Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit

I love the beautiful integrity, the depth, and richness of the Bible. I had such an enjoyable evening searching and searching into the Scriptures.

After over three decades of teaching the Bible, one of my favorite adventures is to wrestle with a passage that troubles me or confuses me. I've been taking on the Synoptic Gospels' accounts of Jesus' teaching about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, and it has led me on such a rewarding journey as I study the words of my majestic King!

The passages in question: Matthew 12:22-32 and the parallel Mark 3:22-30. In response to Jesus casting out a demon, thus enabling a blind and mute man to both see and speak (typological connection to Israel...), the Pharisees and teachers of the law (Greek: GRAMMATEUS) concluded officially that Jesus cast out demons because he himself was possessed by Beelzebuul. In other words, Jesus was possessed by Satan.

Jesus refutes this idiotic claim by first revealing the inherent logical fallacy: "A house divided cannot stand..." But then he goes on to state categorically that although all manner of sin and blasphemies will be forgiven, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven in this age or the age to come. It is an eternal sin.

What a remarkable and powerful statement! Unfortunately, Christian theologians and Bible teachers (myself included) have obsessed about this statement, mainly because we secretly wish he hadn't said it! It bothers us, because it appears to interfere with our much-vaunted doctrines of expiation, unlimited atonement, and our other clever soteriological calculations! In our attempts to EXPLAIN this statement, we come close to instead DISMISSING it, because it makes us uncomfortable.

So here's what I've learned after 30+ years of Bible study: when a passage troubles you, rejoice! Because you're about to experience the awesome power of God's Word! You'd better get used to it: our God is unfathomably deep, and his message to us is beautiful, terrible, joyous, gracious and frequently ironic. What then is this passage about?

To find out, we should rely on probably the very best and first principle of good hermeneutics: let the Bible explain the Bible. Specifically, we must remember that the Gospels are in essence Old Testament books, in that (1) the Law of Moses was still in effect; and (2) Jesus dealt primarily with Israel during his life. It is to Israel that he speaks. He is constantly challenging their knowledge of and obedience to the Old Testament.

Hence, when Jesus speaks so dramatically about the Holy Spirit--and specifically about Israel's blasphemy against him--we should look in the Old Testament for parallels. In the book of Isaiah, we find exactly that. Read the exciting chapter of Isaiah 63. What a thrilling depiction of Israel's Savior! Drenched in the blood of his enemies, he arrives. What is the theme of his message and of Isaiah's remonstrance? Several key points are made: (1) the Savior had to work alone because no one (i.e., Israel) was there to help him; (2) he was obsessed with helping his beloved people; (3) through this and many other instances God has demonstrated his abiding love for Israel; (4) GOD HIMSELF is their Savior!; (5) GOD HIMSELF feels distress when they are in distress and therefore works to save them.

Now look at their response in verse 10: they rebelled against his Holy Spirit. The emphasis throughout this passage is God's extraordinary efforts to save Israel. In contrast to his faithfulness, they rebel against his Holy Spirit--the agent who energizes the plan of salvation. The parallel to Matthew 12/Mark 3 is inescapable. But let's go deeper.

One of the most remarkable things that Jesus says in this passage is that blasphemy against the Son of Man (i.e., himself) will be forgiven! If the apostles had merely concocted the gospel accounts in order to propagate some "Jesus cult", they would not have written this. But their accounts are true records of what our majestic King actually said: that blasphemy against the God-Man would be forgiven! Why?

For the answer, go to Philippians 2:5-11. This passage--a beautiful and poetic piece that has inspired many songs--is the basis for the doctrine of Kenosis. Kenosis derives from a Greek word meaning "to empty". In verse 7, Paul states that Jesus, literally, "emptied" himself--i.e., he sovereignly chose to forgo the prerogatives associated with his divinity. This is right in line with his remarkable statement that blasphemy against the Son of Man would be forgiven. What a surprising and powerful statement of God's grace!!

Think about this: if Christ had instead insisted that BLASPHEMY against his person would NOT be forgiven, how then will he make his way to the Cross? His purpose in coming to this planet was to die the substitutionary death on the Cross. Inflicting such an unthinkable torture and crime on the body of the God-Man was a far worse crime than speaking against him. Hence, his gracious statement that blasphemy against him will be forgiven points the way to the Cross. Our Lord is AWESOME!

What are we left with? Linking Isaiah 63, Matthew 12/Mark 3, and Philippians 2, we have a thrilling picture of our God who goes to unfathomable lengths to save us. He must work alone, because none of us have been faithful or able to help ourselves. In the end, in order to accomplish our salvation, he goes to the most extraordinary measure of all: he sends the God-Man to earth! And when Jesus accepts this task, he does the unthinkable: he empties himself of his divine prerogatives, so as to make himself accessible to us and to Israel. In this condition, he makes his way to the Cross and wins the great strategic victory over sin and Satan on our behalf. On his tortured path to that horrible nightmare he chose to face, he graciously forgave us even for the blasphemies that we leveled at him.

But in the end he warns us and Israel: If you persist even after all this to deny the divine program that has been offered to you through the agency and energy of the Holy Spirit, you are facing eternal perdition. This passage tells us that Jesus is so gracious that he will forgive even our personal sins against him. But in the end, we are free to choose for or against God's program of salvation. If, like Israel in Isaiah 63, we rebel against his Holy Spirit, then we make God our enemy.

Rather than seeing this passage as some troubling piece that has to be explained away in order to tidy up our carefully prepared theology, we should instead see it in the greater context of God's incredible love for Israel. The part of this passage that should amaze us is not the warning about blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. Instead, when you lie in your bed tonight, meditate on this: that man's blasphemy against the Son of Man will be forgiven! That's grace!