A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF
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.”
22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak 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. Mark 3:20-25
So set on discrediting Jesus in the eyes of the crowd were these religious leaders that they did not think about the implications of their accusations. Jesus was smart. He got it immediately, and shot their own foolishness back at them. Unity is a powerful force and Jesus knew that. God disrupted the unity of Babel right in the beginning of history because there was no telling what those who rebelled against Him could do if they did it together. By contrast, disunity is destructive. For Satan to have divided forces would spell doom to his kingdom.
However, there was something far more serious in this accusation. To attribute to Satan the work of the Holy Spirit was to cut themselves off from every benefit of Jesus’ incarnation and work on earth. What Jesus came to reveal and to do is useless without the inward work of the Holy Spirit. He brings light and understanding, and enables a person to believe and to embrace the life and work of Jesus.
God is one – ECHAD – but He is also three persons, each distinct in His function within that unity. The Holy Spirit administers and applies the work of Jesus to the human being. He comes to indwell and release all the benefits of Jesus’ sacrifice. To deny Him is to be cut off from every facet of Jesus’ work.
There is no conviction of sin, no understanding or experience of grace, no forgiveness, no hope of glory, no knowledge of God as Father, no fruit of the Spirit, no guarantee of the resurrection or eternal life, no being made alive, no understanding of the Word of God, no knowledge of the truth, no revelation of Jesus, no help in prayer, no comfort or consolation and on and on, without the Spirit.
What terrible consequences for the person who denies the Holy Spirit! The Spirit is responsible for every bit of connection we have with Jesus and the Father and everything we understand and experience of increasing wholeness in our lives. Wow! To deny Him and His work is to end up with nothing,,,zero… including God Himself!