<p>3:28<em> Truly I say to you: All the sins of the sons of men shall be forgiven and their blasphemies with which they shall blaspheme</em>-His simple claim that God can forgive men all sins was radical (Mk. 3:28)- for the Rabbis had a whole list of unforgivable sins, like murder, apostasy, contempt for the Law, etc. But the Lord went further. His many words of judgment weren&rsquo;t directed to the murderers and whores and Sabbath breakers; they were instead directed against those who condemned those people, considering themselves righteous. He calls those who appeared so righteous a &lsquo;generation of vipers&rsquo;. The publican, not the Pharisee, finds God&rsquo;s acceptance, according to Jesus. And again, the Lord is making a telling point- because Rabbis held that repentance for publicans was almost impossible, because it was impossible for them to know exactly all the people they&rsquo;d cheated. Very clearly, the Lord&rsquo;s message was radical. He was out to form a holy people from whores and gamblers, no-good boys and conmen. And moreover, He was out to show that what God especially judges and hates are the things that humanity doesn&rsquo;t think twice about: hypocrisy, self-righteousness, judgmentalism, exclusion of others&hellip; See on Mt. 10:29.</p>