This week we
will continue to study the Gospel of Luke.
Earlier in 9:51, we were told that Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem, and from John 11, we understand that the home of Martha and Mary was in Bethany, about 2 miles from Jerusalem on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olive.
(1) What was the intention of Martha in opening her home to Jesus (and His disciples)?
(2) Judging from this story, what did Martha do to make sure that she did the utmost to prepare her home?
(3) As far as her intention was concerned, was she right in so doing?
(4) What was Jesus doing while Martha was busy doing all the preparations? Why?
(5) What was her sister, Mary, doing when Jesus was teaching inside her house?
(6) Why didn’t Martha do what her sister chose to do?
(7) Why didn’t Mary do what her sister chose to do? Did she not know she also had an obligation to make preparation for her guests?
(8) While Martha was obviously upset at Mary, what choices did she have?
(9) What did she choose? Why?
(10) Describe what was ultimately wrong with Martha's activity in the following areas:
a. Making the preparation itself
b. Making the preparation while Jesus was teaching
c. Making too lavish a preparation which prevented her from listening to Jesus
d. Making such a preparation that she became worried and upset
e. Being “distracted”? What does "distracted" mean?
(11) In entering Martha’s home, what was Jesus’ ultimate desire for her?
(12) Jesus commended Mary for having “chosen what is better”? What was it?
(13) Why did Jesus say that “it will not be taken away from her”? Who wanted to take it away from her?
(14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Lk. 10:42)
The story of Martha versus Mary is a familiar one, and Martha is usually the negative example, while Mary the positive, and rightfully so. But the problem is, we keep on repeating the mistake of Martha and seldom learn from the example of Mary.
To be critical, Martha made more than one mistake and those would include at least the following:
1. Misplaced priorities: Although it was at a later setting that Jesus said, “But you will not always have me” (John 12:8), Martha should know how precious it was to have Jesus visit her home. Indeed, as Jesus said not long ago, “many prophets and kings want to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it’ (Luke 10:24). Jesus has not come to be served, but to show Himself to us, to preach the good news of the Kingdom and to lead us to the Father. In His presence, all activities should cease; only stillness, worship and listening should prevail. Martha misplaced her priorities. As much as she also desired to listen to Jesus, she was “distracted” from the main purpose of welcoming Jesus to her home.
2. Confusing serving with usefulness: Obviously, she was the oldest of the siblings, and very likely, in the absence of their parents, she was the “head” of the household. And in typical Oriental fashion, she felt responsible for everything in the family. Apart from assuming a position of authority, she imperceptibly desired to be recognized for being a responsible Big Sister. As such, she was used to being in charge of everything, and was the roll-up-the sleeve type as well. For her to be busy was to be useful. Just like in the Railway Series of Rev. Awdry (a children's novel series), one of the refrains is “to be a busy engine is to be a useful engine”! To Martha, busyness was next to holiness. In other words, she had built her identity based on being busy serving.
3. Allowing busyness to harden her heart: To be distracted is one thing; to confuse serving with usefulness is still understandable; but to order Jesus to tell Mary to help her? Martha had allowed busyness to harden her heart. For a moment, she had not only lost her love for her sister, but she had also lost her love for Jesus! When we sense that we have allowed busyness to narrow or harden our capacity to love, it is time call “time-out”!
On the other hand, there is more than one lesson we can learn from Mary, and they are
just the opposite of the mistakes made by Martha. These include at least the following:
(a) Having the right priority of making time to spend in the presence of Jesus - to be still, to worship and to listen; this is the most important priority of one’s life.
(b) Not allowing oneself to defined by busyness
(c) Refusing to allow busyness to narrow or harden one’s heart to love
However, the last comment by Jesus about Mary is worth noting: “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Lk. 10:42).
In a more literal translation, Jesus is saying that Mary has chosen the “good” part, not the better part. Without that good part, all the rest will not be “good” at all. And, in saying, “it will not be taken away from her”, Jesus was directly answering the request of Martha to order Mary to help. Jesus, in essence, was warning Martha, “Do not take it away from her!”
