What is the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?

What is the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in Mark 2:28-29?

Mark begins his narrative with the context. Jesus has been preaching in the Galilee, and healing many. He called disciples to follow Him and many others have begun to follow Him as well, after witnessing His healings and following His teachings. He has been casting out demons, forbidding them to speak about Who Jesus really is. All of this activity has drawn the attention of the scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem. The religious leaders have watched, listened, and observed His healings and teachings, and were alarmed that He disregarded their interpretations of the Law of Moses. They have gathered to find fault, where the crowds have gathered to be healed and be set free.

Jesus went up a nearby mountain, chose twelve to be His apostles - literally meaning ‘one who is sent’ - to go as His delegates to the towns of Israel to preach repentance and faith, and even gave them power to cast out demons in His Name. As they go out and do this, the fame of Jesus spreads even further, so that when they return to Jesus, such a large crowd gathers that they cannot even stop to eat a meal. The scribes and Pharisees see Jesus as insane, His own family proclaim Him to have lost His senses, and they go to take custody of Him so He can avoid the wrath of the religious elite. In the middle of this, the scribes from Jerusalem with more authority than the local scribes pronounce their opinion and judgment - ‘Jesus is possessed by Beelzebub and casts out demons by the ruler of demons.’ They attribute His power to Satan himself and reject the idea that anything He is or has been doing is from God. That sets the stage for the question of the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit issue.

Jesus responds to their allegations with parables. ‘How can Satan cast out Satan?’, which proves that no one will be opposed to themselves or they really would be insane and have lost their mind. To further illustrate that nonsense argument, Jesus proclaims that any kingdom opposed to itself cannot stand, therefore if Satan opposed himself, then not even demons will have power anymore and his kingdom has fallen completely, therefore there is no way Jesus could have cast out demons by Satan. To plunder the house of the strongman, one first has to bind the strongman, and then he can be plundered. Jesus has obviously already bound the strongman known as Satan and that is how He has been setting his captives free.

Then Jesus addresses the bigger issue, which is the allegations of the scribes. If Jesus is casting out demons by anything other than Satan, then it can only be done by the power of God. By proclaiming Jesus to have been doing that by the power of Satan when it has been the power of God, the scribes are in effect stating that God is Satan, or vice versa - which is a huge issue of blasphemy. Blasphemy is to vilify God, to speak evil of God, to defame, revile, or reproach God. By stating publicly that Jesus is casting out demons by Satan is to equate God with Satan, which is the ultimate blasphemy. This is indeed a problem, one Jesus takes personally. 

Jesus states quite clearly that all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men including ANY blasphemy they utter against God. There is no blasphemy that is unforgivable, even though it may not be advisable. He then points out the sin of the scribes as an unforgivable sin, one that crosses a line and can never be forgiven. Simply put, Jesus is declaring these scribes as having committed a sin which they would never be forgiven of. They have equated the Spirit of God with Satan himself, and they were now guilty of an eternal sin. It is important to note here that Satan also committed an eternal sin by seeking to be higher than God, and the Lake of Fire was then prepared for him and the fallen angels who followed him. So this eternal sin the scribes are guilty of will place them in the same eternal fire as Satan and there will never be any forgiveness found for them. What a shocking statement! All of this because these scribes were proclaiming Jesus to be possessed by Satan (when He was God incarnate) and having an unclean spirit/demon controlling His words and actions.

This is the core issue. Jesus is God incarnate the flesh. He is perfect, sinless, and pure. The scribes are proclaiming Him to be Satan or possessed by Satan or a demon. They are calling God Satan. They are proclaiming the Holy Spirit to be a demon. They are rejecting their God and Savior because Jesus does not abide by their ways and rules. So the scribes are judged by Jesus and condemned to the eternal Lake of Fire along with the real Satan.

Mary and the brothers of Jesus arrive and find a large crowd gathered. They send in word that they have come for Him, to which Jesus asks, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ Jesus looks around at those sitting with Him who have followed Him and obeyed His teachings. Then He proclaims, ‘Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.’ He equates those who have listened to His teachings, believed His word, and obeyed Him in repentance as His family. This is quite the contrast to the Scribes and Pharisees who have been condemned to the Lake of Fire for extreme blasphemy. A secondary note here is that Jesus is confessing that He actually does have brothers and sisters, which we know the Bible states He has at least four brothers and two sisters. 

Blasphemy will happen until the final Day of Judgment. Any of that can and will be forgiven by Jesus for anyone who comes to Him in repentance and faith. What the scribes did was proclaimed as unforgivable, so we should really avoid their example. There is no sin that Jesus cannot forgive, but there are sins, like this one, which Jesus decides to not forgive. The scribes went too far, found out the hard way, and are paying a big price for their evil speaking against God.