Criticism has a way of finding us at the worst possible moment, and when it's unfair, it stings all the more. But have you ever been criticized by someone who refused to say it to your face? You're in good company. That happened to Jesus too. Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll teaches from a story in the Gospel of Mark, where religious leaders leveled the most insulting accusation imaginable against Jesus, and watched him answer with disarming clarity.
There's real wisdom here for anyone who's weathering unfair words. Chuck titled his message, "Unclean Spirit, Unpardonable Sin." We are going through the third chapter of Mark as we study the Gospel of Mark, and last time we looked at a section we call a sandwich. Marcus seems to be interested in that style. He will begin a story and then put something in between the story and then end it later. We're in the in-between part of that sandwich in verses 22 through 30 of Mark chapter 3, beginning at Mark 3:22.
The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul, and he casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons." And he called them to himself and began speaking to them in parables. How could Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand.
But he is finished. But no one can enter the strong man's house. And plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house. Truly, I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness.
But is guilty of an eternal sin because they were saying he has an unclean spirit. You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into the Gospel according to Mark, be sure to purchase a copy of our *Searching the Scriptures* Bible study workbooks by going to insight.org/offer. Chuck titled today's message: "Unclean Spirit, Unpardonable Sin." Ministry has its own challenges, and it certainly is difficult to press on, especially during times when under attack. In fact, it can be occasionally borderline unbearable.
There are other times criticism doesn't bother one at all. I've always appreciated the comment of Winston Churchill, who said, on one occasion, "Few things in life are more exhilarating than being shot at without result." However, Criticism usually stings, even if we know the person who is doing the criticizing doesn't know what he's talking about. It also helps to remember that the words of a critic are usually forgotten before too long. I read this past week: there is no city in the world where they have erected a statue in honor of a critic. What is especially hurtful is when criticism is unfair, because this is the most popular kind of criticism.
We probably need to spend a little time looking at it in our own day and age. Let's kind of do a quick analysis of unfair criticism.
Okay. I have my longtime friend Dave Roper to thank for some of these comments. He writes his in his book "A Burden Shared." These words regarding criticism, or at least some of these words. First of all, when it usually occurs. Number one, criticism comes when we least need it.
Have you noticed that? When we least need it, usually we are we are down at least against the ropes, if not down and out. And along comes the critic to kick us while we're down. Critics have a terrible timing; they just have a way of coming in when we least need to hear words that put us down. The second thing I would say is that criticism comes from those who are least qualified to give it.
They don't really know us. They don't know the full story. They don't understand the circumstances, and often critics have an unrealistic set of expectations that no one could fulfill for them.
So they are those who are least qualified to give it most often. And third, criticism frequently comes in ways that are least helpful to us. Have you noticed that they tell others instead of facing us? For example, when was the last time? Don't answer out loud, please.
When was the last time you confronted a person face to face with your criticism? Most of us can't even remember when we did that last. It's called confrontation. Most critics are cowards, so they will tell others their criticism rather than the person they are criticizing. Second, I've noticed they are often so angry you can't reason with them.
They've made up their mind; they have set their erroneous opinions in concrete, and you can't break them free even with a hard set of facts. Critics have made up their minds, and they're busy about telling other people. That, by the way, isn't simply criticism; it's gossip. Rarely does the critic come face to face.
Now, how do we normally respond?
Well, usually our first reaction is to quickly defend ourselves. We have heard what the person has said, and rather than thinking it through. We react with self-justification. I've loved for years the prayer of Augustine, who once wrote, "Heal me of this lust of mine, of always having to vindicate myself." Isn't that a good word? Heal me of this need to vindicate myself.
Often we're so quick to defend ourselves, we don't stop to realize the person may have our good at heart, or we may have heard it before, maybe several times. There's an old Yiddish proverb that says, "If one person calls you a donkey, pay him no mind. If two call you a donkey, go get a saddle." If you're hearing the same criticism from those who have your good at heart, it's pretty wise for you to pause and consider the wisdom of that word of warning. Second thing we do, we rehearse criticism so long we forget to consider the source. It's helpful to realize that not everyone who has a word of criticism against us should even be listened to.
But we not only listen to them, we overreact and we allow the criticism to go so deep it almost paralyzes us.
Well, enough about us. This is a good time for us to turn to what happened in the life of Jesus. Which was talk about challenging. He was busy about his father's work, deeply engaged in the lives of others, healing, ministering, serving, bringing sight to the blind, giving hearing to those who had no hearing, and in the midst of all of the challenges of ministry, along come the members of his family. Remember the last time we were together.