There is a prevalent teaching which says that we all love Jesus differently. Some may be the quiet type who is keen on spending time in solitude with Jesus like Mary, and there is another type who is like an activist, loving God with actions and serving. This last comment by Jesus should do away such a notion for good. Without choosing the “good” part, nothing else can be “good” at all. Spending time, much time, with Jesus first and foremost is not an option.
(1) The disciples obviously had plenty of opportunities to watch Jesus pray. What might have prompted this disciple to (eventually) ask Jesus to teach them to pray?
(2) In so asking, did the disciple have in mind:
a. What to pray for?
b. The words that should be used in our prayers?
c. The proper format of prayers?
d. The proper posture of prayers?
e. Or…?
(3) Have you ever met someone whom you might be prompted to ask, “Can you teach me to pray”? If so, what might have prompted you to ask that person?
(4) I think we can all agree that Jesus did not mean for the “Lord’s Prayer” to be repeated verbatim as our prayer. Rather it was to show us the essence of our faith which is naturally manifested in our most intimate moments with God, that is, when we pray. Try to divide this prayer into meaningful parts.
(5) What comes first in your divisions? Why?
a. How important is it that we are aware that the one to whom we pray is our “Father in Heaven”? (Refer to Rom. 8:14-16; 1 Jn. 3:1; Matt. 6:32)
b. God is certainly holy and so is His name. What then could cause His name not to be hallowed? And what will cause His name to be hallowed? (You may want to refer to Jer. 7:30, Ezek. 36:20, Mal. 1:6; 4:2 etc.)
c. What do you understand of God’s Kingdom in terms of the following:
- Who reigns over it? (Dan. 7:13-14; Rev. 11:15)
- What is its realm? (Isa. 9:7; Jn. 18:36)
- Who belongs to it? (Jn. 3:3; 2 Pet. 1:11)
Why should we pray for its coming?
(6) Why does Jesus put praying for our daily bread before the rest?
a. What does praying for our “bread” represent?
b. What might the emphasis on “daily” be? (See Matt. 6:34)
(7) This is a prayer to the “Father” which means that there is a basic assumption that the one who prays has a relationship with God as His child — one whose sins have been washed by the blood of Christ:
a. What kind of forgiveness does this prayer refer to? (See 1 Jn. 1:9-10 which is written to believers.)
b. What if, as Christians, we do not wish to forgive those who have wronged us? (See also Matt. 6:14-15)
c. What does forgiveness mean in this context? Does it simply mean God does not seek to judge us or the full restoration of fellowship and communion?
d. How then should we apply this to our forgiveness of others?
(8) Why does Jesus not teach us to pray, “Help us not to sin”, and instead, “lead us not into temptation”?
a. What is the difference between the two?
b. We like to say that temptation is not sin, but what if we allow ourselves to continue to face the same temptation repeatedly?
(9) Having reflected on the above, what changes should you make in your prayer-life?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come'. ” (Lk. 11:2)
It is obvious that what prompted one of the disciples to ask Jesus to teach them to prayer went beyond his desire to simply have Jesus follow John the Baptist’s example to teach his disciples how to pray. If we have had the same privilege of watching and hearing Jesus pray to the Father and the tremendous experience of praying with Jesus, we would have been so moved to desire imitating not just the content, the words or the posture of His prayers, but the very intimacy, the complete trust and natural expression of emotions and thoughts, plus a thorough understanding and knowledge of the Father. This I believe was what the disciples desired to learn from Jesus, and Jesus did not disappoint them.
The so-called Lord’s Prayer is definitely not meant to be a verbatim prayer to be recited, but a prayer that reflects the very essence of our faith and relationship with God. This 100% God-first, God-centered prayer highlights the essence of our faith in God as first and foremost a 100% God-first, God-centered faith.
This distinguishes the Christian faith from any other faith in the world. Yes, our faith in Jesus Christ results in eternal life, the forgiveness of sin and joy and peace that this world cannot give; and yet, it remains a 100% God-centered, God-first faith. We do not believe in Jesus for our sake, but for God’s sake.
If our faith remains a faith for our own sake, it will be, as the parable of the sower shows, easily taken away by the devil because of a lack of understanding; it will not be able to grow because of trouble or persecution; or it will be choked by worries and wealth (Matt. 13:18-22).
