Reference

Isaiah 49: 22-26; 63:7-14 and Mark 3:21-35
The Unforgiven

Isaiah 49: 22-26

          Thus says the Lord GOD:

          “Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations,

                   and raise my signal to the peoples;

          and they shall bring your sons in their arms,

                   and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

          Kings shall be your foster fathers,

                   and their queens your nursing mothers.

          With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you,

                   and lick the dust of your feet.

          Then you will know that I am the LORD;

                   those who wait for me shall not be put to shame.”      

          

          Can the prey be taken from the mighty,

                   or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?

          For thus says the LORD:

          “Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken,

                   and the prey of the tyrant be rescued,

          for I will contend with those who contend with you,

                   and I will save your children.

          I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh,

                   and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine.

          Then all flesh shall know

                   that I am the LORD your Savior,

                   and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.”

 

Isaiah 63:7-14

          I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD,

                   the praises of the LORD,

          according to all that the LORD has granted us,

                   and the great goodness to the house of Israel

          that he has granted them according to his compassion,

                   according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

          For he said, “Surely they are my people,

                   children who will not deal falsely.”

                   And he became their Savior.

          In all their affliction he was afflicted,

                   and the angel of his presence saved them;

          in his love and in his pity he redeemed them;

                   he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.        

          

          But they rebelled

                   and grieved his Holy Spirit;

          therefore he turned to be their enemy,

                   and himself fought against them.

          Then he remembered the days of old,

                   of Moses and his people.

          Where is he who brought them up out of the sea

                   with the shepherds of his flock?

          Where is he who put in the midst of them

                   his Holy Spirit,

          who caused his glorious arm

                   to go at the right hand of Moses,

          who divided the waters before them

                   to make for himself an everlasting name,

                   who led them through the depths?

          Like a horse in the desert,

                   they did not stumble.

          Like livestock that go down into the valley,

                   the Spirit of the LORD gave them rest.

          So you led your people,

                   to make for yourself a glorious name.

 

Mark 3:21–35

And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.”

 

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.