Words are humankind's single most powerful means of communication, persuasion, and transformation. To speak of words is more than simply speaking about the single units of sentences. Words are the basic building blocks of dogma and ideology.1 Words, then, are the bearers of ideas, and ideas are the engines of human action—the force of our raison d'etre. Consequently, ideas become the parameters within which we exist. The smaller our ideas, the more limited we are. The more we are willing to stretch the limits of those ideas, the more we are able to extend the limits of human possibilities.

The key text for this week, Matthew 12:37, speaks in general of words as the basic tools of dogma and ideology: "for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned." The specific "words" to which Jesus refers here constitute the response of the Pharisees to his exorcism of a demoniac: "It is only by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons, that this fellow casts out demons" (v. 24). It is in the context of this Pharisaic response, and the historical context of Matthew's Gospel that the full implications of the memory verse may be understood.

The Gospel addressed a situation of dogmatic ferment in Judaism. It spoke to the needs of the growing Jewish sect (come to be called Christians), which seemed to have been "in conflict with a Pharisaic religious establishment" and had began to "consolidate as much juridical and theological power as possible in Syria-Palestine."2 The Pharisaic theological formulations had become means of establishing the Pharisaic tradition as absolute truth. Any religious ideal that did not conform to the theology of Pharisaic Judaism was of Beelzebub.

Jesus is accused of Satanism by the Pharisees because he cured a blind and mute demoniac (vss. 22ff.). It was not the fact that he cured the demoniac that warranted the accusation. Rather, it was the fact that Jesus did not conform to the dogmatic ideals of the Pharisees. Jesus' questions in reply are meant to display the folly of the Pharisaic assertion: "If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then will his kingdom stand? If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your own exorcists cast them out? (vss. 26–27). This rhetorical devise used by Christ demonstrates how dogmatic narrow-mindedness can erode plain common sense.

It is in this context that we understand the statement Jesus makes in response to these Pharisees: "people will be forgiven for every sin and blasphemy, but blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven." (12:31). Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is a condition of close-mindedness. The most seemingly devout religious person may reach that point simply because she/he has closed the mind to any idea that does not conform to her/his established beliefs.

A closed mind becomes an evil mind ("You brood of vipers! How can you speak good things, when you are evil?" [vs. 34]). It becomes obsessed with proving its own ideas as the only right way. The accusation of Jesus by the Pharisees comes from hearts so bent on proving themselves correct that they will ruthlessly discredit or destroy anyone who, though obviously seeking the good, is not conforming to their own ideas.

The Pharisaic bent had exceeded the cause of truth. It had become a need to prove itself right in the interest of consolidating the influence of the Pharisees as a religious movement in Syria-Palestine. The "Jesus Movement" was a threat to their influence and credibility, an embarrassment to mainstream Judaism.3 Thus, the Pharisees had moved beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit to instruct others in the way of righteousness. "Truth" as they saw it was an instrument for social and political influence, the downside of dogma and ideology, not an ideal to which one constantly reaches.

Matthew 12: 37 ("by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned") is closely related to Matthew 12:31 regarding the unforgivable sin. The words by which we will be condemned are described in verse 36 as "idle" words. The word translated idle" (argon) is also translated careless. Yet none of these translations captures the full meaning of the word as it is used in this context. Jesus is describing the Pharisees' response to the exorcism he performed. It is "careless" because it is uttered from a mind so biased toward its own ideas that it does not stop to think carefully.

Thus the word is best translated as arrogant. The Holy Spirit's work is limited by a mind that can only think within the confines of its already formed ideas. It is therefore arrogance that will condemn us. Humility and openness to the possibilities of the Holy Spirit will justify us—that is, make us righteous. Those who continue to hold to their traditional ideas, believing themselves righteous in doing so, effectually condemn themselves to the prison of a limited mind—the ultimate sin against the Holy Spirit.

It is important to underscore that in Matthew 12 Jesus was addressing devout religious people. They are the ones who were committing the unpardonable sin. Many times when we conduct evangelistic crusades we scare our listeners into conversion by referring to unpardonable sin—the sin against the Holy Spirit. But Jesus' words do not appear to address the lowly common sinner who walks into a tent meeting burdened down by his everyday struggles in the world. Rather he has in mind the very religious establishment balking out words of exhortation and condemnation, so fixed in its dogmas that the Holy Spirit, though given faithful lip service, often becomes redundant in practice.

In summary, this week's text, speaks of words as they formulate ideas that become dogma or ideology. Those dogmas or ideologies may be good, and they may be bad. They may be bad if they are held as the only possibilities of understanding, and thus prevent us from thinking clearly and critically. They may be good if, rather than being ends in themselves, they become the means by which one reaches for the ideal that is possible through the Spirit of God. If they are bad, they condemn us—confine us to the limits of our biases. If they are good, they open us to the leading of the Holy Spirit onto an endless path of righteousness.

Notes and References

1. Though some may attempt to make a distinction between doctrine and ideology, the assumption here is that there is essentially no difference. In both instances assertions are made and theories developed "constituting a politico-social program" (Webster's). The doctrines of Judeo-Christianity for example, developed within a socio-political system—the divine origin notwithstanding—that drew no lines between the socio-political and the religious. Although the word ideology has come to be viewed in a somewhat negative light, it essentially points to a system of ideals that are meant to propagandize and persuade. In the same way religious dogmas, doctrines, or beliefs are meant to formulate "conceptions of a general order of existence." Clifferd Geertz, "Religion as a Cultural System," in The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973), 90.
2. See Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary, New Testament (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity, 2003), 44.
3. Some New Testament scholars refer to the early Christian Church as the Jesus Movement simply because it was not a religion separate from Judaism, but was regarded as a Jewish sect. By the time of Christ, the Pharisees represented mainstream Judaism. By the first century, they had the most influence on the common people.

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