Once again, you will want to read the first posts in this series in order to catch up. For the first one, click here, and for the second one click here.
Now that you’re caught up, let’s zoom in closer and point out a few masterful attempts at spin by the ancient spin doctors themselves.
John 5:16–18, So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” 18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
What’s the problem here? Why all the fuss? I mean, Jesus just did an undeniable miraculous healing and all His critics can do is chastise Him for His poor sense of timing! Are they serious? Incredible! No denial of the miraculous, no seeking clarity, just an outright condemnation because Jesus did not dot His I’s and cross His T’s exactly the way the religious zealots thought He should. They were so focussed on the rules that they miss God!
And this pattern goes on and on only getting worse and even more ridiculous with each passing miracle.
It all reaches a crescendo, however, when Jesus does one of His greatest miracles and sees multitudes of people ready to crown Him their king because of it. This is more than the Pharisees and religious leaders can take. So, with only two options available to them (as far as they can see)—either become a follower or discredit Jesus in the most vile and wicked manner possible they quickly make their choice—a choice that will cost them their eternal souls.
They decide to run the entire event through, “The Spin Cycle.â€
This entire incident can be found in Matthew chapter 12 and Mark chapter 3. It’s often fearfully referred to as, “The Unpardonable Sin.â€
Here’s what happened in a nut shell.
22-23Next a poor demon-afflicted wretch, both blind and deaf, was set down before him. Jesus healed him, gave him his sight and hearing. The people who saw it were impressed—”This has to be the Son of David!”
24But the Pharisees, when they heard the report, were cynical. “Black magic,” they said. “Some devil trick he’s pulled from his sleeve.” Matthew 12:22–24
Jesus heals a man so obviously handicapped that no one—not a single person, can refute the miracle. Even Jesus venomous enemies do not waste time trying to discredit the event itself. And that’s what is so amazing. They fully accept the healing. They just won’t accept the healer. Despite mountains and mountains of evidence to the contrary, those who have already made the conscious decision to go against God decide to spin the event in an utterly ridiculous way that makes it look like Jesus is actually the bad guy.
What’s left for these poor retches now? No amount of evidence seems enough for them, they love their sin so much more than anything else. In the end, this is where the spin cycle leaves you. After a while you weave such a tangled web of lies that even you can’t tell the truth from the lies any longer.
Sadly, spin control is not a dying art. It’s alive and well and nearly everyone practices it at one time or another.
Don’t do it. Scripture says that we should let our yes be yes and our no be no.
Just tell it like it is. If you hang out with spin doctors, find different people to hang out with. If you live with spin doctors, make boundaries. But don’t let the spin cycle take you down.
It doesn’t lead to a good end.