So much ink has been spilt over the so-called ‘unforgivable sin.’ And yet, it remains as enigmatic for us today as it was 2000 years ago. Jesus’ words are spoken in the context where people were accusing him – the Son of God – of doing all of his good works in the power of the prince of demons, Beelzebul. They have misunderstood and maligned his divine mission of mercy to save humankind. They
have confounded the Spirit of God with the spirit of evil. Now, if people can be so willfully confused and lacking in discernment, how can they be saved? If they don’t know the difference between good and evil, if their consciences are so unformed, how can they even ask for forgiveness?
It seems that the scribes of Jesus’ time, with all their self-assurance, education and authority, couldn’t see that he was actually speaking the Word
of God and was the Word incarnate. Fair enough. That would have blown all their preconceptions. “Can anything good come from Bethlehem?” But why did the masses of people keep coming to Jesus? Why did he have such a following?
Prejudice can blind us. Sometimes, we also refuse to see the good in our neighbours or give them the benefit of the doubt. We have made up our minds that certain people are misguided or malicious. We cannot
forgive them despite their efforts to demonstrate their goodwill or innocence. Are we the ‘lost cause’, or are they? If we totally cut ourselves off from the possibility of a relationship, then what hope is there of reconciliation? How un-Christian are we? Is there the remotest possibility that we might one day acknowledge that we were in the wrong?
How willfully blind am I sometimes? Could I be cutting myself off from God and my
brothers and sisters because I refuse to recognise good when it is staring me in the face? Do I believe God created us all very good, in God’s image and likeness?
Reflections by Peter Knox SJ
