Probably all of us have experienced the pain of being misunderstood. Especially when we do something with good intentions and people maliciously say that we only want to be praised or look better than others. Such experiences can be crushing. It was already painful for Jesus when his relatives feared for his sanity. But it must have been a devastating experience when the scribes accused him of using Satan’s power to work his miracles. He who was the Son of God, they called an agent of Satan. He who was the incarnate love of God, they called the incarnate power of Satan.

We might hear this gospel reading and conclude that we would never act as the scribes did. Are we really so sure? Name-calling or offensive labeling of people was common in the time of Jesus and is still prevalent today.

In trying to understand why some people seem to have the need to offend others through labels, which are hurting, perhaps we should check to see if we have pinned such labels on others.

Do we belittle the good deeds of those whom we dislike and assign them hurting names and questionable motives for their actions? Are we quick to criticize those whom we presume are threats to our own status? If we do such things and ignore the promptings of compassion and forgiveness that come from the Holy Spirit, we are destroying the bonds of unity that should exist among us.

When the scribes call Jesus names, he remains calm. He goes into a logical discourse proving the stupidity of such accusations. And then he mentions the sin against the Holy Spirit, which cannot be forgiven. Why can even God not forgive this sin? Is not God almighty, compassionate and merciful? God is all this and more. But God cannot go against the unwillingness or even the resistance of a person who refuses to accept the presence of his power in his life and does not welcome God’s liberating action.

God cannot and will not force anybody against his will into his love. God is not unwilling to forgive. But since he gave us freedom, he respects this freedom even when it is used to shut out God from our lives. The sin against the Holy Spirit is resistance to God’s Spirit who enables us to recognize God’s presence and work in our lives. And where there is such resistance, there good begins to appear as evil and vice versa. There is therefore no admission of fault, there is no repentance. The person has shut himself out from God’s loving act of forgiveness. If we are not careful, we can easily grow into such an attitude. The sin against the Holy Spirit just lurks around the corner to hinder us on our journey towards the Father’s house.