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Mt 12:22-23 This demon-possessed person was both blind and mute, and Jesus heals him. The crowd was amazed, but we miss an important point. Casting out demons was (is) a big deal, and not something to be done casually (Acts 19). But the Jews were able to cast out demons, and they had a set procedure to do so. However, one of the requirements was the demon identify himself. If this person couldn't talk, the demon couldn't identify himself, and thus the Jews could not exorcise this demon. This demon-possessed person, being unable to speak, was thus hopelessly lost. But Jesus comes along and heals him anyway. That is the reason the crowds were amazed.
Mt 12:24 The Pharisees of course knew the procedure to exorcise demons and surely knew this person had a demon they thought to be incurable. Even when Jesus cures the man, they don't attribute the work to God, but to satan himself.
Mt 12:25-27 Jesus responds to their comment by pointing out a kingdom divided can not stand. The Pharisees in their hard hearts could not see this miracle as being from God, yet they could not deny something miraculous had occurred. So they did the only alternative, they said it was from satan. Jesus points out that is not a logical option.
Mt 12:28 Since it is illogical to say satan is responsible for this, surely God is present with them. The hardness of their hearts is causing them to commit the unpardonable sin, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
Mt 12:31-32 It's easy to jump directly to the unpardonable sin (What is it? Have I done it?), but in doing so we miss an important point Jesus says first - "every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men". Let's not be too quick to jump over this. Recently I was talking to someone about the end times, and the belief the rapture is not too far away. This person was concerned when the rapture occurs, they might be left behind, as they didn't feel they had lived a good, Christian life. In other words, some things they had done God would not forgive, or that only the super-saints would go up in the rapture and they didn't qualify. But Jesus here punctures that misconception. All sin is forgivable (except one, more on that in a minute). Maybe we haven't lived the most fruitful life, or been the equivalent of Billy Graham, but it doesn't matter. When Jesus comes back for His church, EVERYONE is going (that is, all true believers). As a Christian, all our sins are forgiven. Whenever satan comes with his deception that we have done something so bad God won't forgive us, we must fight back with the only offensive weapon we have: the sword of the Word of God. And the Word of God says there is NO condemnation for Christians (Romans 8:1). None. Zero. Zip.
But what then is this unpardonable sin? What if I've done it and not even known it? What if I did it before I became a Christian? Jesus says it is not pardonable. Does that mean I'm lost forever?
Obviously, we must find out exactly what this unpardonable sin is. Jesus says all sin, except this one, is forgivable. In other words, this is the only way to end up in hell. How exactly does that happen? By the rejection of Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It's just that simple. If you want to go to hell, that's the way to do it. So this must have something to do with the rejection of Jesus. But Jesus says it's blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, not against Him. But what is the Holy Spirit's job? To point the way to Jesus. To convict us of sin (John 16:8-9). To show a need for a savior. Before you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit is the one who constantly whispers in your ear "you need to come to Jesus". The Holy Spirit never speaks of Himself, His job is to speak about Jesus (John 16:14).
Of course, you can choose to reject His prompting if you wish. He still whispers in your ear, trying to draw you to Jesus. But if someone continues to reject Jesus, eventually their heart becomes so hard the Holy Spirit stops speaking to them. At that point, the person has committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, and is eternally lost. It's not that they won't come to Jesus, they can't. Without the Spirit's work in a person, salvation is impossible. When the Spirit gives up, salvation is no longer possible. By ourselves, we will NEVER seek God (Romans 3:10-12).
But at this point it's easy to think about our family and friends, wondering, have they done this? Are they eternally lost? And it's crucial to remember - There is no way for us to know if someone has gone too far and committed the unpardonable sin. So we must never cease praying and trying to nudge someone to Jesus. Just because someone looks like they have forever rejected Jesus, doesn't mean they have. Some of the most unlikely people have become Christians. Former drug dealers, hippies, murderers, and others (many of them are now Calvary Chapel pastors, but that's another story) have all turned from their wicked ways, and are now serving Jesus. We must never give up on anyone; God may have mighty plans for them.
