This commentary is a work in progress and may be revised as study continues. If you have a question, spot an error, or want to discuss a passage, please reach out.
1And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
6And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
7But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,
8And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
9And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
10For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.
11And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
12And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.
13And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
14And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
15And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
16And Simon he surnamed Peter;
17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
18And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
19And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
20And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
21And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
22And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
23And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
24And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
27No 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.
28Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
30Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
First we must establish how the Holy Spirit worked through Jesus:
Jesus performs His works by the power of the Holy Spirit
Luke 4:14, 18: “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee…”
Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power...”
Matthew 12:28 “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”
Jesus does not deny His deity, but in His earthly ministry He operates as the Spirit-anointed Messiah.
The works Jesus does by the Holy Spirit testify and prove His identity:
John 10:25, 37–38 “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.”
John 5:36 “...for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.”
In Matthew 11:2–5, Jesus answers John’s question about His identity by pointing only to His works.
The miracles are God’s testimony that Jesus is the One He sent.
Therefore, this is not “taking the Holy Spirit’s name in vain” or using it as a curse word. Rather, when they said “He hath an unclean spirit,” they were attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan.
Why this matters:
The sin is not careless speech, but willful misattribution of God’s revealed power
They were rejecting God’s testimony about Jesus while fully witnessing it
In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit has come to convict the world of sin, and this conviction centers on the world’s response to Jesus Christ. To reject this conviction is to remain in unbelief:
John 16:8–9 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me;”
If blasphemy of the Holy Spirit were a separate command apart from belief, it would result in two unforgivable sins, yet Scripture consistently teaches that forgiveness is found in Christ alone and that unbelief is what leaves sin unforgiven.
1 John 3:23 “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ...”
Acts 17:30 "God...now commandeth all men every where to repent:"
Failure to believe and repent is what leaves a person in an unforgiven state; therefore, blasphemy of the Spirit cannot be a separate category of sin, but describes the settled rejection of the Spirit’s witness to Christ.
In summary, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the willful rejection of God’s testimony about Jesus. It is a choice to continual harden ones heart the exact thing the Israelites did and the scribes here were doing (Zechariah 7:12).
The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’ works.
Those works testified that Jesus was sent from God.
The Pharisees rejected that testimony and called it satanic.
In doing so, they rejected the only means by which sin is forgiven
Likewise today, if a person rejects the Spirit’s conviction (blasphemy) concerning Jesus, they will never believe and therefore never be forgiven, not because forgiveness is unavailable, but because Christ Himself is rejected.
31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
32And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
34And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
35For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
3
Mark 3 — Forever Word commentary
King James VersionThis commentary is a work in progress and may be revised as study continues. If you have a question, spot an error, or want to discuss a passage, please reach out.
1And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
5And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
6And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
7But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,
8And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
9And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
10For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.
11And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
12And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.
13And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
14And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
15And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
16And Simon he surnamed Peter;
17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
18And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
19And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
20And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
21And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
22And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
23And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
24And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
27No 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.
28Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
30Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
First we must establish how the Holy Spirit worked through Jesus:
Jesus performs His works by the power of the Holy Spirit
Luke 4:14, 18: “And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee…”
Acts 10:38 “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power...”
Matthew 12:28 “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.”
Jesus does not deny His deity, but in His earthly ministry He operates as the Spirit-anointed Messiah.
The works Jesus does by the Holy Spirit testify and prove His identity:
John 10:25, 37–38 “The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.”
John 5:36 “...for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.”
In Matthew 11:2–5, Jesus answers John’s question about His identity by pointing only to His works.
The miracles are God’s testimony that Jesus is the One He sent.
Therefore, this is not “taking the Holy Spirit’s name in vain” or using it as a curse word. Rather, when they said “He hath an unclean spirit,” they were attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan.
Why this matters:
The sin is not careless speech, but willful misattribution of God’s revealed power
They were rejecting God’s testimony about Jesus while fully witnessing it
In the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit has come to convict the world of sin, and this conviction centers on the world’s response to Jesus Christ. To reject this conviction is to remain in unbelief:
John 16:8–9 “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me;”
If blasphemy of the Holy Spirit were a separate command apart from belief, it would result in two unforgivable sins, yet Scripture consistently teaches that forgiveness is found in Christ alone and that unbelief is what leaves sin unforgiven.
1 John 3:23 “And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ...”
Acts 17:30 "God...now commandeth all men every where to repent:"
Failure to believe and repent is what leaves a person in an unforgiven state; therefore, blasphemy of the Spirit cannot be a separate category of sin, but describes the settled rejection of the Spirit’s witness to Christ.
In summary, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is the willful rejection of God’s testimony about Jesus. It is a choice to continual harden ones heart the exact thing the Israelites did and the scribes here were doing (Zechariah 7:12).
The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus’ works.
Those works testified that Jesus was sent from God.
The Pharisees rejected that testimony and called it satanic.
In doing so, they rejected the only means by which sin is forgiven
Likewise today, if a person rejects the Spirit’s conviction (blasphemy) concerning Jesus, they will never believe and therefore never be forgiven, not because forgiveness is unavailable, but because Christ Himself is rejected.
31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
32And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
34And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
35For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.