THE NIV divides this latter portion of chapter 3 of Mark's Gospel into two. It is the first and longest section which holds some very timely and profound teaching, including the teaching concerning the unforgivable sin.

JESUS AND BEELZEBUB. (V.20-30).

The passage opens with another record of how people crowded around Jesus and sought to see him and hear him. The picture is of crowds crowding around Jesus even to the point of placing him in danger. The density of the crowds is recorded in the information that Jesus and his disciples had not room to eat.

It was undoubtedly true that many came to Jesus for poor reasons, but the fact that they came is wonderful. At least they came under the sound of his voice and so heard his teaching. In being close to him they saw his divine love issuing out of his whole being, his words and actions. How good it would be to see the same hunger to be near Jesus today.

The human family of Jesus were afraid for him, and plainly did not understand his ministry, and Jesus seeks to correct this in the second section of this passage we are studying. The teachers of the Law found this popularity of Jesus and the power of his ministry threatening, and so sought to diminish it. In their desire to rubbish Jesus and his teaching and miracles they attributed the power of Jesus to Satan, and said Jesus must be in league with Satan. What they were doing by this attitude to Jesus was rubbishing his saving work, and denying his office as Saviour, and by this were shutting themselves from salvation. Here we see the meaning of Jesus' words in verse 29. By denying that the work of Jesus was from God, that is the work of the Spirit of God, they were blaspheming against the Holy Spirit. This sin can't be forgiven because it shuts a person off from the only place where forgiveness may be found, which is through Christ and his work for us. All who speak against Christ and the Gospel are sinning against the Holy Ghost because they are denying the Good News of forgiveness in Jesus. Forgiveness of sins can only be found in Jesus and his work for us, so to deny the Gospel of forgiveness in Jesus is to commit a sin which is unforgivable. The very thought of denying the work of the Spirit in bringing to people the way of salvation in Christ is a tremendous slight to the Holy Spirit, and indeed the whole of the Trinity, because the Spirit is sent by Christ, and proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Jesus again exposes the jealous explanation of his ministry and power which the Jews were giving. It is so clear that if Jesus gained his power from Satan, then Satan was fighting against himself, for everything Jesus did or said was against Satan and an attack on Satan. Satan's kingdom would not last a minute if Satan did this. Therefore to say Jesus was in league with Satan when he was overthrowing Satan's work is nonsense. In another Gospel Jesus points out that the fact Jesus was casting out demons showed that the kingdom of God had come amongst them.

Jesus then explains what people were seeing in his ministry. They were seeing Satan being bound. Satan is the strong man Jesus is speaking of here. Jesus is stronger than Satan, the strong man, and binds Satan, and so overthrows his kingdom. (See Luke 11:14-28).

This binding of Satan is a fundamental truth revealed here by Jesus. In Revelation 20:2 we read of the binding of Satan for a thousand years. This is a symbolic number representing most of this present age between Christ's first Advent and his coming again at the end of the world.

There are those who see this thousand years as a literal time. They place it after Christ's second coming, and say Christ will reign over this present world for a thousand years during which Satan will be bound. The church will then govern the world under Christ. I can't see that this understanding of the 1000 years has any validity in Scripture. However when I hear Jesus speaking of the binding of Satan here in the Gospel's, the symbolic meaning representing his binding of Satan throughout the gospel age makes sense.

This does not mean that Satan is not still active, but that Christ curbs his power by his Spirit in order to allow the progress of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God to go forward, and the whole church of God to be gathered in. If there was not this binding of Satan there would be no work of God and no church and no salvation. Instead Satan would reign keeping the souls of men in everlasting bondage and death.

Here is the assurance of Jesus that the church will have power and the stronghold of Satan over humanity will be broken, and so the church of God may go forward in confidence and in the power of the Spirit to preach the Gospel of deliverance from Satan's dominion through the forgiveness of sins.

JESUS' MOTHER AND BROTHERS. (v.31-35).

The family of Jesus, even Mary his mother, did not understand who Jesus really was or the nature of his ministry. It seems here that they saw Jesus as acting foolishly, perhaps seeking to be 'too big for his boots' - that is having illusions of being someone of importance when he was not. No doubt their concern for him was out of family love.

However they did not understand, just as we so often do not understand. Jesus, by what seems to be an act of rejection, seeks to teach them that he is not what they thought him to be, just an ordinary human being, a son and brother.