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Luke 22:63-65
Jesus has been arrested and is being held by the guards at the house of the high priest while He is awaiting trial. These guards beat Him and mocked Him (Luke 22:63-64; Matthew 26:67-68; Mark 14:65; John 18:22) and having blindfolded Him, questioned Him to prophesy of which one of them it was that hit Him. These guards continued to mistreat Jesus and mock Him throughout His trial (Luke 22:65; Matthew 27:27-31; Mark 15:16-20; John 19:1-3).
This is the sinful nature of man, which is controlled by Satan, lashing out physically against Jesus in his attempt to defeat Jesus and claim victory over God and raise himself to a higher position than God (Isaiah 14:12-15).
The sinful nature that caused these guards to beat and mock Jesus, along with the false accusations placed upon Him by the chief priests and rulers of the Israelites, is the same sinful nature that causes each of us to rebel against God and refuse His Holy Spirit to guide our lives. Matthew 12:31-32 teaches us that one who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, for this is the unpardonable sin. This is because God sends His Holy Spirit to be our spiritual guide to life upon accepting Jesus as our Savior (John 16:5-15), if one speaks against the Holy Spirit of God, then he or she has obviously not accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.
John 14:6 teaches us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one comes to our Father in heaven without Him. To speak against the Holy Spirit is to speak against Jesus; to speak against Jesus is to speak against our Father and Creator God in heaven. Satan first spoke against God (Isaiah 14:12-15) and in his fall from his great splendorous position in heaven, wants every one of us to fall away from God as well, preventing us from reflecting God’s glory throughout this world and the world to come in His glory, in heaven…the position that he once held, and lost due to pride, arrogance, and greed (Ezekiel 28:11-17).
Satan works through the sinful nature in us to keep us away from having a satisfying and fulfilling relationship with our Creator God through His Son Jesus. Satan forces himself and the sinful nature upon us and we are helpless against him, however, God is Love (1 John 4:7-19) and because God loves us so much, He sent His Son who is more powerful than Satan to defeat Satan for us so that we may, through His grace and mercy, not pay our penalty for sin, which is death (Romans 3:23; 6:23a), but receive life and forgiveness of our sins through Him (Romans 6:23b).
But as Love must be freely given (which it is by God), it must also be freely accepted with a sincere heart and desire to turn (repent) from a life in the sinful nature to a new life seeking God’s will for our lives. Satan overpowers us with the sinful nature, but God simply says to each of us…if you will accept My Love for you, I will set you free from the bondage of sin and give you a new life; a life that I have prepared for you from before you were born (John 8:31-36; Jeremiah 1:5). If we refuse Jesus and speak against His Holy Spirit, we are allowing Satan to use us to mock God just as did the guards that mocked and beat Jesus (Luke 22:63). God is Love. He offers Himself to us. Will you or have you accepted Him, and are you or will you make the choice to bring glory to Him through your life as is His will for you? We each must answer this question for ourselves, and to avoid this question is the same as saying “no” to Jesus. If you have not, I urge you to say “yes” to Jesus and let Him cleanse your heart through His Holy Spirit that He will send to live within you and guide you through life in Him.
Dear Lord,
Jesus was mocked, beaten, found guilty, and crucified for the sins of humanity. But on that glorious third day He arose from the grave victorious over sin, death, and Satan for everyone to receive forgiveness through Him, and only through Him. Please speak to our hearts that we would make the choice to accept the Love that You offer to us through salvation in Jesus so that we may overcome the fiery darts of Satan and live a new life in Christ Jesus and be to the praise of Your glory (Ephesians 1:3-14). In Jesus name I pray, amen.