RBWords

     Jesus' comment about the scribes and their rejection of his mission and teaching has become a part of human parlance:  "the unforgivable sin."  We humans have many of those.  But they vary from person to person according to the hurt we experience or inflict.  I hear it in the confessional from time to time when someone says, "I just can't bring myself to forgive him or her.  What they did was an unforgivable sin!"  Political folks have many "unforgivable sins", according whatever cause they are promoting.   However, it is another matter altogether when Jesus' speaks of something as "unforgivable."  Isn't God all-forgiving?  

     The simplest response I can give to the question is that when a person rejects the very source of forgiveness, they remain in a state of "unforgiveness" and stay that way as long as their rejection lasts.  The scribes attributed Jesus' power to Satan, which is the very antithesis of who Jesus is!  That kind of radical rejection is so deep that it places a person almost beyond God's mercy.  I say "almost" because even if the rejection itself is objectively a final and complete one, the subjective humanity of the human person always remains open to change.   I think of angry children or parents who disown one another and try never to speak to one another again!  The objective state of alienation that results takes on a life of its own and keeps the parties from mending it no matter what they feel!  I continue to believe that forgiveness is always possible, but we humans, not God, can make it nearly impossible!  AMEN