As a Christian, do you fear you have committed the unpardonable sin? Hopefully by now it is obvious you can't do it as a Christian. The reason is simple - once you accept Jesus, that part of the Holy Spirit's job is complete, thus you can't blaspheme His work. Naturally, He continues to work with you, and you can be stubborn and resist Him as a Christian, but you can't blaspheme Him. Live unproductively, carnal and unspiritual, possible. But commit the unpardonable sin? It's just not possible for a true Christian. Remember what Paul said:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:1)
And perhaps stated much more simply than all the previous analysis was the commentary given by Chuck Missler during his Matthew series. He boiled everything down to one simple line:
If you are worried about having committed the unpardonable sin, you haven't done it![1]
The very fact you are worried about it is proof you are seeking God, and that means the Holy Spirit is working in your life, which means He hasn't given up on you, which means you have not committed the unpardonable sin, which means salvation is still possible.
***** Warning - Math ahead ******
But we must be careful not to commit a subtle logical error here. If we have a statement commonly called an if-then statement, we can make errors in logic. For example, consider the following statement: If the sun comes up tomorrow, I will go to work. We can make several additional logical statements based on the original:
The question is, if we accept our original statement as true, are these others true? Or can they be either true or false? Let's look at each one. The inverse is not (necessarily) true. I could use headlights and drive in the dark, and it's not a contradiction of our original statement (since if it's dark, I don't know if I go to work or not - The original statement only gives information if the sun comes up, if it doesn't our original statement does not reveal any information). The inverse can be either true or false, but we cannot assume it is from the original statement. The converse is not true for the same reason; I could drive in the dark. However, the contrapositive IS true. It's the only additional logical statement we can make and be sure it is true. Many times we take the inverse or converse and assume it's true - It might be, but we don't know it is. These errors in logic are extremely common in advertising, and in any other area where the goal is deception, since most people don't know.
If we say "if you are worried, you haven't done it", we can't say "if you aren't worried, you have (or could have) done it". In other words, if you have a friend who doesn't seem to care, don't attempt to draw any conclusion about their status with the unpardonable sin. Remember, we can not judge a person's heart, only God can.
Mt 12:33 Once again, we see Jesus teaching we will know a person by their fruits. We can't judge the heart (another reason we can't tell if someone has committed the unpardonable sin), but we can judge a person's actions. Good people bear good fruit.
Mt 12:34 "brood of vipers" - Jesus is calling them the sons of satan!
Mt 12:36-37 Wow. I don't want to be judged by my speech, and I certainly don't want to give an account for everything I've said.
Mt 12:38 These turkeys, right after a miracle done by Jesus, ask for a sign. What they basically want to see is some mighty work, like stopping the earth's rotation. Just casting out a demon wasn't big enough for these guys, after all, they were Pharisees.
Mt 12:39-40 They are going to get a sign, but it's not the kind they want. Recall the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). The rich man, being tormented requests Abraham to send the beggar back to his brothers house and warn them so they won't come to this awful place. He says if one comes back from the dead, they will believe him. But Abraham says "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead." The sign the Pharisees will get is a resurrection from the dead, and they still won't believe.
Mt 12:41 Nineveh was a Gentile city, and they will judge this generation? But the point is, Nineveh repented at Jonah's preaching. The Pharisees won't, even though Jesus is greater than Jonah.
As a side note, Jesus authenticates the entire "fish story" of Jonah. If you believe in Jesus, you've got no problem with the reality of Jonah's story. If you don't believe in Jesus, you've got bigger problems than worrying if Jonah and the fish really happened.
Mt 12:42 Similarly, the queen of the South heard of Solomon's wisdom, and traveled a great distance to hear him.
Mt 12:43-45 Now Jesus changes subjects a little and talks about demons. For some reason, demons' seek to be embodied in something. When a demon is exorcised from a person, that demon goes around seeking rest (embodiment). If he finds none, he goes back to where he came from, and now finds the house clean and in order, so he takes a bunch of his friends, and the last state of the person is worse. That's why it is critical to immediately fill the vacancy left by the demon by the Holy Spirit, otherwise that person is still susceptible to being possessed again, with worse results. Simple "moral" reforms (such as AA) without the regeneration and protection provided by the Holy Spirit don't work, and can easily lead to a much worse end.
[1] Missler, Chuck Matthew page 12
This page is historical only and contains old content. Please see our main site for current content.