What is the ' world to come' as referred to in Mtt 12:32?

Question

We read in Mtt 12:32(KJV):

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.

That implies that there are certain sins that could be forgiven in the world to come. Christianity, irrespective of denominations, believes in eternal salvation and eternal damnation as mutually exclusive outcomes of one's life on earth. Some denomination like Catholicism believe in the existence of Purgatory where sins not absolved during one's life are made up for. But, a person who dies unrepentant in grave sin invites eternal condemnation. No doubt, one commits a grave sin by speaking against the Holy Spirit. So, what is the ' world to come' as referred to by Jesus in Mtt 12:32 ?

Answer 1

The phrase "world/age to come" occurs a number of times in the NT and always refers to the world that will exist after the final judgement and great resurrection of the dead. See appendix below.

Thus, the "age/world" to come was the time when the righteous receive eternal life and the wicked receive eternal damnation. Essentially, Jesus is saying that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit incurs eternal damnation as such people cannot be forgiven.

APPENDIX - "World/age to Come"

The phrase "world to come" (or similar) occurs in the following places:

• Matt 12:32 - And if anyone speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but if anyone speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age nor in the coming one.
• Mark 10:30 - who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time--houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions--and in the age which is coming, eternal life.
• Luke 18:30 - who shall not receive manifold more in this time--and in the age that is coming, eternal life."
• Eph 1:21 - above every principality and authority and power and dominion, and every name being named, not only in this age, but also in the one coming.
• Eph 2:7 - in order that in the coming ages He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
• 1 Tim 4:8 - For bodily exercise is of a little profit, but godliness is profitable for everything, holding the promise of the present life and of the one coming.
• Heb 2:5 - For not to angels did He subject the world that is coming, of which we are speaking,
• Heb 6:5 - and having tasted the goodness of God's word and the power of the coming age

Answer 2

The world to come is The new heaven and the new earth. God will destroy this world and in doing so he has to create a new world without sin and corruption. John saw a vision of this new world while he was in the island of Patmos through an angel

Revelation 21:1-2

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.

Jesus implies that blasphemy against The Holy Spirit is a sin that makes someone guilty of eternal damnation.

Answer 3

To delve into the historical side, Jesus's Jewish listeners, "this age" would have likely referred to the current era, marked by the Law and the Prophets, while the "age to come" represented the future Messianic era when God's kingdom would be fully established.

On the other hand, the Christian concept of the "age to come" has undergone evolution over time. Initially, Christians looked forward to the realization of God's kingdom. However, this anticipation has been redefined through the lens of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. In Christian theology, the distinction between "this age" and the "age to come" is perceived as less distinct, marking the commencement of God's kingdom with Jesus's ministry and continuing through the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

Neither in this world, neither in the world to come.—The distinction was hardly the same for our Lord’s Jewish listeners as it has come to be with us. For them “this world”—better, perhaps, this age—was the time before the coming of the Christ; “the age to come” was that which was to follow it. (Comp. Hebrews 6:5, Luke 18:30.)

Pulpit Commentary

"The age to come" (העולם הבא) included all that followed the coming of Messiah. Sometimes it was restricted to, or practically identified with, the reign of Messiah upon earth, but usually it included much more - eternity as well as time (see especially Weber, 'System,' pp. 354, 355; and cf. Schurer, II. 2:177). It is in its widest sense that our Lord here uses it - contrasting the present order of things with that which will be the final result of his coming, his thoughts travelling far beyond the present course of this world to that which is to be hereafter. Matthew 12:32

Conclusion: While initially important to the Jewish people as the beginning of a new age, Christianity later blurred the distinction between “this age” and “age to come,” seeing the beginning of God’s kingdom in Jesus’ ministry and the continuing work of the holy spirit.

Answer 4

Here is a Jewish understanding of "the world to come," which is most likely how Jesus' hearers would understand it.

There are two general possibilities: One is that it refers to a heavenly abode where the souls of the righteous live on after death. The other is that it’s the perfected world that will follow the coming of the messiah, when the dead are resurrected and complete peace prevails.

It is not clear which sense of the phrase Jesus used in the passage cited in the OP. Even in Jesus' time, the exact meaning of the term would be a matter of opinion. It depends both on whether one thinks it refers to the afterlife or to reign of the messiah on earth.