"
In this quiet reply we see that Jesus does not rail against them,
nor flatly deny their base assertion that He does His miracles by
the power of the Devil, but shows how logically false must be
their statement. And then, with grave authority, and, I think,
with solemn tenderness in His voice and in His eyes, He adds,
"Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons
of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never
forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation"; or, as the
Revised Version puts it, "is guilty of an eternal sin"; and then
Mark adds, "because they said, He hath an unclean spirit" (Mark
iii. 22-30).
Jesus came into the world to reveal God's truth and love to men,
and to save them, and men are saved by believing in Him. But how
could the men of His day, who saw Him working at the carpenter's
bench, and living the life of an ordinary man of humble toil and
daily temptation and trial, believe His stupendous claim to be
the only-begotten Son of God, the Saviour of the world, and the
final Judge of all men? Any wilful and proud impostor could make
such a claim. But men _could_ not and _ought_ not to believe
such an assertion unless the claim were supported by ungainsayable
evidence. This evidence Jesus began to give, not only in the holy
life which He lived and the pure Gospel He preached, but in the
miracles He wrought, the blind eyes He opened, the sick He healed,
the hungry thousands He fed, the seas He stilled, the dead He
raised to life again, and the devils He cast out of bound and
harassed souls.
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