Sunday School Lesson

1. Mark 3:20-35
The Sin That Will Not Be Forgiven
March 17, 2019
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA

2. What’s the number one thing?
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3. The Glory of God!
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4. 1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV
31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it
all for the glory of God.
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5. March Memory Verse
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

6. References
•NIV Study Bible (Grand Rapids, Zondervan Publishing,
1985).
•ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL, Crossway, 2008).
•Hobbs, Herschel H., Fundamentals of Our Faith,
(Nashville, TN, Broadman Press, 1960).
•Sproul, R.C., St. Andrew’s Expositional Commentary on
Mark (Sanford, FL, Reformation Trust, 2011).

7. Introduction to the Gospel According to Mark
•John Mark was the writer for Peter’s account of Jesus’
life recorded in the ‘Gospel According to Mark.’
•Gospel of Mark was written in Rome with Peter in 53-
55 AD.
•John Mark was not a disciple or an eyewitness.
•This writing records more details of the events in
Jesus’ life rather than the actual words.

8. The Setting of Mark 3:20-35 is Capernaum

9. Capernaum in Galilee
•A thriving fishing village on the northwest corner of
the Sea of Galilee.
•Hometown to Peter, Andrew, James, John and
Matthew.
•Jesus moved his ministry from Nazareth 20 miles
northeast to Capernaum.
•There was a local synagogue where Jesus taught and
worshipped.

11. Introduction to Mark 3:20-35
•Great crowds from Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem and
Idumea are following Jesus seeking healing.
•The Pharisees and Herodians are seeking ways to
destroy Jesus’ ministry.
•Jesus’ Disciples are accompanying Him.

13. Jesus’ Ministry – Preaching, Healing and
Driving Out Demons.
•Mark 1:34 NIV
34 and Jesus healed many who had various diseases.
He also drove out many demons, but he would not let
the demons speak because they knew who he was.
•Mark 1:39 NIV
39 So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their
synagogues and driving out demons.

14. The demons of Satan recognize Jesus as God
and obey Him.
• Mark 1:23-25 NIV
23 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed
by an evil spirit cried out, 24 “What do you want with us,
Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know
who you are – the Holy One of God.” 25 “Be quiet!” said
Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”
• Mark 3:11 NIV
11 Whenever the evil spirits saw him, they fell down before
him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.”

15. Mark 3:20-21 NIV
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd
gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even
able to eat. 21 When his family heard about this, they
went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of
his mind.”

16. An Intervention Attempt by Jesus’ Family:
•Jesus’ family were not believers of his deity at this
time; they became believers after the resurrection.
•They came from Nazareth to Capernaum to rescue
Jesus.
•They were fearful for his life based on threats and
rumors in the area.
•Jesus was unable to even eat because of the crowds.

17. Jesus’ Family:
•Mark 6:3 NIV
3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the
brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his
sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.
•Jesus’ earthly father, Joseph, is assumed to not be
alive since he is not mentioned in scripture after
Jesus is 12 years-old (Luke 2:41-52).

18. Mark 3:22 NIV
22 And the teachers of the law who came down from
Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the
prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
•The Jerusalem teachers (scribes) traveled 90 miles to
witness and discredit Jesus.

19. Who is Beelzebub?
• 1st reference:
2 Kings 1:2 NKJV
2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice of his upper room in
Samaria, and was injured; so he sent messengers and said
to them, “Go, inquire of Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron,
whether I shall recover from this injury.”
• Pagan god of the Philistine city, Ekron.
• Associated with the Philistine god named Baal.
• Baal-Zebub actually means “lord of the flies.”

20. Who is Beelzebub?
•Beelzebub actually means “lord of the flies.”
•Beelzebub was considered a demigod, a lesser deity
who ruled over filth, carrion, and flies.
•The title of the book, “The Lord of the Flies” is a
takeoff on this title for Beelzebub.
•The name came to be used for Satan or prince of his
demons, but no clear scriptural reference.

21. Beelzebub or Beelzebul?
•Some manuscripts indicate the word used by the
scribes was “Beelzebul”, which is a reference to the
god Baal, who was considered the lord of all the
demonic realm.
•In this case, the title would be for Satan himself.
•Mark 3:22 supports this by saying, “By the price of
demons, he is driving out demons.”

