The unforgivable sin

Mark 3:19-30

           What is the unforgivable sin?  Blaspheming the Holy Spirit? How are we to take that from this passage. They blasphemed the Spirit of Jesus Christ by saying that he had an unclean Spirit. 

            What of us then? Perhaps we recognize that Jesus is God the Son of the Most High. It would never occur to me to say any bad things about Him but we have the benefit of history, of sacred texts, faith  and seeing the positive good effects of His work in our lives. My question though is what of the spirit within all of us, each other, of whoever 'they' might be? 

           As children of God we all have the Spirit of the living God within us. If we utter merely a bad word or thought about someone, are we too blaspheming the Spirit of God? If you want to err on the side of caution, perhaps for that reason alone we should watch our tongues. Every life, however bad it is perceived, is not for us to judge. Even if we we are correct in the moment, God sees the infinite and is timeless. Can a person repent? Are they not also on a journey to wholeness? Who are we to judge? In condemning, do we not condemn ourselves?

          When we judge, we are at least guilty of the arrogance of spirit that we know better and we have not only the answer but the dfinitive and correct answer. Is our vision that clear? Are we not setting ourselves upon the throne? That it would seem might be close to unforgivable. 

           Do not judge, lest you be judged.

and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. 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.

‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’