“He’s out of his mind,”

Mark 3:21-22 NLT

When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said. But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.”
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“I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven,  but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.”Mark 3:28-29

Does it scare you when you read about the unforgiveable sin?

It should! It's not murder, genocide, racism, paedophilia or rape that are unforgiveable. They'll be forgiven.

The unforgiveable sin is misrepresentation of the work of God. In the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus' enemies claimed God's Son, Jesus, was actually controlled by Satan.

The Pharisees claimed to represent God. They claimed they knew what God was doing. And with that authority they declared that Jesus was not from God but was actually from Satan. Persisting along these lines would further blind them to the truth and harden their hearts.
Jesus was from God. The Holy Spirit of God was leading Jesus and empowering him. The best news God ever proclaimed was that Jesus, the Son of God, was the Saviour of the World who came from the Father to forgive sinners and welcome them into God’s kingdom.

The Pharisees, claiming to be speaking from a position of God’s authority, were saying God's Saviour Jesus was in fact from Satan.

Jesus says that's unforgiveable!

Interestingly, Jesus' family was also misrepresenting Jesus. They were saying he was crazy. Now we know  Jesus' mother was a believer, and we know at least one of Jesus' brothers is not only a believer but becomes the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
Jesus wasn't crazy. Just because he was healing people, missing meals and working hard proclaiming the Kingdom of God, was no reason to say he was "out of his mind".  Still Jesus isn't really rebuking his family with the same severity that he has the Pharisees.
Jesus is saying his family is God's family! And that included a lot of people.
Do you see why what the Pharisees were saying was so much worse? Jesus was welcoming people into God's family and He alone was the only way anyone would ever get in. Without Jesus no one would ever be saved. The Pharisees were, in effect, going to damn every one in the whole world to God's wrath and judgment by claiming the only rescue God sent was from Satan.

Jesus is not from Satan! 

He is not out of his mind either.

Jesus is God's much anticipated Messiah King who comes to welcome sinners into God's kingdom. Jesus calls the sinner to repent of his sin and to believe in Jesus and his way of life through the cross.
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Mark 3:20-35 NLT

One time Jesus entered a house, and the crowds began to gather again. Soon he and his disciples couldn’t even find time to eat. When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said. But the teachers of religious law who had arrived from Jerusalem said, “He’s possessed by Satan, the prince of demons. That’s where he gets the power to cast out demons.” Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” he asked. “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse.  Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart.  And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive.  Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man like Satan and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven,  but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.”  He told them this because they were saying, “He’s possessed by an evil spirit.” Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see him. They stood outside and sent word for him to come out and talk with them. There was a crowd sitting around Jesus, and someone said, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” Jesus replied, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”  Then he looked at those around him and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers.  Anyone who does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

The Son with power

John 19:7-11

7 The Jewish leaders replied, “By our law he ought to die because he called himself the Son of God.”

8 When Pilate heard this, he was more frightened than ever. 9 He took Jesus back into the headquarters again and asked him, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave no answer. 10 “Why don’t you talk to me?” Pilate demanded. “Don’t you realize that I have the power to release you or crucify you?”

11 Then Jesus said, “You would have no power over me at all unless it were given to you from above. So the one who handed me over to you has the greater sin.”

http://bible.us/116/jhn.19.7-11.nlt

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Jesus claimed to be the son of God! That's what made the Jewish leaders so mad that they wanted to kill him. Lots of people today want to make out that Jesus is just a good guy with good teaching. They just want a 'nice' Jesus. These people miss the real Jesus. They miss the point. Jesus made a big deal about his identity. Jesus raised the issue often. He took opinion polls and survived his constituents. Jesus wanted to make sure that the message was delivered by the right people. (I'm quite tempted to 'proof text all these statements but will leave it to you to read the Bible for yourself!) Some people he hushed up and others he sent out with a message. But by the time to we get to Jesus death he was very open about who he was. And it was the reality of his claim that scared the Pharisees into wanting him dead and Pilate into taking a step back and considering what he was about to do. Claims to be some kind of king or leader were as rife as ever in Jesus and Pilate's day. So it was not the claim alone that stirred so much consternation.  Surely, Pilate as shaken by the claim. Pilate as not a  Jew. He didn't have a Jewish religious perspective. He did understand the implications of usurping Caesar.  But as he said, Jesus was the king of the Jews and the Jews wanted their king dead. Many in ancient Palestine would have wanted Pilate and Caesar and most of the other leaders dead (things have not changed much in that area), but Pilate understood power, both authority (as in his own) and power en-massing (as in the crowds during a holiday). I think that day Pilate learned to respect a much greater power. The power that gave legitimacy to both the people and the rulers. The power of God (and God's Son). Jesus establishes the 'divine right' of rulers as emanating from God. And yet the whole situation and even Jesus' complacence with the situation was a respect of the power of his Father's plan and authority. Nothing that was happening that day was out of hand. Nothing was random coincidence. Nothing happens unless God allows it.

Do you see the power of God at work? Do you realize that you have no rights or authority that do not flow from God? Do you threaten God with your unwillingness? Do you bargain as if you have something of value? Do you act as if you are in control of this world, your workplace, your family, your partner, your children, or even yourself?

Really? Do you have any thing that isn't given to you or allowed you by God?

But with power comes responsibility. This you have! You do have ownership of your own choices and the outcomes of those choices. You may crucify/deny/ignore/mock the Son of God but you still will have to answer to him. Are you ready? Who really has the power of life and death? The Son of God does.