22. Who is Lucifer?
•There is no scripture that exactly says that Lucifer is
Satan, but references are strong.
•Isaiah 14:12 NKJV
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground,
You who weakened the nations!
•Theory – Beelzebul and Beelzebub are derogatory
nicknames for Satan.

23. What were the teachers (scribes) from
Jerusalem saying about Jesus?
•They ascribed the power of Jesus for healing and
driving out demons as coming from Satan.
•They refused to believe that an uneducated carpenter
from Nazareth could do such things and possess God’s
power.
•They were wrong in their theology that Satan has the
power to perform a bona fide miracle.

24. Can Satan perform miracles?
•Satan is a created being (angel) who sinned against
God, and only has the power that God allows him.
•2 Thessalonians 2:9 NIV
9 The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance
with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays
of power through signs and wonders that serve the
lie,
•Satan’s works are lying signs and wonders that are
counterfeits.

25. Mark 3:23-26 NIV
23 So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables:
“How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is
divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a
house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he
cannot stand; his end has come.

26. Jesus gathers the teachers (Scribes).
•Jesus shows the scribes the absurdity of their theory.
•Satan would never allow his power to be used to
defeat his minions.
•A house or kingdom that divides itself loses its power.
•If Satan was allowing Jesus to drive out his own
demons, he was fighting against himself.
•This was an illogical accusation.

27. Mark 3:27 NIV
27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house and
carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the
strong man. Then he can rob his house.

28. Jesus’ 2nd Parable:
•Jesus was alluding to His own ministry here.
•He had broken into the domain of Satan by coming to
earth and bound him.
•Jesus had rendered Satan impotent to prevent the
plundering of Satan’s house (earth).
•Jesus’ power over evil spirits was evidence that He
was not working by the power of Satan but was
working against Satan.

29. Mark 3:28 NIV
28 I tell you the truth, all sins and blasphemies of men
will be forgiven them.
•The NIV says, “I tell you the truth,”; The ESV says,
“Truly, I say to you,”; and the NKJV says, “Assuredly, I
say to you,”.
•Jesus was making a point about the truth and strength
of His words that follow this disclaimer.

30. “I tell you the truth, all the sins and
blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.”
•All = There is no specific sin that cannot be forgiven
when a person repents and seeks forgiveness.
•All means every one – murder, sexual sin, theft, etc.
•Every sin.
•Blasphemy is speaking a word against God.
•Blasphemy is the opposite of praise.

31. Salvation is through Jesus.
•John 6:40 NIV
40 “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to
the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and
I will raise them up at the last day.”
•Acts 16:31 NIV
31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will
be saved—you and your household.”

32. Mark 3:29-30 NIV
29 But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will
never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” 30 He
said this because they were saying, “He has an evil
spirit.”

33. Matthew’s Account of Jesus’ Words:
•Matthew 12:31-32 NIV
31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can
be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not
be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the
Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks
against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in
this age or in the age to come.

34. Luke’s Account of Jesus’ Words:
•Luke 12:10 NIV
10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of
Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

35. What is Jesus saying here?
•If a person persistently attributes to Satan what is
accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit, then
the person never has forgiveness.
•If one makes a flagrant, willful, decisive judgment that
the Spirit’s testimony about Jesus is satanic,
forgiveness will not be given.

36. Is there a distinction between the blasphemy
of the ‘Son of Man’ and the ‘Holy Spirit’? Yes!
•One who asks to be forgiven for disrespectful words
hastily spoken against Jesus (Son of Man) will be
forgiven.
•Peter’s rejection of Jesus (Luke 22:54-62) and his
subsequent restoration (John 21:15-19).
•Jesus asking God to forgive the people who mocked
Him on the cross in Luke 23:34.

37. Is there a distinction between the blasphemy
of the ‘Son of Man’ and the ‘Holy Spirit’? Yes!
•Jesus (Son of Man) while present on earth was able to
forgive sins against God and committed against him.
•The Holy Spirit was present in Jesus while in human
form on earth.
•After the crucifixion and resurrection, the Holy Spirit
was sent in Jesus’ name as the Counselor to teach
followers and call people to Christ.

38. The Sin That Will Not Be Forgiven – Blasphemy
Against the Holy Spirit.
•The willful, persistent and unrepentant rejection
against the work of the Holy Spirit and his message
concerning Jesus.
•Acts 7:54 NIV
51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are
still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors:
You always resist the Holy Spirit!”

