NOTES for Mat 12:32

What, then, is "blasphemy against the Holy Spirit" (v. 31)? First of all, let us remember that on the cross Christ prays for those who crucify Him: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." This means that only conscious sin can be unforgivable. Now let us look at the situation in which Jesus' words are spoken. The Pharisees declare that Jesus, in working miracles, acts by the power of the prince of demons. That is, good deeds, performed by the power of God, in other words by the Holy Spirit, are attributed to Satan and not to God, while all ideas of good and evil, truth and falsehood, life and death are turned upside down. These people have already determined everything for themselves and are completely closed to repentance. What goodness, what mercy can such people expect from God? And not expecting it, they do not receive it. Thus blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is the conscious refusal of God's goodness and the nonacceptance of His mercy and forgiveness.