This is
also why some believers experience the following:
- They become discouraged and lose faith when their prayers are not answered.
- They do not have any change in their lives even when they claim that they believed in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).
- They do not have the lasting peace that is promised by Jesus (Jn. 14:27) .
- They do not have the joy of forgiveness that comes from genuine repentance.
- They do not have the aroma of Christ that draws people to pursue knowing Christ as their Lord and Savior (2 Cor. 2:14).
If our faith is not a God-centered, God-first faith, there is no way we can pray this Lord’s Prayer meaningfully, or for that matter, pray meaningfully at all!
In this passage about prayers, Jesus first told a parable in vv. 5-8 and then gave the application and the reason for it:
11:5-8 – The Parable
(1) In this parable, is the person asking for his own need, or for the need of someone else?
(2) As a result, is it correct to say that the context of this parable is intercession?
(3) Why does the person go to the friend and ask for bread? What time was it? What does it signify?
(4) What is the reason that moves the friend in bed to give even at such an inconvenient time?
(5) How much is the man in bed willing to give as a result?
11:9-10 – The Application
(6) In the application of this parable, Jesus mentions about (i) asking, (ii) seeking, and (iii) knocking:
a. Is there any difference between the three, (perhaps in intensity)?
b. Why then does He use this three-fold application?
c. Is there any difference in the outcome?
(7) Is it a blanket promise? Why is it told in the setting of a parable of intercession?
11:11-13 – The Reason
(8) Describe how God is different from the man in bed in the parable in terms of the following:
a. The relationship with the petitioner
b. The motive in answering the request
c. The ability to answer the request
(9) In assuring us that God, our Father in heaven, will answer our prayer, Jesus speaks of the giving of the “Holy Spirit to those who ask Him".
a. What is the significance of the giving of the Holy Spirit to those who ask for themselves? (Acts 2:38, Eph. 1:13)
b. When we ask on behalf of someone the gift of the Holy Spirit, what kind of intercession is it? (Acts 10:44-47)
c. How will God respond to such requests? Why?
(10) How then should you pray for the salvation of your loved ones or friends?
(11) Do you think this passage is only applicable to intercessions? Why or why not?
(12) What is the main message to you today and how can you apply it to your life?
“So, I say to you, ‘Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you'.” (Lk. 11:9)
The above sweeping promise by Jesus sounds too good to be true, and Jesus knew it. Therefore, after this promise He goes on to reiterate, “For everyone who asks receives, he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Lk. 11:10)
Why would Jesus choose to reiterate this promise? Because it is absolutely true, and He does not stop there. He continues to ask two rhetorical questions:
“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish will give him a snake instead? Or, if he asks for an egg will give him scorpion?” (Lk. 11:11)
These are rhetorical questions because the answers are obvious.
The point Jesus is trying to emphasize is that in prayer, we are talking to our Father in heaven; we are asking the one who loves us beyond what any human being could, including our earthly fathers. Why then should we doubt His promise?
However, we need to understand several aspects relating to this promise:
(1) We need to understand the context within which this promise is made:
Luke ties this promise to the Lord’s Prayer in which Jesus teaches not only about the essence of prayer but the essence of our faith — our relationship with God, our Father — in that our faith is a 100% God-centered, God-first faith. So should our prayers be.
(2) We need to understand that,
“All three verbs (i.e. ask, seek and knock) are continuous: Jesus is not speaking of single activities, but of those that persist. He is speaking of an attitude similar to that taught by the parable. The repetition in verse 10 underlines the certainty of the response…It is always answered in the way God sees is best.” (Morris, 214)
(3) We need to understand our own hearts:
We may think that we are asking for fish and egg, but in essence, we might be asking for snake and scorpion instead.
The key, therefore, still is an attitude of putting God first in everything we desire. If we are able to cultivate such a God-first, God-centered faith, our prayers will not be so much marked by petitions, but by praise, admiration and love. And, when we do come across our needs and our desires, even if we cannot pray according to the will of God in the beginning, we will come to understand, appreciate and submit to His will eventually. We will know that He, indeed, knows the best "what" and "when" for us. He will not give us anything less than the best. He is our Father!
