The Most Misunderstood Things Jesus Said
Part 2
The Unforgivable Sin
Mark 3:20-30 “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. 21 When his family heard what was happening, they tried to take him away. “He’s out of his mind,” they said. 22 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.” 23 Jesus called them over and responded with an illustration. “How can Satan cast out Satan?” he asked. 24 “A kingdom divided by civil war will collapse. 25 Similarly, a family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 26 And if Satan is divided and fights against himself, how can he stand? He would never survive. 27 Let me illustrate this further. Who is powerful enough to enter the house of a strong man and plunder his goods? Only someone even stronger—someone who could tie him up and then plunder his house. 28 “I tell you the truth, all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, 29 but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.” 30 He told them this because they were saying, ‘He’s possessed by an evil spirit.’ Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”
This is where Jesus brings forth the danger of committing the unforgivable sin.
Few things that he said have caused more confusion, more hand wringing, more fear and worry than this one.
Throughout the ages people have been convinced they committed the unforgivable sin, the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and that their case was hopeless.
And various interpretations of the unforgivable sin are all over the map.
Some say it’s willful rejection of Jesus. Others say the intent doesn’t matter, only the words spoken. Some say the eternal sin is a one-time offense—once committed, it’s irreversible. Others say it’s not a single moment but a lifetime of entrenched opposition to Christ.
So let’s look at what the text says.
First, Jesus was responding to His opponents. He was not directly addressing His disciples, telling them not to slip into the unforgivable sin. He was not admonishing those who seek to follow Him and learn from His Word.
He was addressing those who had set themselves firmly against Him and against the Holy Spirit’s work through Him.
Second, blasphemy is an act of speech that comes directly from the heart. It’s an outward expression of an inward defiance against God.
For instance, Jesus said in Matthew 10:32–33, “So everyone who acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven.”
Acknowledgment of Jesus is what genuine faith produces, and it comes from the heart. And denial of Jesus is likewise a result of inward unbelief.
Words reveal what’s in a person’s heart. Faith resides in the heart. In the same way, unbelief, the absence of faith, is a heart issue.
So the text teaches what the unforgivable sin is and what it’s not. The unforgivable sin is ongoing rejection of Jesus, expressed outwardly through words that deny Jesus and His Spirit-empowered ministry.
The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the thorough, heartfelt denial of His conviction of sin, His declaration of Jesus as the saving Messiah, and of His promptings to repent and come to Christ.
So the good news is that the unforgivable sin is not a threat hanging over the heads of believers!
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You Must Be Perfect
Jumping into the first chapter of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says in Matthew 5:46-48,
“If you love only those who love you, what reward is there for that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47 If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. 48 But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect. You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Many have stumbled over and wondered about the last sentence in these passages—“You therefore must be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”
Our first reaction is, “Who can be perfect like God?”
That’s a tall order!
The problem God being the standard of perfection we’re to shoot for is that it sets the bar impossibly high. Be perfect like God? Who can do that? We’re all doomed to failure!
We think of perfect as flawless, without defects, passing inspection with a 100 percent rating.
Now, this is where words matter, especially the original Greek word that “mature” was translated from.
The Greek word for perfect is teleios. Teleios means “complete, full-grown, mature Christian character.”
It is not about being flawlessly perfect!
Teleios occurs nineteen times in the New Testament, but only three times in the Gospels. In most English translations it is translated to “perfect.” In other translations the word “mature,” is chosen. But for the record, I could only find two translations that did this—Weymouth and Amplified.
The Amplified says, “You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life].”
The true Greek meaning of teleios is found in some other Bible passages. Here’s a few:
“Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature” [teleios]. (1 Corinthians 14:20)
“But solid food is for the mature [teleios], for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil”(Hebrews 5:14).
“For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete (teleios), needing nothing.”—James 1:3-4
In these cases, teleios is something achievable. By God’s grace, we grow in maturity.
In other words, when you’re perfect (fully developed in character), you have what you need in God’s eyes. In this sense, perfect is not an unattainable ideal but a word describing spiritual growth.
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Turn the Other Cheek?
Matt. 5:38-42 “You have heard the law that says the punishment must match the injury: ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. 40 If you are sued in court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41 If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42 Give to those who ask, and don’t turn away from those who want to borrow.”
Alright, the original law of “eye for eye” and “tooth for tooth” (Exodus 21:24) was not given to encourage revenge. It was given to prevent over-reactions of vengeance on someone that did a wrong.
Under God’s law, the Hebrew people were to exact only what the perpetrator had done to them and no more.
Over time the Jews had taken this original Mosaic commandment and made it almost a command to exact personal vengeance on enemies, rather than as the restrainer of over-reaction God had intended. They had literally turned it into license for carrying out personal vendettas.
So Jesus contradicts the false messaging. “I say to you, resist not evil.”
In saying this He did not intend to teach extreme passivity. We are never to sit by and watch our families murdered, or be murdered ourselves without resistance.
The law of nature, and all laws, human and divine, justify self-defense when life is in danger. Jesus was not saying that a father should sit by coolly and see his family butchered by savages without defending them.
Notice Jesus next words: “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.”
While a slap on the cheek was very offensive, it was more in the catalogue of personal slights of any kind. And keeping in mind that Jesus used pictorial language all the time to make a point.
“If your eye offends you pluck it out. If your hand offends you cut it off. You will say to this mountain “Be thou removed and cast into the sea and it will be done.”
He didn’t mean those statements literally and I don’t believe He was being literal in the injunction to “turn the other cheek to be slapped as well.”
We never see even one of the Apostles doing so, nor did Jesus Himself do it when he was slapped by a Roman soldier.
A “slap in the face” is a metaphor for an unexpected insult or offense.
Did someone insult you? Let him, Jesus says. Are you shocked and offended? Don’t be. And don’t return insult for insult. Turn the other cheek when insulted by not returning insult for insult or hatred with hatred, is more the meaning.
Don’t lower yourself to their level.
This idea is found all throughout Scripture. Jesus would say in the same Sermon on the Mount:
“Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who despitefully use you and persecute you.”
Peter wrote, “don’t return evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.”—1 Pet. 3:9
So Jesus’ command to turn the other cheek is simply a command to forgo retaliation for personal offenses. He was not setting government foreign policy, and He was not throwing out the judicial system.
Crimes can still be prosecuted, and wars can still be waged, but the follower of Christ need not defend his personal “rights” or avenge his honor!