If your Bible is open to Mark three, you'll see in verse twenty one that his own people arrive in the midst of the crowd as he is in the heart of communicating and healing, serving others, and they are coming to take custody of him for they are saying he has lost his senses. And by the way, it means the same thing in the original language. We would say he's gone berserk; he's losing it. In case you wonder who those people are, look at verse thirty-one. They are comprised of his mother, as well as his brothers, who arrived standing outside.
They sent word to him and they called him. And they said, the crowd says to Jesus, "Your mother and your brothers, are outside looking for you." We looked at this closely last time, so there's no reason to review it in detail, except to say they were genuinely concerned about his welfare. I believe they were located in Nazareth. He is ministering in Capernaum, some distance away. They get word that he is on a nonstop schedule.
In fact, earlier in the same passage, he doesn't even take time to eat. And what mother doesn't concern herself when her kids aren't taking time to rest, to be refreshed, and to eat good meals, and to be rejuvenated physically? And the brothers come along with her, and they decide he needs to set aside the time to rest and recover. The point is, they misunderstood the whole ministry he was engaged in. And as if that wasn't enough, on top of that misunderstanding, verse 22 tells us there were scribes who came down from Jerusalem.
We met the scribes earlier, and I'm going to introduce them again to all of us in case you forgot. The scribes were the ancient lawyers; they were the ones who often spoke in the synagogue. They were dull and boring, as they would present this situation as opposed to that one. They would quote this source and that source, and they would compare it or contrast it to this source and that other source. And it was sort of a diatribe on certain religious subjects from one to another.
They were in authority. Whoever questioned a scribe. Or the Pharisees would be few in number.
Now they arrive from Jerusalem, so don't miss that. His family has come from Nazareth, and they misunderstand him. And finally, they make their way back home without Jesus. And out of the heels of that, we have the scribes coming, and what are they saying? Don't miss their accusation.
He is possessed by. Belzobal, and he casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons. I would venture to say that has never been said about any one of us. Everyone hearing me right now has been criticized by someone. But I would doubt seriously that anyone has accused you of being possessed of Satan.
That's what they accuse him of. There is no more insulting accusation than this one. But before I go there further, let me deal with the word Beelzebul. It's an unusual word. It appears first in Second Kings, chapter one.
Two verses in that chapter, verse two, a little later, verse sixteen. In each of those two verses, Belshazzar, as he is known there, is called the God of Ekron. E k r o n. Ekron is a city in ancient Philistia.
So Belshazzar was the God of the Philistines, one of the gods. And happened to be in this city, the god of that city wasn't uncommon in ancient pagan cities. That they would claim a god as their own, and the god was often demonized, and the work of that god was supernatural, since there are only two sources of supernatural power. The power of God or the power of Satan, and in this case, the God of Ekron revealed His power as Satan energized him. You will find the original meaning of the word interesting.
It means Lord of the flies. Lord of the flies. John Phillips writes strong words to describe Beelzebul. And I quote: The accusation was the cold, caustic criticism of the sophisticated Jews from the capital. They refused to accept the fact that Jesus was God, and that He cast out demons by the power of God.
No one could deny that the supernatural was involved in the Lord's ability to perform miracles. Only one explanation was possible. They said he was in league with satanic powers. They could not have conceived a greater insult. Not content with accusing him of being under the influence of fallen Lucifer, they accused him of being in league with Beelzebub.
The Lord of the Flies, the Lord of filth. It was a foul and wicked thing to say. The belching forth of the hot lava of the pit itself, from the seething volcano of their own wicked hearts. These men come in their religious garb, with the authority of official religion about them, and they make the proclamation. Though they are erroneous in their conclusion, this man is possessed of the devil.
He has within himself the foul presence of the demons. He has an unclean spirit, not merely an accusation, but a damaging and insulting accusation. What was it designed to do? It was designed to discredit his ministry. Please notice how clever it was.
They don't deny his power. No one could deny the power necessary for the healing of a broken body, or giving sight to blind eyes, or to the ability to cast out a demon. What they are saying is, the source of that power is the enemy himself. He operates in the realm of satanic power.
Now. I don't want you to miss something that is true of those critics and is true of most critics. Our desire, our interest, immediately moves to Beelzebub in verse 22. But I want you to see something you would have overlooked most likely. Look at the pronoun.
He is possessed by Beelzebub. He casts out the demons by the ruler of demons, which means they didn't say this to him, to his face. They said it to others. Got it? When you use this this particular pronoun, you're referring to, of course, it's third person singular.
