From: "Peter Cardinal"
To: "Oroyan, Edward B"
Subject: Matthew 12:30-32
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1998 20:36:57 -0500

Don't be sorry when you make a correction.  It shows respect for your
writing and for the person who is reading it.  Oh, very well, you may be
sorry that there is a mistake that needs to be corrected.  But God
demands perfection as a goal that we strive for, not as a precondition,
and the same should be true for all of us.  So I see making a correction
both as an expression of honesty about how good a writer you are now and
as a commitment to trying for something even better.

You asked about Matthew 12:30-32.  Never would I expect you to come to
me with an easy question, and you are not disappointing me this time. 
The definition in your Bible (the "reviling of God by attributing the
Spirit's work to Satan") seems to be pretty good, and I agree with you
that this could be done today.  I also think that your idea about God
knowing what a person will do in the future may be a part of the answer,
as you'll see in a few paragraphs.  I don't pretend to be able to answer
precisely, but I will essay to share my thoughts.

My first suggestion in reading a difficult passage of scripture is,
"Look at the context."  What else is Jesus saying in this part of
Matthew?  Either Jesus or Matthew or both of them thought these ideas
belonged together.  Chapters 11, 12, and 13 belong together.  In my
notes on Matthew, I title this "The Hidden Growth of the Kingdom"
whereas the Jerusalem Bible gives the heading "The Mystery of the
Kingdom of Heaven".  Chapter 11 emphasizes that people had a difficult
time grasping who Jesus is and his relationship with the Father.  It is
here that Jesus responds to John's question about him by pointing out
the results of his work:  The blind see, the lame walk, and so on.  In
chapter 12, the topic is addressed somewhat more directly in Jesus'
responses to questions raised by the professors and pastors.  Finally,
Jesus uses a series of parables recorded in chapter 13 to explain how
the kingdom comes into the world quietly and yet with power.

More specifically, just before the statement on blaspheming the Spirit
in chapter 12 Jesus is defending himself against the suggestion that
perhaps his miracles are nothing more than the devil's trick:  They
propose that the prince of devils may be sacrificing some short-term
success in order to gain the confidence of the unsuspecting populace. 
Following the word about unforgiveable sin, Jesus says that the way to
distinquish between a crafty devil and an agent of God is to see whether
the results are good or evil.  In other words, he is replying much as he
did to John:  Look at the results of my work, he says, and tell me
whether the devil could do this sort of good -- at least, without
destroying himself in the process.  Just afterward, Jesus warns these
people that they must answer for every useless claim.  (The word might
also be "idle", "careless", or "ineffective"; some notes suggest that
this implies maliciousness. "Every unemployed word" might be the literal
translation, I guess.)

Two details of the passage in question are also important.  First, verse
30 seems to stand by itself.  But I assure you that Matthew did not
write verses that just stick out by themselves without relating to the
rest of the chapter.  Second, verse 31 begins with "therefore" (or "for
this reason", "and so", dia touto  if your browser shows Greek); in
other words, the saying about blaspheming the Holy Spirit follows
logically from the previous verses.  If we don't understand the verse,
it most likely means that we aren't following the argument very well. 
Here's my first take on the logic; see if it makes sense:  Jesus is
speaking to people who know what he has done and also know that what he
did shows that his power comes from God.  Nevertheless, by lying about
where Jesus' power comes from, they try to tie up Jesus, the strong man,
and steal his followers away.  They like to accuse their enemies of
blasphemy (as they will accuse Jesus in chapter 26), but Jesus turns
that charge back on them.

My second suggestion for a difficult passage is to find other passages
which address the same or similar topics in a different way.  I admit
that I didn't have a suggestion of another verse, but fortunately my
Jerusalem Bible had one:  Hebrews 6:4-9 and again in 10:26-31.  These
passages say that someone who has actually seen the light of God's truth
and still turned away is beyond hope.  Someone who, like John the
Baptist, is uncertain and questions Jesus' place in the kingdom is not
only forgiven but praised (Matthew 11:11).  This condemnation is only
for people who have "tasted the gift from heaven" (as Hebrews 6:4 puts
it) "and appreciated the good message of God".  It is not possible
(verse 4) again to restore their change of way (verse 6).

This same difference would seem to apply to the saying in Matthew. 
Jesus is not condemning a person who is mistaken, I think, but rather
the one who knows full well that it is God's Holy Spirit that this
person is calling a devil.  I would take this as saying that such a
person has so thoroughly twisted his character that even God can't
straighten it without destroying the person's essence.  (Sin as twisting
in on oneself is an idea beautifully developed by Martin Luther in his
"Lectures on Romans".)  This, as you see, is not so far different from
the suggestion you made, but it has a different point of view.  In
Hebrews, I think, the message is that someone who can participate in the
Spirt and still turn away from the Spirit is someone who is no longer
able to repent or to accept the forgiveness that God offers to all of
us.

You see that I don't answer your question about what you should say; I
leave that answer to the Spirit.  I hope that thinking about my ideas
will make the Spirit's answer easier for you to understand.


Peter Cardinal