Trinity Matthew 12:31-32
[31] Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. [32] And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
You may have heard the expression, “Talk is cheap!” In today’s text, Jesus tells us just the opposite. What we say can cost us our eternal salvation. At the time of this text, Jesus had performed a miracle so convincing that the crowd had to admit that He was the Messiah, the Son of David. He had driven an evil spirit from a man that was both blind and unable to speak, with the result that the man spoke coherently and saw clearly. The Pharisees couldn’t let this stand because it dealt a crushing blow to their popularity. Therefore, so they came up with the silly argument that Jesus had just cast out this devil by Beelzebub, the prince of the devils. After Jesus had shown how ridiculous their argument was, he said to these Pharisees, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” Matthew 12:34. The people looked upon the Pharisees as a generation of saints, but Christ calls them “a generation of vipers,” the seed of the serpent, that constantly hates Christ and His gospel. Their evil words were the result of an evil heart, a heart filled with anger and resentment. “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.” Luke 6:45. The heart is the fountain; the words are the streams that flow from it. Jeremiah tells us that a wicked heart sends forth wickedness as a fountain casts forth her waters. Solomon tells us that a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring have to send forth muddy and unpleasant streams. Evil words are the natural, genuine product of an evil heart, as Jesus explains in chapter 15: “Those things, which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies: These are the things, which defile a man.” Matthew 15:20.
Jesus goes on to warn these Pharisees, “Be careful what you say. When you call me Beelzebub, you may not realize it, but you are blaspheming the Son of Man.” They couldn’t say anything much more dreadful than that the Savior has a devil. However, in spite of their blasphemy, there is something redeeming about this. At least they reacted. We are living in a world that ignores the Savior altogether; they neither curse him nor bless him. What can you say to people who just don’t care?
We might easily have expected our Lord to be have been grossly offended by their charges. However, He loved these men as He teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you.” Matthew 5:44. Only God can love like that. In their remaining time, here on earth, He wanted them to think over what they had said. He wanted them to remember that if Jesus had healed the man hopelessly possessed with an evil spirit, he could also heal them. It was a loving call to repentance. Moreover, should they feel that their blasphemy was too awful to be forgiven, He assures them of His unlimited mercy toward every repentant sinner, that even blasphemy against His person is forgivable, “For whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him.”
However, should they ignore the Savior’s gracious invitation, they may get to the point of no return. “All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men,” says Jesus, “but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.” People who once recognized God’s divine truth, but who later stubbornly and maliciously oppose it with blasphemous hostility, can never turn back. They have committed the sin for which there is no forgiveness; they have committed the sin against the Holy Ghost. Never in this life will they be able to return to faith, but face the awful condemnation of God on judgment day. These words of Jesus were a powerful warning, a last call to repentance, to these resentful Pharisees who lay in grave danger of committing this sin.
Can you see where our words can lead us? They can lead us to eternal perdition and it starts with the heart! For example, when we get angry, a red flag should go up, to warn us that our heart is running over with hate and spite and pride, instead of love and compassion. Blasphemous expressions like “Jesus” “Christ,” “damn” seems to come out of our mouths automatically. This is dangerous, but forgivable to those who repent. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sins. To vent our hatred against the work of the Spirit, however, may bring us to the point of no return. When we become so angry with God that we say, “I’m done with you. I don’t want any more to do with the means of grace, with Your Word and Sacraments. If this is what is involved in being a Christian, I don’t want any of it,” we are turning down the only way the Spirit has to save us, namely through God’s good word. To those who come to that point, the Lord will say, “You have what you want, but you will never be able to change your mind. You are destined for eternal perdition.” The writer to the Hebrews put it this way, “For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the power of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify themselves the Son of God afresh, and put Him into open shame.” Hebrews 6:4, 5
Who has committed this sin? Only God knows that for only He can read men’s hearts. For this very reason, we can’t judge anyone else guilty of this sin. Our gracious Lord would have us leave no stone unturned in our effort to call the rebellious back to the fold, both with our words and prayers, as St. Paul writes, “reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:2. Jesus did not speak these words so that we should judge others; He wants us to judge ourselves. These words are a warning especially to us who have seen the Holy Ghost in action, who have been called to faith by Him through the Word of God, who have been given peace of heart and the strength for a Christian life. It is quite impossible to enumerate all the wonderful things God’s Spirit has done and constantly does for us day by day. To give up all these things by blaspheming the Holy Ghost, is to cut ourselves off from the very means by which God saves. Without the Spirit, we cannot be saved! There is no other way. Moreover, should we blaspheme the Spirit, we are in the same category as the devil himself. The faith we have given up will not be renewed, and the redemption we has despised will no longer cover us. All that remains is everlasting destruction, no matter how indifferent we may seem in our self-will and pride.
The whole thought is rather scary, isn’t it, and yet as God’s beloved children, we have nothing to fear. Listen to our Savior’s wonderful promise, “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16. God sent His Son to shed His blood for the sins of the whole world. He has paid the price and declared us His own children and promises to keep us in His word. Should it happen that we become afraid that we have forfeited heaven because we so easily turn away from the word of God, or because we have spoken blasphemies, we have nothing to fear! The very fact that we are concerned means that God has not abandoned us but that He, out of love, continues to shed His Spirit upon us. “Continue in My word,” says the Savior, for His word, and only His word, can remove all doubts and fears from our hearts and give us the positive assurance of eternal life.