He is doing so and so. If they were talking to him, they would be saying you. You are the one who is doing this, but critics are rarely man or woman enough to face the person they're accusing. This is a classic case in point. What they are doing is trying to undermine his ministry in the minds of those people who have begun to follow him, and by casting aspersions to the source of his power, their hope is to discredit his ministry.
His answer to them is not only brilliant; it is direct. Notice he called them to himself and began speaking to them, so they may not speak to him directly, but he certainly is speaking to them, and his words are meant to be heard by those who had said those things against him. Two of the best things to remember about. Dealing with individuals who do this sort of thing, two words that begin with D: be direct and leave room for dialogue. Directly speak to the person who has made accusations like that, if you can possibly reach them.
Speak directly to them, and second, leave room for dialogue. Let there be the give and take of conversation that often helps.
Now, his approach in this case is a one-way street because their minds are made up. They were not willing to change, which is part of the reason he says what he does about the unpardonable sin. His approach is a one-way street. He's in the driver's seat. Make no mistake about it.
And he really isn't interested in an argument. There's an old folk saying that says, "Never get in a spitting match with a skunk. If you win, you're still going to come out smelling bad." So he's got a bunch of skunks on his hands, and he decides, "I'm simply going to declare the truth." And we'll leave it with God Himself to change them, if they are in any way willing to change.
Now, the overall premise. Understand his answer is: How can Satan cast out Satan? This is followed by three conditional statements. Look in your Bible. Each begins with the word "if." He starts by saying in twenty three, how can Satan cast out Satan?
Now notice the three lines of thinking. Number one, if a kingdom is divided. Number two, if a house is divided. Number three, if Satan has risen up against himself. The first line of argument has to do with the political realm.
The second has to do with the domestic realm, and the third has to do with the spirit realm. You follow that? Number verse twenty-four: the kingdom divided against itself. We saw that in the nineteenth century in these United States, where our country was divided against itself. Brothers in the South fought against brothers living in the North.
Sometimes fathers took up arms against sons, and sons against fathers. And our country almost lost its union in the midst of the war between the states. A country cannot continue when it's divided against itself. Anarchy breaks out, and ultimately there is no rule at all, but the rule of the masses.
So he's saying that in verse twenty-four, if a kingdom is divided, it self-destructs. Verse twenty-five, if a house is divided against itself, the house will not be able to endure. There is no worse environment for children to live in. Than when they are exposed to parents that cannot get along, and the hostility grows in, in volatility to the point of danger. The house is divided against itself, or when a brother can't get along with another brother, there is sibling rivalry that destroys the harmony of a home, or older adult children do not treat with respect.
But rather take advantage of their parents in their very old age. This is a domestic chaos, and he's saying a house divided against itself, that house cannot endure.
Now, remember the political analogy, the domestic analogy. He's building to the spirit world, and he says in verse twenty-six, "If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand." But he's finished. It's over. The original evil empire works in concert with one another. Demons don't strategize against other demons; they work alongside each other.
It will shock most people to think that demons are present even in this room. Demons, as well as angels, are present at all times. They are not only insidious; they are invisible. They are at work. And they despise the the truth of God.
If they can work on one person, they will work in one person's life. If they can work in a group, they'll work in a group's life. And there is this constant battle between the evil world and the world of righteousness. And because it is an invisible war, our tendency is either to simply ignore it or deny it. Interestingly, the more intellectual people become, the greater is their denial of the spiritual world.
That's not everyone, but that certainly would be the majority of those in the intellectual world. There's something bracing about watching Jesus meet a false accusation. Not with defensiveness, but with truth. Stay with us here on Insight for Living. Coming up is one of the most misunderstood statements in all of Scripture, and the comfort waiting on the other side of it.
Chuck Swindoll titled today's study in Mark chapter three: Unclean Spirit, Unpardonable Sin.
Well, I'm sure you felt the shift in the weather and the change of scenery as the holiday season comes upon us.
Sometimes we start the season with good intentions, hoping to maintain our spiritual focus. When there are so many competing forces during holiday activities, this year we invite you to engage in an intentional 25-day season of spiritual focus. Everlasting Light is a 25-day Advent devotional published exclusively by Insight for Living. It's designed to draw you out of the frenzy and into a quieter rhythm of waiting, reflection, and expectancy. Each day sets scripture before you to anchor your heart, and a thoughtful reflection to carry into the hours ahead.
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Chuck Swindoll talks about the unpardonable sin Thursday on Insight for Living. The preceding message, "Unclean Spirit, Unpardonable Sin," was copyrighted in 2010 and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2026 by Charles R. Swindoll Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.
