BLASPHEMY

Why is the act of blasphemy so serious in the Bible?

The act of Blasphemy is claiming to be God and that you have the same characteristics and abilities. Jesus was accused of blasphemy by the religious leaders in the events recorded in Matt 9:1-8; Mark 2:9;. Some men brought a man who was paralyzed to be healed by Jesus. He can see that they have great faith in his ability to heal the man, but instead immediately healing the man by telling the man to "get up and walk" he instead said " Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee." The religious leaders were surprised at this action because they realized that Jesus, by using these words, was claiming to be able to forgive sins, an action that only God could do, and so also claiming that he was God. This claim was totally against their belief because the religious leaders thought that Jesus was only a man who seems to have some special abilities, what they did not appreciate or understand that the ability to heal was also only an action that God could do and as already demonstrated Jesus is God and so has the authority both to heal and to forgive sins. To prove it Jesus then told the man to "get up and walk"
An important point of this event is that it is easy to tell someone his sins are forgiven, how do you prove it but it is very much more difficult to heal a person who is paralyse, it is very obvious when he gets up and walks!

The events and action by Jesus showed that his words were true; he had the power to forgive as well as to heal. Any one can claim power with words, our words have no meaning if we cannot prove them. For example, we can say we love God, but do not behave in a way that shows that love, our words are empty and have no meaning.

People in the world today often use the name "Jesus" and / or "God" in their everyday talk, for example, as an expression of surprise, "Oh my God." Sometimes, even more sadly, as words of promise or even threat, "by God I’ll do ...."
The Bible tells us that there is one specific use of the name of God which will not be forgiven, The religious leaders accused Jesus that His power to cast out demons came from Satan, Jesus responded to show how stupid this accusation was, that action would only result in failure. Jesus in addition added a very severe warning. Read Mark 3:20-30. The key verse is 29, "But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:" It is interesting to note that the people of the world do not usually mis-use the name of the Holy Spirit like they do for God and Jesus.

Blasphemy is a terrible sin. Christians are often concerned that they have committed this sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. There are however two main areas where it can happen but it would not be by true Believers. The first situation is attributing to the devil the work of the Holy Spirit, as the religious leaders were doing in this passage. It reveals a heart attitude of unbelief and un-repentance. Secondly, the deliberate, ongoing rejection of the work of the Holy Spirit is blasphemy because it is rejecting God himself. Unfortunately, any one who dies, rejecting the gift of salvation through Jesus, is actually committing this sin, for it is the Holy Spirit who is reaching out to each and every person in the world with the message of salvation. So on the day of Judgement, if your name is not in the Book of Life, you have rejected the Holy Spirit and will suffer the consequences of eternal punishment.

Blasphemy is in the sense of speaking evil or abuse of the name of God. You will find examples of this in the following verses:-
1 Kings 21:8-10; "So she(Jezebel) wrote letters in Ahab’s name, and sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters unto the elders and to the nobles that were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people: And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him, that he may die."

Psalms 74:18; "Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O LORD, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name."

Isaiah 52:5; "Now therefore, what have I here, saith the LORD, that my people is taken away for nought? they that rule over them make them to howl, saith the LORD; and my name continually every day is blasphemed."

Matt 26:64,65; "Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying, He hath spoken blasphemy; what further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy. "

Luke 22:63-65; "And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote him. And when they had blindfolded him, they struck him on the face, and asked him, saying, Prophesy, who is it that smote thee? And many other things blasphemously spake they against him.

John 10:32-38; "Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me? The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him."

Acts 13:44,45; "And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming."

Acts 18:6; "And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles."

Rom 2:24; "For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

Rev 13:1; "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy."

Rev 13:6; "And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven."

Rev. 16:9-11; "And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds."

Rev 16:21; "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great."

Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.

Matt 12:31,32; "Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. "

Mark 3:22-29; "And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."

Luke 12:8-10; "Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. "