Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

THE QUESTION OF JESUS' SELF-UNDERSTANDING 516.4
climactic apophthegm with an exclusively christological focus. 153 But this was in
effect only an extension of the original, that what was true of (eschatological?)
humankind in general was especially true of Jesus (and his disciples). 154 Here
again we can well envisage that the translation of the tradition into Greek, where
the Aramaic idiom would have been lost to view, was a major factor.
(3) Mark 3.28-29 pars.
Matt. 12.31-32
31 Therefore I tell you.
every sin and
blasphemy will be
forgiven to
men.
but
blasphemy against the
Spirit will not be
forgiven.
32 And whoever
speaks a word against
the Son of Man it will
be forgiven to him, but
whoever
speaks against the
Holy Spirit, it will not
be forgiven to him.
either in this age or in
the age to come.
Mark 3.28-29
28 Truly I tell you.
everything
will be
forgiven to the sons of
men, whatever their
sins and blasphemies
whatever they
blaspheme;
29 but
whoever blasphemes
against the
Holy Spirit has no
forgiveness for ever,
but is guilty of an
eternal sin.
Luke 12.10
10 And everyone who
speaks a word against
the Son of Man it will
be forgiven to him; but
to the one who blasphemes
against the
Holy Spirit will not
be forgiven.
GTh 44
Jesus said: He who
blasphemes against the
Father will be foreiven.
and he who
blasphemes against
the Son will
be forgiven, but
he who blasphemes
against the
Holy Spirit will not
be forgiven, either on
earth or in heaven.
In terms of tradition history this is one of the most interesting examples in the
Gospels. In all four cases a saying is recalled which contrasts two kinds of
sins/blasphemies: those which may be forgiven and blasphemy/speaking
against the Holy Spirit, which will not be forgiven. The interest begins with the
fact that the first half of the saying seems to have been preserved in at least two
different versions: Mark speaks of unspecified sins/blasphemies, Matthew/
Luke (= Q) in contrast envisages speaking against the Son of Man, and Thomas
has a further variation — blasphemies against (the Father and) the Son. The interest
quickens when we note that in Mark the first half speaks of sins/blasphemies
being forgiven to 'the sons of men', a usage ('sons of men') unparalleled
in the Gospels.
It could be, of course, that Jesus was remembered as saying two different
153. Becker, Jesus 299; Ebner, Jesus 176-79; cf. Funk, Five Gospels 49; in contrast,
Lüdemann, Jesus 19-20, shows little awareness of the ambiguities of the Aramaic idiom.
154. In this case Lindars fails to show sufficient sensitivity to the possible tradition history
behind Mark's version (Jesus Son of Man 102-106).
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