‘Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.’  (Luke 12:10)

The Greek word for the verb translated ‘forgiven’ is ἀφίημι aphiémi, from apó ‘away from’ and hiémi ‘send away, release or discharge’.  In this the verb directly mirrors the English word which comes from the Anglo-Saxon forgiefan, a combination of the prefix for ‘away’ and giefan ‘to give’.  For God to forgive then denotes the process where he relinquishes or ‘gives away’ His right to punish those that wrong him.  

Jesus declares…

‘Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man…’  (Mark 3:28a)

The Apostle Paul knew that his crimes against God were grave, yet he tells his pupil…

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.  (1 Timothy 1:15)

And when he says ‘save’, he means save from rightful punishment.  The Gospel of Christ declares the guilty go unpunished, while the punishment is borne by God the Father’s guiltless Son, thus the just God is propitiated.  But Jesus also says that not that all punishment can be waived.  

The quotation from Mark 3 continues…

‘… and whatever blasphemies they utter, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin for they were saying, “he has an unclean spirit.”’  (Mark 3:28b – 30)

Eternal sin is thus a transgression that cannot be forgiven, and extra-Biblically is known as the ‘unforgivable sin’ and it is when the Holy Spirit is blasphemed.

Many have argued that in Mark and the parallel passage in Matthew (12:22-32), Jesus is referring to a particular circumstance and that it applied specifically to those Pharisees who witnessed Jesus’ exorcisms and uniquely to that confrontation when they attributed his power to Satan.

The issue is blasphemy, so first, then, what exactly is blasphemy?

Blasphemy is defined in and prohibited by the Law of Moses – here God speaks directly to Moses

‘Bring out of the camp the one who cursed, and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him. And speak to the people of Israel, saying, whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death.’  (Leviticus 24:14-16)

This utterance was also given in a specific circumstance, the mixed blood son of Shelomith the daughter of Dibri of the tribe of Dan, both spoke and cursed God by his Holy Name (see ibid 24:10-12).

And this was first stated in the Ten Commandments:

‘You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.’  (Exodus 20:7)

To take God’s name ‘in vain’ means to ‘misuse’ (NLT, NIV) but this also needs expansion.  To blaspheme God’s name is to traduce, deny or misrepresent his very character and herein lies the issue and its gravity.

All sin is opposition to God, to his will and purpose, yet blasphemy goes further in that opposition in that it defames Him.   And yet, within the trinity Jesus makes distinction, the Son of God may be defamed but not God’s Spirit.  How so?

In Matthew’s account there is early hostility with the Pharisees; however, Jesus’ miraculous work is recognised and acknowledged by all including the Pharisees. 

As they were going away, behold, a demon-oppressed man who was mute was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the mute man spoke. And the crowds marvelled, saying, ‘never was anything like this seen in Israel.’ But the Pharisees said, ‘he casts out demons by the prince of demons.’  (Matthew 9:32-34)

There is no attempt to question the exorcism or its success, not even to deny Jesus’ agency or power, only to re-attribute the spiritual provenance.

This is particularly problematic in noting another miracle that precedes this:

 And as Jesus passed on… two blind men followed him, crying aloud, ‘have mercy on us, Son of David.’ 

When he entered the house, the blind men came to him, and Jesus said to them, do you believe that I am able to do this?’ 

They said to him, ‘yes, Lord.’ 

Then he touched their eyes, saying, ‘according to your faith be it done to you.’ 

(Ibid 9:27-29)

The sobriquet ‘Son of David’ stands for ‘Messiah’, hence they address Jesus, ‘Lord’.  The blind men are healed because of their faith, but it is also faith that enables miracle to be correctly acknowledged as works of God.

Indeed, the same phrase is used directly before the confrontation over blasphemy:

Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw.  And all the people were amazed, and said, ‘can this be the Son of David?’

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, ‘it is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.’ (Matthew 11:22-24)

The explanation Jesus shows that revelation of his true nature proceeds the miracle, in effect, when it comes to witness, Jesus is saying ‘believing is seeing’ and suggest therefore that it would be impossible to even recognise the miracle without knowing that it is a Godly work.

Yet, in fairness to the Pharisees, many miracle-workers existed and there was no suggestion they were mere fraudsters; one such was Simon Magus:

… there was a man named Simon, who had previously practised magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he himself was somebody great. They all paid attention to him, from the least to the greatest, saying, ‘this man is the power of God that is called Great.’  And they paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic.  (Acts 8:9-11)

The euphemism Simon employs is Messianic, and he was believed because him magic worked.  Yet even he was quick to realise the real power when the apostles came to Samaria:

Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ (Acts 8:18-19)

Although people were wrong with Simon, all knew the Messiah would have great power and so amazement is a genuine and heartfelt reaction.  And it is clear that even the Samaritans could tell the real thing from the counterfeit, even Simon, possibly a Gentile, could recognise the power of the God of the Universe wielded by the apostles, how then could the Pharisees be so mistaken?  The fact is they were not and Jesus proves them to be disingenuous.  

Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, ‘every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters…’. (Matthew 11:22-30)

Jesus challenges the Pharisees to exercise fair judgment, as exorcism was not only executed by Jesus, but by their ‘sons’.  If they could condone their agents’ work as Godly, why not his?  Jesus also refutes their spiritual logic, why would Satan be prevailed upon to oppose his servants, the demons?  Jesus continues to tell the Pharisees that up until now Satan has had free reign over the world, but that is all over.  Jesus refused to acknowledge Satan’s authority (Matthew 4:8-10) and now is the time for Satan to relinquish his grip on the world.

The main problem for the Pharisees is that they do correctly understand what has happened; they know he is the ‘Son of David’ and yet they deny him.  That they stand within revelation is clearly described by John when the Sanhedrin are deliberately challenged by Jesus through the raising of Lazarus.  

So, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, ‘what are we to do? For this man performs many signs.  If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.’ 

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘you know nothing at all.  Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.’ 

He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation… (John 11:47-51)

The Pharisees may not have grasped all that Caiaphas said, but they had no doubt whom they were dealing with, the true Messiah.  Yet they denied his claim, and as Jesus says, if they are not with him, then they are against him.

Jesus will forgive this opposition, and some Pharisees came to believe and were forgiven, the Apostle Paul and Nicodemus for example, but what cannot be forgiven is the Spirit of God being maligned, and this is the specific circumstances of the ‘unforgiveable sin’.

But the head quotation from Luke is not set in that context that Matthew and Mark give and in being offered as general statement must apply beyond those Pharisees and that one instance.   So, it seems that the general application is to deny and speak against the revelation that Jesus is the Messiah, God’s anointed.  When Peter speaks for Jesus, Jesus responds:

‘Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.’  (Matthew 16:17)

Revelation of the Son is granted by the Father through the agency of the Holy Spirit, the very same power that inspires the faith that enable the healing of the blind men.  If any repudiate the revelation then in a settled and calculating manner, then God does likewise, it seems, in repudiating them.  

To not believe Jesus as the risen Christ, is one thing, but if you know the resurrection to have happened and speak against it, this necessarily deprecates the Spirit of God.  For Jesus is raised by the Holy Spirit.

 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.  (Romans 8:11)

And one book of the Bible is dedicated to that very circumstance, ‘Hebrews’.  Here from the anonymous author writing to the Jews who thought to recant Christ.

Judaism was not simply tolerated by the Romans; the Empire accommodated the strictures of the Sabbath and the exclusivity of the Temple.  The Jews of Judaea may not have liked occupation, but they were not oppressed, while Jews of the diaspora, could live anywhere in peace wherever they chose to settle throughout the far-flung Empire – but those Jews who, having revelation, knew Jesus to be the Messiah, soon experienced persecution and many decided to retreat from their faith, even to extent of disavowing Jesus.

To denounce Jesus in extremis of persecution is forgivable, as Jesus demonstrated in the enacted parable of Peter, who denied Christ thrice (John 18:15-18 and 25-27) and was thrice asked to declare his love (John 21:15-18).  But if any deny the Spirit of revelation that is given them and imply that spirit as not of God, then God does not forget, overlook or oblige his son to bear the punishment.  To decide to act and speak against the Gospel knowing full well its truth is sinning that is beyond divine pardon.  Here then is the definition of the unforgivable sin, the blasphemy against God’s Spirit:

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.  

(Hebrews 6:4-6)

Adding this is the specific sin the Jews were being warned about.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgement, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. (Hebrews 10:26-27)

All who are redeemed by God and come to faith will sin, and such sin is mostly wilful, yet the Jews to whom this was addressed were ‘sinning deliberately’ in the denial of that truth.  

If any similarly renounce their faith in the Gospel of Christ, then they repudiate God’s Spirit and this blasphemy Jesus says, is unforgivable.  Jesus warns four of his disciples of the increase of persecution in the world:

But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.  (Mark 13:9-13)

Peter, James, John and Andrew (to whom this was said) all endured this fate, but as the gospel has yet to be proclaimed to all nations, (although, it may be close, as the Bible is translated and mostly available now in every country), the dreadful prophesy of betrayal of followers of Jesus by followers and hatred by the world has yet to be outworked.  Jesus calls for endurance with the promise of salvation, while disavowing him brings the opposite.  The Holy Spirit will speak for the faithful martyr but if any reject Him and should speak against him, that Jesus tells us, is an eternal sin.