Quote:
Originally Posted by Sister Alvear
I think my students (some of them) wanted to know why can you blaspheme God and Jesus but not the Holy Ghost if they are the same.
That is where they are stomped...I gave them my opinion...but always like to check opinion here. Thanks.
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I agree with Mike and Seeker's take on this. In
Matthew 12:32, it is NOT "God" that can be spoken against - and then forgiven. It is a man. A human being.
Consider also the fate of this human being: the "Son of man." In another 15 chapters (of Matthew's Gospel), this man is killed. He actually dies. But, before He dies, Luke reports that He said,
"Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (
Luke 23:34).
I take it that you could pretty much say anything about this man or do just about anything to Him and still be forgiven. After all, He even forgives His own killers.
However, what Jesus is warning the Pharisees of in
Matthew 12:24-37, is that they must be careful with what they say about the things that GOD is doing. No mere "Son of man" could heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers or do all of the things that Jesus did.
Remember also the words of Nicodemus in
John 3:2:
"...no
man can do these miracles that thou doest, except
God be with him."
If Nicodemus had been among the Pharisees in
Matthew 12, we might see Jesus saying something like, "Say anything you want about the man; but take great care in what you say concerning the
"God [that] be with Him..."
This is a discussion of the dual nature that Christ possessed. Virtually all Christian groups recognize this dual nature - even Trinitarians. It's something we all have in common. Folks who raise something like
Matthew 12:32, do so because:
1) They don't believe that Jesus is God - in which case we need to show them other passages where Jesus is clearly said to be God...
2) Or, they have a misunderstanding of their own Trinitarian faith and are stumbling over the difference between the Dual Nature of Christ and confusing that with some hazy elements of their Trinitarianism.
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