Matthew 12: 23,24 NKJVWhy did the Master Yeshua say in Matthew 12: 31, 32 that all sins and blasphemies, including speaking against the Son of Man himself, can be forgiven but "whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.".
And all the multitudes were amazed and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, “This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons.”
For many years as a Trinitarian believer, this verse used to puzzle me. If the Messiah is God-the-Son and if the Holy Spirit is God-the-Spirit, why would speaking against one "person" of the Triune Godhead be forgiveable while doing so against another person in the very same Godhead be unpardonable? Is it possible that God-the-Spirit is somehow more "unblasphemable" than God-the-Son?
Little did I know how wrong I was to believe that our Only True God was a "Triune Godhead".
Last week, four years after I had awakened to the truth that God our Father is the one and only true God,
I revisited this account in Matthew 12: 22-32, along with parallel passages in Mark 3:22-30 and that of a similar account giving the background to the accusation involving Beelzebub in Luke 11: 14-15.
The Master Yeshua had cast out a demon from a mute but was accused by both scribes and Pharisees that he had done this by the power of the King of Demons.
Why was this accusation tantamount to blasphemy against the Holy Spirit? The answer is found in Matthew's account:
Matthew 12: 27,28 NKJVI am reminded that the Master Yeshua, after his baptism by John the Baptist, he saw the Holy Spirit descending like a dove upon him. Yes, he was FILLED with the Holy Spirit. On that day the voice of God was heard, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased" (Matt.3: 16,17)
And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.
From that day, our Master became, "a Man ATTESTED by God . . . by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst" the Apostle Peter later declared to his audience in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2. Likewise, Peter also declared to the household of Cornelius at Caesarea in Acts 10:38 about "how God ANOINTED Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him."
Yes, our Master Yeshua of Nazareth is the Anointed One - the Son of Man who was filled with the Holy Spirit. When he healed the demon possessed mute person in Luke 11:14, it was the Holy Spirit of God within him that performed the wonderful work. Indeed, by such miracles, signs and wonders God had attested that Yeshua was His beloved Son.
In other words, God was with him.
As such, when the scribes from Jerusalem (Mark 3:22) and the Pharisees (Matt 12:24) accused the Master of using Beelzebub to cast out demons, it was tantamount to blaspheming against the very presence of God Himself. It was a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Mark 3:30 puts it in a nutshell,
because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”.
