Elsewhere in the Bible we find Jesus telling us not to be taken up by outward appearances nor to judge by external standards. Then in Mt. 10:28 He tells us not to be afraid of those who can kill the body but not the soul. Today in the Gospel, He tells us vehemently of the seriousness of sinning against the Spirit. In all these teachings surely He is trying to make us see the great importance of what is eternal and not easily perceived by the physical eyes, rather than what is merely outward and temporal and easily decays into nothingness with time.

"... a death which sets people free ..." (Heb. 9:15). Something dies in order that something else can live. Jesus dies in order that we can be set free from our sins and live. So it is with our daily lives. We have to constantly die to our selfishness, greed and sins in order to live our new life with Christ. Impossible? On our own - yes! But united to Christ and following His examples in complete trust and surrender we can. Jesus has overcome our sins and death once and for all. Therefore, we too can be overcomers for His very own spirit in us will do the job. We need only to believe and to allow Him to work in our lives.