Matthew 12:31-32

Matthew 12:31-32

[31] Wherefore  I say  All manner of  sin  and  blasphemy  shall be forgiven  unto men:  but  the blasphemy  against the Holy Ghost  not  be forgiven  unto men.  [32] And  whosoever  speaketh  a word  against  the Son  of man,  it shall be forgiven  him:  but  whosoever  speaketh  against  the Holy  Ghost,  not  be forgiven  him,  neither  in  world,  neither  in  the world to come. 

What does Matthew 12:31-32 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

Jesus followed up His statement about the impossibility of being neutral ( Matthew 12:30) with this further warning. The "therefore" (Gr. dia touto) indicates this relationship. Blasphemy involves extreme slander (cf. Matthew 9:3). God would forgive any sin, including extreme slander of Jesus, when a person trusted in Jesus. However, He would not forgive blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.
Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, in view of the context ( Matthew 12:24-28), involved attributing Jesus" works to Satan rather than to the Spirit. The sin was not a matter of speech; the words spoken simply reflected the attitude of the heart. God would not forgive this sin because the person who committed it in Jesus" day was thereby strongly rejecting Jesus as the Messiah. Even today the only sin one can commit that God will not forgive and that will result in his or her eternal damnation is rejection of Jesus Christ (cf. John 3:18). Attributing Jesus" works to Satan was blasphemy of the Spirit in Jesus" day and this resulted in damnation.
Can a person commit this sin today? One can reject Jesus Christ, but one cannot blaspheme the Spirit in the same sense in which Jesus" contemporaries could. To do so one would have to observe Jesus doing His works and attribute them to Satan. [1] One could say therefore that blasphemy against the Spirit was an unforgivable sin during Jesus" earthly ministry. The unforgivable sin at any time since Jesus began His earthly ministry to the present day is rejection of Jesus Christ.
Speaking a word against is the same as blasphemy. Extreme slander of Jesus was forgivable in His day provided it did not go as far as attributing His works to Satan. That constituted blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave this warning to the professedly neutral person who might attribute His works to Satan ( Matthew 12:30). Such a person needed to realize that even though he or she was not speaking against Jesus that one was doing something with much graver consequences.
"Given Matthew"s christological interests and the unique and central position held by Jesus throughout the Gospel, one may understandably be surprised that Matthew has not said the reverse of what stands in the text, i.e, that blasphemy against the Spirit is forgivable but not that against the Son of Man. The gravity of the blasphemy against the Spirit, however, depends upon the Holy Spirit as the fundamental dynamic that stands behind and makes possible the entire messianic ministry of Jesus itself ..." [2]