39. The Sin That Will Not Be Forgiven – Blasphemy
Against the Holy Spirit.
•The person who persists in hardening his heart against
God, against the work of the Holy Spirit, and against
the provision of Jesus Christ as Savior, is outside the
reach of God’s provision for forgiveness and salvation.
•1 John 5:16c NIV
16c There is a sin that leads to death.

40. The Sin That Will Not Be Forgiven – Blasphemy
Against the Holy Spirit.
•When a person rejects the call of the Holy Spirit to
accept Christ as Savior, he/she is dishonoring God
(committing blasphemy against the Holy Spirit) by
saying I am my own savior, I am exercising my right to
myself – (I will do this my way).
•You remain in a state of willful and determined
opposition to the power of the Holy Spirit.

41. The Holy Spirit’s work with lost people.
1. Conviction:
John 16:8-9 NIV
8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the
wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:
9 about sin, because people do not believe in me;
• The Holy Spirit shows man the awfulness of sin and
what it does.
• The Holy Spirit brings man to realize that he is a sinner
and the greatest sin is unbelief in Jesus.

42. The Holy Spirit’s work with lost people
2. Righteousness:
John 16:10 NIV
10 about righteousness, because I am going to the
Father, where you can see me no longer;
• The Holy Spirit leads man to see that compared to
Christ’s righteousness, his self-righteousness is as
filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).
• The Holy Spirit shows man the righteousness of God
which is not by works but by faith in Jesus (Romans
1:16-17).

43. The Holy Spirit’s work with lost people
3. Judgment:
John 16:11 NIV
11 and about judgment, because the prince of this
world now stands condemned.
•Man is led to admit the righteous judgment of
God upon him because of his sins.
•Man rejects Christ and is condemned to hell or
accepts Christ and is assured of heaven.

44. What happens when someone accepts Christ?
1. Regeneration:
You are born of the Holy Spirit.
John 1:12 NIV
12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed
in his name, he gave the right to become children of
God—
2. Seals the believer unto redemption:
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NIV
21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm
in Christ. He anointed us, 22 set his seal of ownership on
us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit,
guaranteeing what is to come.

45. What happens when someone accepts Christ?
3. Assurance of Salvation:
1 John 5:11-12 NIV
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever
has the Son has life; whoever does not have the
Son of God does not have life.

46. Mark 3:31-33 NIV
Jesus’ Family Arrives
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing
outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd
was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your
mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and brothers?” he asked.

47. Mark 3:34-35 NIV
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him
and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!
35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and
mother.”

48. Who is God’s Family?
•Jesus used his earthy family to illustrate the inclusion
of His followers into God’s spiritual family.
•Inclusion is based on obedience and being a believer
in Jesus.
•Scripture does not tell us the reaction of Jesus’ earthly
family to this comment.

49. Can a Christian commit the sin that will not be
forgiven?
•No!!!
•Anyone who has truly accepted Jesus Christ as their
Lord and Savior through the work of the Holy Spirit is
sealed, and is unable to commit the sin that will not
be forgiven.

50. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
John 3:16 NIV
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have
eternal life.”
John 14:6 NIV
6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

51. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Romans 3:23 NIV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23a NIV
23a For the wages of sin is death,
• Death in this life (the first death) is 100%.
• Even Jesus, the only one who doesn’t deserve death, died in this
life to pay the penalty for our sin.
• The death referred to in Romans 6:23a is the “second death”
explained in Revelation 21:8.

52. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Revelation 21:8 NIV
8 “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral,
those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to
the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
• Anyone who’s lifestyle is one or more of the sins listed in Revelation 21:8, will
experience the “second death” if they do not repent.
• To Repent means to turn around, to go in the opposite direction, to turn away
from sin and to come to Jesus.
Romans 5:8 NIV
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.

53. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Romans 6:23b NIV
23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Revelation 21:7 NIV
7 “Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be
their God and they will be my children.”
• Romans 10:9-10 explains to us how to be victorious.

54. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Romans 10:9-10 NIV
9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are
justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith
and are saved.
Romans 10:13 NIV
13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved.”

55. The Plan of Hope & Salvation:
Do you have questions?
Would you like to know more?
Please, contact First Baptist Church Jackson at 601-949-1900
or http://firstbaptistjackson.org/contact/

56. Next Sunday
Mark 5:21-24; 35-43
Restores
February 24, 2019
First Baptist Church
Jackson, Mississippi
USA