(1) At the healing of the man muted by the demon, what was the crowd’s reaction? What would your reaction be if you were there?
(2) If you were a skeptic, what possible explanations might you have for such a miracle?
(3) On your list of possibilities, does it include what is said in v. 15?
(4) Why did they attribute Jesus’ power as from demons? Did they have any basis for that?
(5) If you were Jesus, what would you do?
What did Jesus do?a. Rebuke them severely
b. Perform another miracle to prove yourself
c. Perform a miracle of punishment
d. Patiently reason with them, hoping they might repent
(6) In vv. 17-20, what reason did Jesus give to correct them?
(7) Now that we know that within Satan’s empire, they are united. How does Satan’s empire compare with the church of Jesus Christ in this respect?
(8) Now, do you know one of the main reasons why the church of today is so weak and without power? What should you do, as a member of the church?
(9) According to Matthew 12:45, Jesus ended His patient explanation with a stern warning directed to that generation which benefited from the earthly presence of the Son. How did they resemble the condition of the man in the parable in the ways below?
a. It was swept clean of evil spirit.
b. Yet it was unoccupied.
c. It was eventually occupied by many more wicked spirits.
(10) Is our generation any different?
(11) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. The final condition of that man is worse than the first.” (Lk. 11:26)
William Barclay calls the parable of the seven demons, in Matthew
12:43-45 (and in Lk. 11:24-26), the parable of the “haunted house,” but
his interpretation, I am afraid, fails to capture the severity of the
warning by Jesus. Barclay concludes that it speaks of the evil of
idleness and thus, “the Church will most easily keep her converts when
she gives them Christian work to do. Our aim is not the mere negative
absence of evil action; it is the positive presence of work for Christ.”
But Jesus was not speaking about the Church, but the wicked generation
of His time where the devil fled in His presence (Lk. 10:18). By
rejecting Him, and upon His departure, the prince of this world would
take over (Jn. 14:30) and the world’s condition would be even worse than
before.
Jesus’ message is one of “no fence sitting” which is being repeated
through His ministry. Even in this same chapter, His message in v. 30
was, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.”
As a result, anyone who does not receive Christ as their Lord and Savior
rejects Him. One who does not make Christ their Lord and King, makes
Satan their lord and king.
We like to think that we can be master of our own life. But the cold hard fact is we are either “slaves to sin which leads to death or to obedience (to Christ) which leads to righteousness.” (Rom. 6:16)
You do not have to be a haunted house.
(1) What might be the reason that “the crowds increased”?
(2) Jesus has already performed numerous and unmistakable miracles. Why did the people still want to “see a miraculous sign from Him” (See Matt. 12:38)?
(3) Why did Jesus call it a “wicked” generation? In what sense were they wicked?
(4) Jesus obviously continued to perform other miracles, like the healing of the ten lepers (Lk. 17:11-19). Why then did He say, “none will be given it, except the sign of Jonah”?
(5) How was Jonah (i.e. his miracle of surviving in the belly of a big fish for three days) a sign to the Ninevites?
(6) How did the Ninevites respond to his preaching and his sign? (Jon. 3:5)
(7) How then was Jesus (i.e. His rising from the dead on the third day) a sign for that generation?
(8) How did the people of His generation respond to His resurrection?
(9) Why did the Queen of the South (i.e. the Queen of Sheba of 1 Ki. 10; see especially the queen’s comment in 10:7-9) make such a long journey to visit Solomon?
(10) How would you compare Solomon to Jesus, in terms of who they are, what they could offer, and their wisdom?
(11) What would the Queen of the South do if she was alive in Jesus’ day?
(12) How then would the Ninevites and the Queen of the South condemn the people of Jesus’ generation with their responses to Jonah and Solomon respectively?
(13) How about our generation? Are we any better or worse? Why?
(14) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“The Queen of the South… (and the) men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it…” (Lk. 11:31-32)
According to Matthew, it was some of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who demanded a miraculous sign from Jesus (Matthew 12:38), but Luke implied that such an attitude of disbelief was not just theirs, but the that of the entire generation.
