22 Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. 23 All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”
25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? 27 If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? For this reason they will be your judges. 28 But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can anyone enter the strong man’s house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.
30 He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters.
31 “Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. 32 Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come.
Message: A Sin Unforgivable
Time: The date of Matthew's composition is anywhere from 55-60 AD probably in Antioch of Syria. The writing is most likely to the Jews. His purpose was to show them that Jesus of Nazareth was the expected messiah and both his genealogy and his resurrection were legitimate proofs
of this.
What the Lord is Saying:
This is an interesting section of scripture and one that probably has been hotly debated regarding its meaning. The passage clearly is focusing on the Holy Spirit. Looking it over, I see that Jesus healed a blind and mute demon-possessed man. Afterwards, he spoke and saw. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons according to Beelzebul. The question was not whether or not a demon could be cast out, but by what authority. In order for the kingdom of God to reign then demons can only be cast out by the the Spirit of God. Jesus is saying that Satan has no reason to cast out his own demon from a man and therefore take down his own kingdom. Jesus says that the demon must be bound in a man before it can be cast out. If someone is not with Jesus, they are against Jesus, so the demon-possessed man is against Jesus. He then transitions to sin and blasphemy of the Spirit and the unforgivable sin.
In just talking about the sin issue here, it is of note that all sin is forgiven, except one, which means cursing God. rejecting God, denying Him, murder, adultery, or breaking any of the commandments -- these are all forgivable. There is great comfort in what God has done.
But something of great importance here is this particular sin -- blasphemy. Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a deity. If there is a sin that seems to be totally disregarded in our current society, it is not showing reverence to God's name.
For the meaning of this passage I am looking at the words from Tabletalk for September 2, 2015:
Promise: Those who blaspheme the Spirit are hardened against Him and have no fear of offending Him.
This is an interesting section of scripture and one that probably has been hotly debated regarding its meaning. The passage clearly is focusing on the Holy Spirit. Looking it over, I see that Jesus healed a blind and mute demon-possessed man. Afterwards, he spoke and saw. The Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out demons according to Beelzebul. The question was not whether or not a demon could be cast out, but by what authority. In order for the kingdom of God to reign then demons can only be cast out by the the Spirit of God. Jesus is saying that Satan has no reason to cast out his own demon from a man and therefore take down his own kingdom. Jesus says that the demon must be bound in a man before it can be cast out. If someone is not with Jesus, they are against Jesus, so the demon-possessed man is against Jesus. He then transitions to sin and blasphemy of the Spirit and the unforgivable sin.
In just talking about the sin issue here, it is of note that all sin is forgiven, except one, which means cursing God. rejecting God, denying Him, murder, adultery, or breaking any of the commandments -- these are all forgivable. There is great comfort in what God has done.
But something of great importance here is this particular sin -- blasphemy. Blasphemy is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for a deity. If there is a sin that seems to be totally disregarded in our current society, it is not showing reverence to God's name.
For the meaning of this passage I am looking at the words from Tabletalk for September 2, 2015:
The Pharisees see that Jesus has just freed a man from demonic oppression and that many people are thinking that He must therefore be the Christ. Some of these Pharisees attribute Jesus' ability to exorcise demons to Beelzebul (Satan). This error is significant because our Savior notes that the finger of God is behind His power in spiritual warfare. By the Holy Spirit He casts out demons, which should be evident to all. The Lord then teaches on the blasphemy of the Spirit, thereby indicating that it consists of attributing demonic activity to Jesus. In other words, calling a work of God the work of Satan is what is in view with respect to the blasphemy of the Spirit.This is what the Pharisees did in relations to Jesus' healing of the demonic man's blindness and inability to speak -- asserting that Jesus was actually doing the work of Satan.
Promise: Those who blaspheme the Spirit are hardened against Him and have no fear of offending Him.
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