Đức Chúa Thánh Thần có hai chức năng đó là : Mặc khải chân lý và sự thật của Thiên Chúa và làm cho con người chúng ta hiểu biết và có thể nhận ra được chân lý của Thiên Chúa . Nếu một người không chịu nhận sự hướng dẫn của Chúa Thánh Thần dù chỉ là một khoảng khắc thời gian, thì người ấy thế nào cùng sẽ bị mất hết khả năng để nhận ra Chân lý của Thiên Chúa. Người ấy sẽ không còn có khả năng để nhận ra những nét đẹp và sự tốt lành của Thiên Chúa nữa, mà chỉ biết nghĩ là tất cả những việc “xấu” hay sự gian ác
Những người này thường xuyên bất tuân Luật Chúa , Cho đến một lúc nào đó hành vi phạm tội này đã trở thành một cách sống không còn có một chút e sợ (hay không có lương tâm). Đó là là hình ảnh của những kinh sư và người những Pharisêu mà chúng ta đã được nghe trong Tin Mừng hôm nay. Đó là lý do tại sao họ có thể nhìn vào Chúa Giêsu và nói Chúa Chúa Giêsu là Hoàng Tử Beelzebul, hoàng tử của ma quỷ, của tất cả những điều ác dữ.
Why should a sin against the Holy Spirit be unforgivable? What differentiates it from all other sins? When a person reaches that stage, repentance becomes impossible. There is only one condition of forgiveness and that is penitence. But if a person, by repeated refusing God's guidance, has got his moral values inverted until evil to him is good and good to him is evil, he is conscious of no sin, he cannot repent and therefore he can never be forgiven. So long as a person sees loveliness in Christ, so long as he hates his sin even if he cannot leave it, there is still hope for repentance and forgiveness. It is only when serious sin means nothing at all, when Christ means nothing anymore, that's when a person has shut himself out from the love of God and his kingdom. There is a dreadful warning here. We must listen to God in all our days that our spiritual hearing never becomes spiritual deafness.
The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “By the prince of demons he drives out demons.” Mark 3:22
By this time, Jesus was fully engaged in His public ministry. He had healed the sick and lame, cast out many demons, called the Twelve Apostles and given them authority over evil spirits, and preached the Good News to many. Just prior to this Gospel passage, some of Jesus’ own extended family had criticized Him, claiming that Jesus was out of His mind. Then the scribes began their public condemnation of our Lord.
The scribes were faced with a dilemma. They saw Jesus cast out demons from those who were possessed, so they needed to come up with an explanation. They concluded that Jesus was able to cast out demons by the power of the prince of demons. Jesus goes on to address the scribes’ criticism by identifying their condemnation as a sin against the Holy Spirit. Jesus explains that every sin can be forgiven except the sin against the Holy Spirit. He says that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.” Why is that?
In this case, the sin against the Holy Spirit is not only the false condemnation spoken by the scribes against Jesus. First and foremost, their sin is one of obstinacy. They spoke falsely about our Lord, which is a grave sin, but what’s worse is that they did so in such a way that they remained firmly grounded in their error. They refused to humble themselves and reconsider their error. And it is this stubbornness that leaves them with an “everlasting sin.” Perhaps the most important lesson we can learn from this passage is that we must avoid remaining stuck in our pride in an obstinate way. We must always be humble and be ready and willing to reexamine our actions. Humility will help us to perpetually remember that we can easily become misled in life. And though this will happen from time to time in various ways, if we remain humble and open to change, then we can always receive the mercy of God and find forgiveness. But if we are prideful and continually refuse to admit our errors, then we are also potentially guilty of a sin against the Holy Spirit.
Reflect, today, upon any tendency you have in your life to be stubborn. Stubbornness can be a virtue when the stubbornness is an unwavering commitment to the Gospel and to the will of God. However, you must always intentionally reexamine the path you are on so that you can change when that path begins to deviate from the Truth of God. Humble yourself this day and allow God’s voice to lead you back from any errors with which you now struggle.
My merciful Jesus, I sin every day and will continue to fail to follow You with perfection. For this reason, I thank You for Your abundant mercy. Please help me to always be open to that mercy by regularly re-examining my decisions in life. Give me humility, dear Lord, to always repent and to turn back to You when I stray. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord, your Gospel contains a warning against committing an everlasting sin. You went about doing good and fulfilling your Father’s will and yet the scribes accused you of working for the devil. You went about restoring people to health and bringing them salvation, and yet the leaders of Israel plotted your death. Help me to persevere in doing good and being an agent of your mercy in the world.
1. The Reign of King David: When Saul killed himself, Saul’s general, Abner, placed Saul’s son, Ishbaal, on the throne of the northern tribes. The northern coalition, though, fell apart when Joab killed Abner and Ishbaal was assassinated by his own commanders. After the death of Ishbaal, the tribes and elders of Israel went to David in Hebron, made a covenant with him, and anointed him as their king. Once he was made king of all twelve tribes, David captured the city of Jerusalem and the fortress of Zion and moved his capital there. The capture of Jerusalem from the Jebusites signals the completion of the conquest initiated by Joshua centuries before.
2. David as a Priest-King: The city of Jerusalem also recalls the figure of Melchizedek, the priest-king of Salem. Psalm 76 identifies ancient Salem with Zion, and, therefore, with Jerusalem. David is a new Melchizedek and his royal sons will be priestly kings. David was thirty years old when he became king. This is a veiled reference to the priestly dimension of David’s reign, as priests were to be no younger than thirty years of age at the start of their service (see Numbers 4:3). The age of David also looks forward to Jesus, who was thirty years old when he began his work (Luke 3:23).
3. The Reign of Jesus, the Son of David: Jesus began his public ministry announcing the arrival of the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15) and immediately set to work dismantling the reign of Satan (Mark 1:21-28). He pointed to himself and his disciples as superior to David and his companions (Mark 2:23-28). He appointed the apostles as ministers of the new Israel (Mark 3:13-19). In today’s Gospel, responds to the accusation of the scribes from Jerusalem that he is working in league with the devil. The scribes have hardened their hearts and refuse to accept Jesus and his divine work. They can’t deny that Jesus is doing amazing things, so they say that it is through demonic power and not divine power that Jesus does these things. Jesus easily unveils their faulty logic and asks: Why would Satan work against himself and actively destroy his own evil kingdom? Jesus also puts the scribes on guard, warning them that by refusing to repent and denying God’s mercy they are close to committing the only unforgivable sin.
Conversing with Christ: Lord, you crowned and anointed David as king over your people. You crowned and anointed me at my baptism. Be with me and strengthen me. Your faithfulness and mercy are always with me.
Resolution: The Kingdom Jesus inaugurates is one of mercy. No matter how serious and how many our sins are, God is ready to forgive us. The only sin that will not be forgiven is the obstinate refusal of God’s mercy and forgiveness.
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