Indeed, Jesus had already performed numerous, unmistakable and great miracles, including the raising of the dead. And yet, the people refused to believe that He is the Son of God. Frankly, no amount of miracles could cause them to repent and believe in Jesus Christ except the very miracle of His resurrection from the dead. Even so, as we learn from the Book of Acts, those of His generation who would believe were still in the minority. These few caused the spread of the gospel beyond Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria to literally the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
As much as the rebuke of Jesus to that generation was severe and the comparisons of them to the Ninevites and the Queen of the South were very convicting, it spells really good news to the rest of us. Both incidents were remarkable.
The people of Nineveh were indeed very wicked people. Their wickedness was such that, like that of Sodom and Gomorrah, it “has come up before” God (Jon. 1:2). And yet, as a people who did not worship Yahweh, who had their own tribal gods, who were bent on violence and wickedness, they instantly repented at the preaching of Jonah, “from the greatest to the least” (Jon. 3:5).
We have witnessed over the past two thousand years that many gentile nations who had never heard of the Lord Jesus Christ repented and believed in Him, even “from the greatest to the least”. The Roman empire was a typical example. We should continue to pray for nations that are not unlike Nineveh, believing that the gospel is still the power of God to save (Rom. 1:16).
The Queen of Sheba, with her power, wisdom, and wealth, was willing to make a long and humbling journey to visit Solomon, not only because of Solomon’s fame, but because of “his relation with the name of the Lord” (1 Ki. 10:1). And what she witnessed led her to give praise to Yahweh: “Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, He has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” (1 Ki. 10:9)
The fact that Jesus said that she would “rise at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them” means that she had likely believed in Yahweh as a result of visiting and listening to Solomon. Some Ethiopian traditions point to the Queen of Sheba whose visit contributed to the bringing of the worship of the God of Israel back to her land.
This should also serve as an encouragement to us to pray for the heads of the nations, as their conversion would have a profound impact on their nations.
11:33-36
Jesus appears to be talking about the light and lamp from a different context than that of the salt and light after the Beatitudes of Matthew 5. So let’s reflect on this parable within the present context of light within us:
(1) Since what Jesus says in 11:33 is true, consider what then might be the reason that people cannot see us shine for Jesus.
a. We purposely hide our light. (Is it possible?)
b. There is, in fact, no light, but darkness within us.
(2) In v. 35, Jesus appears to give an answer to the above question.
a. What is His answer?
b. What does He mean by “See to it then, that the light within you is not darkness”? Light may become dim and may turn dark, but how can light “is (be)” darkness? (Unless when we think we see, we in fact cannot see!)
11:37-44
Jesus obviously did not wash His hands to use it as an opportunity to teach the Pharisees:
(3) The Pharisees go to great length to ensure that they are ceremonially clean, so that they may enter into the temple, and that includes many additional rules of how cups and dishes are to be washed, and how hands and arms are to be washed.
a. According to Jesus, what was wrong with such an approach to holiness?
b. What reason did He give?
c. In v.41, what was Jesus’ advice to them in order that all things be clean? Why?
(4) Does Jesus think tithing is not important?
a. What should be the purpose of tithing?
b. What is meant by justice?
c. Why did Jesus mention justice and the love of God together?
(5) Jesus rebuked them for loving the most important seats and greetings. What might be the equivalent errors within the church today?
(6) According to Lightfoot, the Jews white-washed their tombs not for beauty, but to warn people not to come near, lest they become unclean. Given this background, what was Jesus accusing the Pharisees of?
11:45-54 – Rebuking the teachers of the law
(7) Should not the teachers of the law teach as the Law teaches without compromise?
a. The Law is certainly burdensome and impossible to carry out to perfection. What then should the teachers of the Law do?
- Stop teaching what they could not do themselves
- Distinguish between the spirit of Law and human traditions added to the Law
- Or...
b. What did they do instead?
(8) What might be their motives in building tombs and memorials for the prophets of the past?
a. Why did Jesus say that it, in fact, testified to their approval of the sins of their forefathers?
b. In order to reveal their wickedness and hold them responsible for the blood of “all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world”, what did Jesus say God would do in v. 49?
c. Why would their sins be even more serious that than that of their forefathers?
