The scribes were saying that Jesus was casting out demons by the power of the devil (Mark 3:22). Jesus responded that this wouldn’t be all that good a strategy for the devil; it would be like a house divided, with Satan casting out Satan, and the end of the kingdom of Satan would be at hand (3:23-26).

As readers we often jump from here to the unforgivable sin, but watch what happens first: Jesus declared, “Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter” (3:28). That’s a pretty universal-sounding statement. Notice: he didn’t say “if they repent” or “if they believe” or “if they are among those who’ve been chosen.” Whatever we say next needs to be read in the context of Jesus’ amazingly broad statement of God’s sweeping intention to forgive us for all our sins.

Yet the scribes had seen Jesus casting out demons, and had rejected that action as demonic. Consider what that means: you see people get freed from terrible demonic oppression, and you reject that action as something evil. We may not all be demon-possessed, but we have all gotten ourselves stuck one way or another in our own failures; and the Holy Spirit is the one who comes to set us free from being trapped in our own wrongness. If we disparage as evil the means God uses to set us free, we don’t have another way to get set free.

So we get a choice of interpretations here. We can see this text as an indication that God is willing to forgive any and all sins, and Jesus is too (Matthew 12:32); but the Holy Spirit holds a serious grudge: one bad word and you’re forever cast into the fire. Or else we can see this text as an indication of the means by which God saves us: it’s like if you reject the rope that God throws you to pull you out of the quicksand, you don’t have any other way to get rescued. It’s not like the rope is mad and won’t forgive you: it’s just that there’s no other way out of your own lostness.

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Help us, Lord! We get ourselves so lost in the quicksand of our own rebellions and self-justifications. You are the only one who can rescue us; if we reject you, we have no means of saving ourselves. Teach us, instead, to give thanks for the astonishing reach of your redeeming love.