What is The Unpardonable Sin
February 13, 2023
Commentary
These next verses have been referred to as the unpardonable sin. The big question is: Can it be committed today, and if so, how? First of all, Jesus made it clear that all sins can be forgiven (v. 31). Then what is blasphemy? It has been defined as intentionally speaking evil against the Holy Spirit (v. 32). But even blasphemy Jesus says can be forgiven just as any other sin when it is confessed and repented of. Then what was blasphemy against the Holy Spirit which was more serious? Warren Wiersbe explains it this way. “When the leaders rejected John the Baptist, they were rejecting the Father who sent him. When they rejected Jesus, they were rejecting the Son but when they rejected the Holy Spirit that is the end. There is no more witness.” This means that the “unpardonable sin” is the final rejection of Jesus. You can tell what a tree is like by the fruit it produces (v. 33). Our words say what is in our hearts (v. 34). Good people produce good things and evil people produce evil things (v. 35). On the day of judgment, we will have to give account for every careless word spoken (vv. 36-37).
The religious leaders demanded that Jesus give them a sign that would prove Himself to be the Messiah (v. 38). The kind of sign they wanted is not specified but must have been an extraordinary one of worldwide magnitude. Jesus had already performed thousands of public miracles of healing, casting out demons and raising the dead. Jesus answered by saying only an “evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign” (v. 39). For Jesus to have given them a sign would have been wrong. He would have been catering to their unbelief and allowing them to set the standards of faith. Besides no matter what miracle He performed, it would not have pleased them. Instead, He gave two examples from history: (1) The Sign of Jonah (vv. 39b-41). The men Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah, though they were gentiles and enemies of God’s people. Jonah’s time in the great fish was a foreshadowing of Jesus’s death and resurrection. (2) The Wisdom of Solomon (v. 42). The queen of Sheba traveled from the end of the known world just to hear Solomon’s wisdom. Jesus’s wisdom is greater than that of Solomon.
Application
Do you know anyone who has committed the "unpardonable sin"? Not if they are still alive because as long as a person is rational, he can still be forgiven.
Matthew 12:30–42 (NET)
30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 For this reason I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 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.
33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is known by its fruit. 34 Offspring of vipers! How are you able to say anything good, since you are evil? For the mouth speaks from what fills the heart. 35 The good person brings good things out of his good treasury, and the evil person brings evil things out of his evil treasury. 36 I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
38 Then some of the experts in the law along with some Pharisees answered him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish for three days and three nights, so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. 41 The people of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented when Jonah preached to them —and now, something greater than Jonah is here! 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon—and now, something greater than Solomon is here!