(9) What is the key to knowledge (i.e. the Way to God, see Jn. 14:6)?
a. How did they take it away?
b. Who might be the equivalent to the teachers of the law in this respect today?
(10) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“See to it then, that the light within you is not darkness.” (Lk. 11:35)
I believe I previously shared about my experience at the Lewis and Clark Cavern when just for a few seconds, all the lights within the cave were turned off, and I completely lost my orientation. Indeed, the story was told of one volunteer who was inadvertently shut in the cave for just one night, and she almost went crazy, hallucinating and hearing strange voices. Fortunately, she was rescued the next morning.
The truth of the matter is, we are not meant to live in complete darkness, and yet many people do live in complete darkness within their souls. The problem is they think they are living in light, while the light within them is darkness. That is the worst kind of darkness, or to put it more correctly, the worst kind of blindness — we think we can see, but what we can see is only darkness, not light!
This is the picture of a world that rejects Christ (Jn. 1:5). This is the picture of a person without Christ, without the true light (Jn. 1:9).
However, as believers, we have to acknowledge that, not every part of us is full of light; there are parts of us still in the dark (Lk. 11:36). But the Lord’s desire for us is to be “completely lighted, as when the light of a lamp shines on you” (Lk. 11:36).
This is the reason why we do our daily devotion — by means of prayers and reflections on His Word, through adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication — that more of our blind spots (our darkness) will have the light shone on them.
If your darkness has yet to be shone upon by light today, why not use the following “Time for Silence” to do just that?
Here is a collection of sayings given by the Lord when a huge crowd of many thousands gathered around Him. But this collection of sayings is primarily meant for the disciples, not the crowd in general:
v. 1 – The Yeast of the Pharisees
(1) What does yeast mean? (See 1 Cor. 5:6; Gal. 5:9)
(2) How would you define hypocrisy?
(3) How does hypocrisy act as yeast?
vv. 2-3 – Nothing can be hidden
(4) Since it follows immediately after the warning of the yeast of the Pharisees (and their plot to trap Jesus), let’s consider its meaning with this context in mind:
a. How does this teaching echo that of the analogy of the sin of the Pharisees as yeast in terms of their sin being revealed?
b. We all have sinned secretly, but if such sins are not properly dealt with, will we be able to keep it a secret forever?
c. What is meant by “will be proclaimed from the roofs”? Does it refer to the final judgment or while we are alive?
d. Chuck Swindoll likes to say that a secret affair on earth is in fact a public scandal in heaven. What do you think?
vv. 4-5 – Whom we should fear (I)
(5) Who ultimately controls our fate? God or Satan?
(6) Whom then should we fear?
(7) What then should our attitude be when persecuted for Christ’s sake?
vv. 6-7 – Whom we should fear (II)
(8) But for those who belong to God , what should our relationship with Him be marked by? Why?
(9) Do you really believe that God cares about sparrows?
(10) Do you really believe that the very hairs of your head are all numbered?
(11) What does it say about our God?
(12) What does it say about you?
vv. 8-12 – Whom we should fear (III)
(13) Talking about failure to acknowledge Christ, why did Peter, even after being warned, still fail to acknowledge Jesus? (See Lk. 22:31-34)
(14) Was he subsequently forgiven? Why? (See Jn. 21:15-17, 22)
(15) In what way(s) might we fail to acknowledge Jesus these days?
(16) Does the exhortation not to worry (or to prepare to speak in your defense) apply only to the answering of our persecutors or to the preaching and teaching of Scriptures also? Why? What is the difference?
(17) What is the main message to you today and how may you apply it to your life?
“And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Lk. 12:10)
This sin mentioned in Matthew 12:31-32, Mark 3:28-29 and Luke 12:10, has caused much unnecessary fear for over-sensitive Christians whose supposed “unforgivable sin” bears no resemblance to the deliberate accusation used by the Pharisees. I have a Christian friend who has suffered from an obsessive compulsive disorder and for decades, he suffered from such fear because he could not control his mind in thinking of “pig” as he thought of God. He was certain that he had committed this unforgivable sin, until his sickness was eventually cured after many, many years.