22 Some people brought to Jesus a man who was blind and could not talk because he had a demon in him. Jesus healed the man, and then he was able to talk and see. 23 The crowds were so amazed that they asked, “Could Jesus be the Son of David?”
24 When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “He forces out demons by the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons!”
25 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and he said to them:
Any kingdom where people fight each other will end up ruined. And a town or family that fights will soon destroy itself. 26 So if Satan fights against himself, how can his kingdom last? 27 If I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, whose power do your own followers use to force them out? Your followers are the ones who will judge you. 28 But when I force out demons by the power of God’s Spirit, it proves that God’s kingdom has already come to you. 29 How can anyone break into a strong man’s house and steal his things, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can take everything.
30 If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. 31-32 I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.
33 A good tree produces only good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces. 34 You are a bunch of evil snakes, so how can you say anything good? Your words show what is in your hearts. 35 Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts. 36 I promise you that on the day of judgment, everyone will have to account for every careless word they have spoken. 37 On that day they will be told that they are either innocent or guilty because of the things they have said.
Read Matthew 12:22-37 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Of all the challenging concepts we can look at in Jesus’ teaching, one concept stands out in my mind as probably the most challenging of all. Of all the warnings Jesus ever gave, one seems to top the list of being the most significant. And this concept and warning are included in this passage.
In this passage, Jesus shares something we can never be forgiven for, and this seems very odd or backwards for a God who loves each of us so much that He would come and die for us while we were actively sinning against Him.
But in three verses of our passage, Jesus shares a startling truth about something that we cannot be forgiven for. Jesus says, “If you are not on my side, you are against me. If you don’t gather in the harvest with me, you scatter it. I tell you that any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven. But if you speak against the Holy Spirit, you can never be forgiven, either in this life or in the life to come.” (v. 30-32)
Like I opened by saying, the extreme nature of this warning makes it one that we all should pay attention to. If there is something we can do that we will never be forgiven for, it would be worth us discovering what it is so that we can avoid even coming close to it.
In this passage, we see two clear sides: Those who are on Jesus’ side, gathering in the harvest; and those who are against Him, who are not gathering the harvest – making them part of a group that scatters it.
And immediately after setting the stage Jesus says, “any sinful thing you do or say can be forgiven. Even if you speak against the Son of Man, you can be forgiven.” The side we are on is not set in stone. We are free to choose to move away from Jesus like we are free to move towards Him. Jesus starts by saying that there is nothing we can do or say that cannot be forgiven. Even the Pilate, the crowd demanding crucifixion, the chief priests, and everyone else involved in Jesus’ death is eligible to be forgiven.
But Mark’s gospel shares with us why Jesus said this: “Jesus said this because the people were saying that he had an evil spirit in him.” (Mark 3:30)
Mark helps us frame Jesus’ statement, and it gives a clear direction for us to understand what Jesus is warning here. Jesus is pointing us to be careful about discounting what God is doing in people’s lives. Sure we can discount Jesus, and many people do, but if we are skeptical of the Holy Spirit and how He is moving in people’s lives, we are unlikely to accept Him moving in our own life. Without the Holy Spirit to draw us to Jesus, we can never be saved.
Any word we say or action we do can be forgiven, but if we place ourselves on the opposite side of the Holy Spirit, we can never be forgiven because we will have ultimately rejected God and His Spirit drawing us to repent. By rejecting the Holy Spirit, we are rejecting the only thing that can draw us to realize our need for God.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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