that He could speak to them.
He wanted their undivided attention, to make sure that they
heard and understood what He had to tell them.
I think He also wanted to separate them from all His
followers. A
parable within a parable!
Jesus is showing in action what later will become a lesson
for the disciples. In
Mark chapter 8 and verse fifteen Jesus said “And he charged them,
saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the
leaven of Herod.” In
1 Corinthians 5:7 - “Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye
may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our
passover is sacrificed for us:”
Here Jesus was separating the leaven of the
scribes and Pharisees from the “new lump” of the disciples and His
followers.
Once they gathered close Jesus spoke to them in parables. A parable is a type of instruction. This was one of the many methods that Jesus used for public teaching. My seventh grade Sunday school teacher defined a parable as “an earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” I still remember that definition after all these years because it just made sense to me. It was easy to remember and understand. I could quote it right away and as you can see it was easy to remember. That definition helped me to realize that the teachings of Jesus were very special and when He spoke we should really learn what He has to say and understand how the parable applies to me. In all these years, that has not changed for me. I love to know “the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy.” (Romans 9:23)
Jesus used this form when speaking to various groups, the masses, and small groups and even when teaching the disciples. Matthew records Jesus’ response when the disciples asked him, "Why speakest thou to them in parables?" (Matthew 13:13-15; Mark 4:11-12; Luke 8:9-10)
Matthew 13:10-17
“And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest
thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,
but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be
given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not,
from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to
them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear
not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall
not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For
this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they
should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should
heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears,
for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and
righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and
have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have
not heard them.”
Jesus explained that His disciples had been
“given…to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” but others
were not. The word
mystery in the Bible often means that the thing has been concealed
or a hidden, not impenetrable or impossible.
So the disciples understood what Jesus was talking about
because their spiritual eyes and ears were “open” to the
understanding of the kingdom of heaven.
Oh by the way I find it very interesting that
the writers of Matthew, Mark and Luke, the synoptic Gospels,
recorded the parables spoken by Jesus but John’s writing does not
contain a single parable (except maybe John 10:1-16 when Jesus is
speaking of the ‘shepherd’).
While writing this lesson, I remembered that before I was saved, the Bible did not make much of an impact as I read it. The words did not touch my heart or fill me with awe and love. I simply had not been given “to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven” yet. Only after I heard the Gospel, accepted Jesus as my Savior and the Holy Spirit came to dwell in me and teach me did the “scales fall from my eyes.” In the book of Acts there is a story of the Ananias following God’s plan to meet with Saul in order that Saul would “receive his sight.” (Acts 9:10-12)
Acts 9:17-19 “And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized. And when he had received meat, he was strengthened. Then was Saul certain days with the disciples which were at Damascus.”
Just as Saul received his sight after his
encounter with Jesus, we too need to “see” with our spiritual eyes.
There are several examples where Jesus restored the sight of
those needing it.
“After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look
up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.” Mark
8:25 (emphasis mine)
“How can Satan cast out
Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom
cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house
cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided,
he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong
man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the
strong man; and then he will spoil his house.”
What a ridiculous
statement they made. In
all their earthly knowledge and wisdom they couldn’t have been more
wrong in their theology.
There is much to learn from Jesus’ response.
No only in the way He says it but also how He says it.
Jesus answers them simply by responding in four parts:
If a kingdom be divided
against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house be divided
against itself, that house cannot stand
And if Satan rise up
against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end
No man can enter into a
strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind
the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.”
Not much of an argument
there! A nation and
house cannot be divided.
Satan would not be in warfare against himself.
Oh and by the way, if you are going to break into a house,
make sure the owner is not there or tie him up first.
Isn’t it interesting that Jesus is presenting the answer in
the manner of a parable?
He says, “If Jew is against Jew, the then nation is lost.”
If religion is divided against itself, then the religion is
lost. If Satan was
against himself it would be the end.
So we can draw the conclusion that if you’re going to spoil
the nation, or religion you are aiding in Satan’s success.
"You scribes and
Pharisees are dividing the nation of God’s chosen people and in so
doing, you are aiding Satan!"
That is a pretty strong statement.
Let’s continue on with Jesus’ rebuke.
“Verily I say unto you, All
sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies
wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme
against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of
eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.”
I don’t know about you,
but when I read this passage or the others based on the “blaspheme
against the Holy Ghost” it causes me to review my actions, words and
ask myself “Have I blasphemed the Holy Ghost?”
Going through this study I came across the
Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts.
The commentary says,
“But whosoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. Blasphemy against the Son may be a temporary sin, for the one who commits it may be subsequently convinced of his error by the testimony of the Holy Spirit and become a believer (1Ti 1:13). But blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is in its nature an eternal sin, for if one rejects the evidence given by the Holy Spirit and ascribes it to Satan, he rejects the only evidence upon which faith can be based; and without faith there is no forgiveness. The difference in the two sins is therefore in no way due to any difference in the Son and Spirit as to their degrees of sanctity or holiness. The punishment is naturally eternal because the sin is perpetual.”[1]
In their presence was one
of the Triune Godhead, Jesus incarnate.
They were obviously going to rail and blaspheme him, which is
why he was sent to take the sins of the world onto himself.
So why would Jesus Christ emphasize the act of blaspheming
the Holy Spirit? By this
definition, rejection of the wooing of the Holy Spirit is to
blaspheme the Holy Spirit.
That puts it all in line then.
We know that there is only one way to Heaven, and that is
through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
We know that the Holy Spirit reveals in us the truth.
The acceptance of that gift allows you into the adoption of
saints and your place in heaven assured.
In the book of Galatians,
the author defines what I am trying to say.
Read the following scriptures with a prayerful attitude.
Then when finished, doesn’t your heart soar?
“But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Galatians 4:4-7
ã 2002 bobsbiblestudies