What the Bible says about Ignorance of the Pharisees
(From Forerunner Commentary)
This transgression is commonly called “the unpardonable sin,” something so grave that it will not be forgiven, either in the present age or in the next one, even though God is normally eager to forgive.
Blasphemy is not talked about much these days, since our culture cares little about the things of God. The word “blasphemy” comes from two roots that together mean “injurious speaking.” Granted, speaking (or writing) that causes injury is quite common these days, but blasphemy belongs in a separate category because it has God or something sacred as its target. Thus, blasphemy is “a dishonoring of God or sacred things,” whether done deliberately or not.
Jesus' words in Matthew 12 are a strong enough warning by themselves, but the parallel account in Mark 3:29 makes the consequences of this even more plain: “He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation” (emphasis added).
The wider context of these verses helps us to understand this stark warning, beginning in Matthew 12:22 with Christ healing a demon-possessed blind-mute. Because of the Pharisees' hard hearts, they would not accept that this had been done through the power of the Holy Spirit, so they tried to diminish this work of God by claiming it was performed by the power of Satan.
In verse 33, Jesus says to evaluate a matter based on the fruit that is produced. The Pharisees should have been able to see the supremely positive fruit that He was producing, and at the same time, He was pointing out that the fruit they were producing was rotten. In verses 34-35, their speaking evil against the power of God reflected the evil in their own hearts. While the Pharisees belittled the miracle that had just taken place, Jesus says in verse 36 that even idle or careless words must be accounted for in the Day of Judgment. Verse 37 warns that our words will either justify us or condemn us, putting the Pharisees on thin ice.
Notice, though, that He does not state directly that these Pharisees had committed the unpardonable sin. They did commit blasphemy serious enough to evoke a thunderous warning, but it appears that Jesus may have made some allowance for the Pharisees because, in His taking on the form of a bondservant (Philippians 2:7), they were confused about who He was. His true identity as the Son of God had not been revealed to them (as it had been to the disciples; Matthew 16:16-17), so He declared that they could be forgiven the blasphemous things they said about Him. He did not mean that blasphemy or other sins are no big deal, but rather that it is possible for those things to be forgiven upon repentance, in contrast to a transgression that cannot be forgiven at all.
Remember, the Pharisees triggered this warning by attributing the outworking of God to the Lord of Flies (Beelzebub). It included a rejection of God's nature, power, and activity. The conversation between Christ and Nicodemus shows that some of the Pharisees would acknowledge that Jesus was a Teacher sent by God (John 3:1-2). Yet, Matthew 12:14 states that these Pharisees were plotting against Him, so they had malicious intent.
Even so, a measure of ignorance remained. Paul says in I Corinthians 2:8 that if the rulers of the age—which would include the Pharisees—had full comprehension, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory. Despite their attitudes approaching the point where they would be unable to repent, their lack of full comprehension of who they were opposing meant that repentance could still be possible once their eyes are opened. Due to their ignorance, they were not guilty of conscious rejection of the Spirit of the Most High God.
David C. Grabbe
What Is Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?Related Topics: Blasphemy | Blasphemy Against God's Holy Spirit | Ignorance of the Pharisees | Sin, Unpardonable | Unpardonable Sin
Jesus had just confounded the Sadducees' question concerning marriage in the resurrection, and their rivals, the Pharisees, were probably gloating at their discomfort. Now, it was the Pharisees' turn to try to ensnare Jesus. They sought to find the most challenging question that they themselves disputed over and proposed to make Him squirm by asking it of Him.
They selected a lawyer, that is, a scribe well-versed in the law of Moses, to do the asking. The lawyer had heard Jesus reasoning with the Sadducees and putting them to silence, and the Pharisees probably believed that the lawyer was better equipped to confound Jesus with a truly difficult question. The lawyer's job was to probe His understanding of the law, an area in which they thought He was weak.
The problem with the Pharisees is that they never grasped the simplicity of the law, much less the spirit of it, but gnashed at it, picked at it, and dissected it with the intent of being thought righteous because of their intellect. In doing so, they missed what God intended in giving the law. To see it from God's point of view would require change, and indeed, that could be a frightening thing.
"Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?'" (Matthew 22:35-36). When one considers the Pharisees' penchant for nitpicking rather than acting from the heart, we can see how endless discussions and arguments could occur over this question. As it had stumped them, they felt it would surely befuddle Him.
The Jews had divided the commandments into greater and lesser commandments. In addition, the Pharisees were polarized in different camps, divided in their opinions regarding washings and other purification rites, laws of sacrifice and offering, circumcision, etc. In short, they were focused on twigs, missing the entire forest.
So, to ask Jesus which was the greatest commandment, a question they could not agree upon, seemed to be the ultimate way of drawing Him into their endless arguments. More than that, they figured it would finally put Him down in the eyes of the people.
In His answer, Jesus does not hesitate a bit, cutting through all the chaff and endless arguing, and placed the correct answer before them: "Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and great commandment'" (Matthew 22:37-38).
In effect, He says we are to love our God with the entirety of our being, more than the pleasures Satan sets before us, more than the individual escapes we run to when we are tired or down, more than the pulls of this flesh, more than the opinions of our peer groups, employers, or neighbors, and more than our own intellect and opinions. Simply, we are to put God and His instructions first in our lives in every way.
Jesus states it so simply it must have been difficult for His twig-focused audience to comprehend. This commandment, out of Deuteronomy 6:5, is the first, the greatest of all in dignity and excellence, and is the foundation of all other commandments. It all begins with God and our wholehearted devotion to Him.
John O. Reid
You Shall Love Your Neighbor (Part One)
His obedience is what separated Jesus from the Jews. He truly showed the characteristics of God, and He did it by keeping God's sayings. He did not turn away from truth or hide Himself from it. He kept it without excuse for all to see. The Pharisees did everything that Adam and Eve did in the Garden, and all the while, they proclaimed to the world that they were sons of God. We can see clearly where Paul got his teaching in Titus 1:14-16: The Jews profess that they know Him, but in works they deny Him, doing abominable things.
The difference between the world and the church is becoming apparent. The body of Christ will do what Christ did. They will follow the sayings, the truth, revealed by the Father. So, people's conduct reveals whether they are really Christian, despite what they claim with their mouths. If one knows what to look for, then an individual can tell whether certain people or even whole churches are truly Christian.
There are two characteristics of this major principle. The major principle, a very broad one, is that they simply do not believe God. From this, we can branch off into two applications. The first, as we have seen, is that in works they will deny Him. Because they do not believe Him, they will be disobedient.
The second result is exemplified in Genesis 11:9:
Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there did the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
As He lays foundations for our understanding in Genesis, God shows in microcosm how the world, established by men in opposition to Him, came to be the way it is. Genesis 11 helps us understand that the world is in confusion. Not only is it disobedient, but to add calamity to rebellion, it is also chaotic. When disbelief enters the scene, disobedience and confusion are the fruits.
The world lives in a state of disbelief of God, and therefore it is in confusion. If we apply these two principles to churches that claim to be Christian, we can determine if they are actually churches of this world by finding answers to these two questions: 1) Do they obey God? and 2) Are they in confusion?
John W. Ritenbaugh
The Christian and the World (Part Two)