RBWords

     The whole context of the Gospel According to Mark and especially this particular scene are important to understanding the statement that occurs above.The antagonists in the scene are the scribes who came from Jerusalem.  They would have been the elite law experts and teachers.  However, earlier in the gospel we heard the crowds say that Jesus taught in a new way.  He didn't quote or swear by some other source.  The scribes in this scene claim that Jesus cast out devils by the power of the Prince of Devils.  Jesus replies that their argument doesn't make sense.  Why would Satan want to cast out Satan? And anyhow, Jesus showed he had his own power to cast out demons and did not have to call on any other source.  What is important in the scene, however, is the rejection of Jesus by those who should have known better: the scribes, Pharisees, and even his own family.  Whereas the crowds at least have some faith in him, even if only as a wonder worker.  Thus, the unforgivable sin is to identify Jesus with the devil.  Anyone who does that would be rejecting God's forgiveness, personified in Jesus!

     St. Thomas Aquinas, my Dominican brother, whose feast we celebrate today explains the passage in his SUMMA THEOLOGIAE: The word against the Holy Spirit [that Christ says is unpardonable] is either final impenitence, unforgivable because after this life there is no further forgiveness for sin; or it is sin done with a bad will, and what Christ means is that within such sin there is nothing to excuse it. [ST III, Q. 86, Art.1]  

     In short, the active rejection of Jesus is an act with terrible consequences when it is done with a bad will.  The opposition to Jesus in the Gospel According to Mark is building layer by layer to the final confrontation at the cross!  AMEN