Gospel: Mark 3:22-30

 

In the Gospel of Mark there is a progressive sequence. By the measure in which the Good News advances and people accept it, in the same measure it grows resistance on the part of the authority. The conflict began to grow and to influence all groups of people. For example, the relatives of Jesus thought that He was out of His mind, and the scribes who had come from Jerusalem about 120 kilometers away, thought that He was possessed, that Beelzebul was in Him. 

 

The response given by Jesus had three parts. 

Jesus uses the comparison of the divided family and the divided kingdom to denounce the absurdity of the slander. The doctors of Jerusalem slandered because they did not know how to explain the benefits worked by Jesus on behalf of the people. 

Jesus compares the devil to a strong man. Jesus is the strongest of all. And this is why He succeeds in entering the house and in dominating and overcoming the strong man. He liberates the people who were under the power of the evil one. 

All sins are forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Spirit. Which is the sin against the Holy Spirit? It is to say, “The spirit which impels Jesus to cast out or drive out the devil, comes precisely from the devil!” The one who speaks in this way is incapable of receiving pardon. Why? Can the one who covers his eyes guess? He cannot! The one who closes his mouth, can he eat? He cannot. The one who does not close the umbrella of slander, can he receive the rain of pardon? He cannot! Pardon would pass by his side but would not reach him.