Blasphemy Against The Spirit

Monday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time A-1

Entrance Antiphon Cf. Ps 96 (95): 1, 6 O sing a new song to the Lord; sing to the Lord, all the earth. In his presence are majesty and splendour, strength and honour in his holy place.

Collect Almighty ever‑living God, direct our actions according to your good pleasure, that in the name of your beloved Son we may abound in good works. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Scripture today: 2 Samuel 5:1-7, 10; Psalm 89:20, 21-22, 25-26; Mark 3:22-30

The scribes who had come down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils he casts out devils.” When he had called them together he said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom be divided against itself that kingdom cannot stand. If a house be divided against itself that house cannot stand either. If Satan rises up against himself he is divided and cannot stand. He is coming to an end. No man can enter into the house of a strong man and rob him of his goods unless he first bind the strong man. Then he will plunder his house. Amen I say to you that all sins will be forgiven men, and their blasphemies. But the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never receive forgiveness but will guilty of an everlasting sin.” He taught this because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3:22-30)

Blasphemy Against The Spirit There are various ways of approaching the reading and the study of history. One way is through biography, which is to say through the study of individuals and their impact on the course of events. Whether it be in relation to politics, economics, religion, philosophy or ecclesiastical events, such an approach would analyse the issues primarily (though not exclusively) through the prism of the individuals who were involved. Taking the history of the Church, for instance, this approach would emphasise the study of individuals — say, the saints — and their impact on the course of the Church’s history. An interesting corollary is the study of those who consciously reject Christian dogma. Let us take an example, say, the nineteenth century Anglican Oxford Movement, at the forefront of which was John Henry Newman. Now, one of Newman’s acquaintances was Blanco White, an ex‑Catholic priest who had abandoned Catholicism and who, during his acquaintance with Newman, gradually abandoned his acceptance of the doctrines of the Incarnation and the Trinity and died a Unitarian. He was sincere but spiritually blind. I mention the case of Blanco White only in passing, for we cannot possibly judge what was the state of his heart, nor can we of any particular individual. My point, though, is that individuals such as this prompt us to think of the rejection of Christ and his claims. Our Lord speaks with great solemnity of this in our Gospel passage today. The setting is the response of the scribes to our Lord’s driving out of the devils. The scribes accused him of being in league with Satan. He was, they murmured, casting out demons with Satan’s power in order to gain a spiritual ascendancy over God’s people, and all in Satan’s interest. Though it was evident to all that Christ was being led by the Spirit of God in the way the prophets had been before, and was driving out Satan by the power of the Holy Spirit, they deliberately chose to name the spirit leading him as being none other than Satan. Let us consider Christ’s response to this sin against the light.

Our Lord summons them together and begins by refuting the charge on grounds of mere common sense. How could Satan be so inept in his strategy? Is he directing one person — Jesus himself — to destroy various of his own forces all the while expecting to gain the victory? If one kingdom advances against another and as part of the strategy allows its greatest officer turn on and attack its own troops with devastating effect, will not that kingdom be thus weakened and fall? Their argument is absurd. Incidentally, implied in this refutation by our Lord is the indication that Satan is indeed intelligent and that he is organized in his resources and in his methods. But of course he is no match for Christ. Our Lord then goes on to deliver a terrifying warning to those who deliberately resist the light. “Amen I say to you that all sins will be forgiven men, and their blasphemies. But the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never receive forgiveness but will guilty of an everlasting sin.” He taught this because they said, “He has an unclean spirit” (Mark 3:22‑30). The implication of our Lord’s words is that at least some of the scribes were setting themselves so knowingly against the Holy Spirit as to place themselves out of the reach of grace altogether. They were, despite what was most clear to all including themselves, accusing Christ of being inhabited by a demon. They were in effect in danger of deliberately accusing the Holy Spirit of being bad, of being wicked. Our Lord warns that such a person reviles and blasphemes the Holy Spirit. More ominously, he says that a person who blasphemes the Spirit of God is guilty of an eternal sin. Just as the conscience of man is able to wield its influence for good because man knows that his conscience is good, so too if the Holy Spirit is to exercise his power and influence a person must recognize that he, the Spirit of God, is supremely good. He is the Spirit of Christ and of God. Deliberately to call him wicked is to place oneself beyond his influence. It all indicates the mystery of evil and of how the gift of free will can be put to tragic and utter misuse, with eternal consequences.

Let us understand that the worst thing that man can do is to commit sin. If we sin then we must immediately repent. To repent requires the grace and help of the Holy Spirit. Let us profoundly reverence the Holy Spirit. He is the one who sanctifies us and in whom is our hope. Let us treasure the light that he sends us and be faithful to it, understanding that if we are faithful to the light we are given then more still will be given.

(E.J.Tyler)

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