1 Meanwhile, thousands of people had gathered. They were so crowded that they stepped on each other. Jesus spoke to his disciples and said, “Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees. I’m talking about their hypocrisy. 2 Nothing has been covered that will not be exposed. Whatever is secret will be made known. 3 Whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight. Whatever you have whispered in private rooms will be shouted from the housetops.
4 “My friends, I can guarantee that you don’t need to be afraid of those who kill the body. After that they can’t do anything more. 5 I’ll show you the one you should be afraid of. Be afraid of the one who has the power to throw you into hell after killing you. I’m warning you to be afraid of him.
6 “Aren’t five sparrows sold for two cents? God doesn’t forget any of them. 7 Even every hair on your head has been counted. Don’t be afraid! You are worth more than many sparrows. 8 I can guarantee that the Son of Man will acknowledge in front of God’s angels every person who acknowledges him in front of others. 9 But God’s angels will be told that I don’t know those people who tell others that they don’t know me. 10 Everyone who says something against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But the person who dishonors the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
11 “When you are put on trial in synagogues or in front of rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say. 12 At that time the Holy Spirit will teach you what you must say.”
Read Luke 12:1-12 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
In today’s journal entry, we are discussing a passage that includes a verse that I don’t really understand very well. One of the previous times I was studying it, the idea for today’s journal entry was uncovered.
Near the end of this passage, Jesus speaks the following words, “Everyone who says something against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But the person who dishonors the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (v. 10)
For a long time this passage has made me think and wonder about what makes one member of the Godhead (the Holy Spirit) better or different than another (Jesus)? Why would saying something against Jesus be any different than saying something against the Holy Spirit?
This is one of those “challenging” verses, but that morning, while studying, my thoughts shifted to thinking about roles instead of positions. All three members of the Godhead are “God” (position), but what role does each member play – especially looking at the role of the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit?
Jesus came to take the punishment we deserved upon Himself and to pay a debt He did not owe, so humanity (who did deserve punishment for our sins) could be restored into a relationship with God.
The Holy Spirit is sent to convict us of sin and point us to Jesus.
If we were to make a diagram of this, we would see the Holy Spirit with an arrow pointing to Jesus, and we would be in the middle of that arrow.
With this in mind, let’s look back at Jesus’ words. “Everyone who says something against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But the person who dishonors the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (v. 10)
The thought I had that morning while studying was this: If we reject the Holy Spirit, whose role is to convict us of sin in our lives, there is no way for us to even be able to see sin, which keeps us from asking (or thinking we even need) forgiveness, and we never move towards Jesus – the only One who can “save” us.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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