Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. Mat 12:31-32
I have often heard the interpretation of the above passage as “Jesus said that blasphemy against Himself is ok. Blasphemy against Holy Spirit is not.” Therfore let us first establish the context of Mathew 12 before we delve into translation details.
First the Pharasees try to trap Jesus because His disciples are picking and eating wheat on the Sabbath. Jesus counters with For the Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath. Verse 8 They attempt to trap Jesus again for healing the man with the withered hand. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him. Verse 14 Then Jesus casts out a demon. The Pharasees accuse Him of being Satan to which Jesus replies,
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. Verse 27-28
Jesus is declaring His Diety!
The confusion arises in the use of the term Son of Man. Son of man in Greek is the same in every context huiós ánthrōpos and literally means male human offspring. While Strong’s concordance does indicate the possible use of the term to indicate Jesus as Messiah, we must dig deeper to understand the true context.
English speakers often assume that the term Son of God which occurs 67 times in the New Testament is the declaration of Jesus’ diety. Yet consider that all of us are given the right to become Sons of God when we are saved and sanctified. John 1:12-13 In truth, Jesus’ reference to Himself as the Son of Man occurs 78 times in the New Testament and declares His Diety.
Ben-Adam – Bar-Adam
How much less man, that is a worm? and the son of man, (ben-adam) which is a worm? Job 25:6
Son of Man in Hebrew is Ben-Adam and literally means a descendent of Adam that can be equated with huiós ánthrōpos, a human man in Greek.
Coming with Clouds
Anytime Jesus refers to Himself as The Son of Man in the New Testament it is always in reference to Daniel chapter seven.
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. Dan 7:13-14
Son of man in this verse clearly describes the return of Jesus the Messiah to establish His Kingdom on earth at the end of days. Hence, it is in reference to these verses that Jesus describes His second coming in the Olivet Discourse Mathew 24-25.
Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Mat 24:30
It was Jesus’ declaration to Caiaphas the high priest that He was the Son of Man that caused him to tear his robes, spit in Jesus’ face, strike him and later demand He be crucified.
Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, Mat 26:57-67
It is reference to Dan 7:13-14 that the two men in white robes addressed the disciples at the ascension of Jesus in Acts, thus further clarifying that Jesus is indeed the Daniel seven Son Of Man.
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:9-11
It is important to note that while the New Testament was written in Greek, Jesus would have known Hebrew as Jewish Rabbi, and spoken Aramaic as it was the common spoken language of the day. What makes this even more fascinating is that most of the book of Daniel is written in Hebrew. However Daniel chapter 7 just happens to be written in Aramaic. Once again, Son of Man in Hebrew is Ben-Adam. Son of Man in Aramaic is Bar-Adam. When Jesus declared Himself to be the Son of Man he would have done so in Aramaic and in refrence to Daniel 7. That the only available term in Greek was huiós ánthrōpos illustrates that fact that word definions can be misleading apart from the correct context.
As for blasphemy of the Holy Spirit in Mathew 12.
Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
The English does seem to say that blasphemy against the son of man will be forgiven. The Pharasees were trying frame Jesus and calling Him Beelzebul (Satan). Yet if we understand the Trinity then we understand that God (all aspects of God) is a Spirit. John 4:24 not just the third part of the Trinity. The idea that it’s ok to blasphemy against one part of the Godhead but not another violates the laws of Coherance and non contradiction that we covered in our very first Acts 17:11 Bereans Bible study. If we call one aspect of the Trinity evil then we are calling all of the Trinity evil. The root issue is defined in Isaiah 5:20.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
In addition, Jesus was not declaring Himself to be the Son of Man in this passage. Rather He seemed to be making a blanket statement about them. Hence the logical conclusion concerning Jesus’ words in Mathew 12 regarding the Son of Man is that he was talking about blasphemy against mere human beings that will be forgiven. Blasphemy against any aspect of God as the Pharasees were doing will not. Still, the remaing question is,
“What exactly constitutes blasphemy?”.
As I see it, hence I could be wrong, the Pharisees were God’s anointed voice and representatives on earth at the time. They should have recogized and welcomed Jesus. Yet they were opposing God to the point of trying to destroy Him and teaching others to do the same. Perhaps this is the essence of blasphemy of Holy Spirit and is highlighted in the warnings in James and Mathew.
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. James 3:1
But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. Mat 18:6
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Mat 12:36
When I personalize these I am certain that given what I know about God and what He has done for me, turning my back on any aspect, Father, Son or Holy Spirit now and teaching others to do the same would definitely constitute blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.