Monday in the Week of Pentecost

Readings

• Proverbs 10:1–12
• 1 Timothy 1:1–17
• Matthew 12:22–32
• Psalms: 25; 9, 15

Matthew 12:22–32

Then they brought to him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and he cured him, so that the one who had been mute could speak and see. All the crowds were amazed and were saying, "Can this be the Son of David?"

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "It is only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons, that this man casts out the demons."

He knew what they were thinking and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how, then, will his kingdom stand? If I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your own exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man? Then indeed the house can be plundered.

"Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Therefore I tell you, people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 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."

Notes

Quick lectionary note. This past weekend was Pentecost and Trinity Sunday, which means we have left the season of Easter and entered Ordinary Time. The lectionary takes a jump as a result, so we land in Matthew 12 today rather than continuing where Saturday's reading ended.

Verse 24. Beelzebul. The Pharisees answer the crowd's question with a counter-charge: he casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons. Beelzebul (or Beelzebub) was originally a Philistine god, related to Baal ("Lord"). 2 Kings 1:2–6 has Baal-Zebub, "Lord of the flies" (probably a parody of the original Baal-Zebul, "Lord of the high place"). By the first century the term has come to mean prince of demons.

We tend to conflate Beelzebul with Satan in popular usage, but a first-century person might not have made that conflation cleanly. The categories in Second Temple Judaism around evil spiritual powers were more complex than "Satan = devil = Beelzebul." Ha-Satan in the Hebrew Bible is a member of the heavenly court, not yet the cosmic adversary later theology made him.

Verses 25–28. The kingdom of God has come. Present tense. Not "is coming someday." It is here.

Verse 29. Then the strong man image. Jesus is describing what his ministry actually is: tying up the strong man so that the strong man's captives can be set free. 1 John 3:8 says it directly: the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. The work of the cross is not appeasing a wrathful God. The work of the cross, and the whole of Jesus' ministry, is the binding of the powers that hold people captive.

Verses 31–32. The unforgivable sin. I love verse 31a: people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy. Every. Sin. And. Blasphemy. The default disposition of God is forgiveness.

And then the qualifier that scares people: blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

I've written on this before, here and here

In short: The "unforgivable" sin is not a particular act so much as a particular state: the state of refusing the very offer that would forgive you. Imagine someone drowning while a life preserver is thrown to them, and they have been convinced that the life preserver itself will drown them. So they refuse it. The problem is not that God is unwilling to forgive. The problem is that the person cannot accept the forgiveness on offer.

This is not permanent. If you are someone who fears you cannot be forgiven, that fear itself is correctable. You can change your mind.

The whole architecture of the passage is kingdom now, forgiveness widely available, the strong man being tied up. The unforgivable sin is a warning, not a sentence. The good news is bigger than the warning.

Questions for reflection

The kingdom of God has come upon you, present tense. Where in your life right now would naming the kingdom as already present change what you are willing to do today?