Hello, beloved children of God,
Today, let’s look at yet another accusation thrown towards Jesus:
“And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, ‘He is possessed by Beelzebul,’ and ‘He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.’”
— Mark 3:22
The scribes were part of the Jewish religious sect of the Pharisees. They were the lawyers of the day, trained in reading, writing, and interpreting the law. They provided interpretations of the Law of Moses and determined how the text should be understood.
Today, this role falls on the teachers of the Word. Teachers are expected to faithfully study the scriptures and offer accurate interpretations of God’s words, along with practical applications for people. This is why Paul, writing to Timothy about the qualifications of an overseer, mentions that he must be able to teach:
“An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, sensible, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,”
— 1 Timothy 3:2
However, the scribes mentioned here were not faithful in their interpretation of the law. They added many “fence laws” that shifted the focus of redemptive history from a faith-based salvation to a works-based salvation.
Because of their faulty view of scripture, they often clashed with Jesus. This was one of those instances. After witnessing the miracles Jesus performed, they couldn’t conceive that He might be the anointed one sent to save Israel. Instead, they accused Him of being possessed by Beelzebul, a name used for Satan, which some sources suggest literally translates to a “dung god.”
Furthermore, they accused Jesus of using the power of demons to cast out demons. These accusations revealed their spiritual blindness. Even though they stood before the Son of God, they could not recognize Him.
Today, with the full revelation of Christ available to us through the closed canon of Scripture, it’s astonishing to consider how the scribes could have missed Jesus. Alongside the signs and wonders He performed, they had hundreds of prophecies about His coming and specific descriptions of how He would be recognized.
When you take all of this into consideration, it reveals the true condition of the human heart. Being wicked, the heart will not identify its Savior.
Jesus uses this opportunity to reason with them in the next verse:
“And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan?’”
— Mark 3:23
This was a solid argument. The works Jesus did pointed back to God, not Satan. It would be unwise for Satan to point people to God. Jesus reasoned that if His works were of Satan, they wouldn’t lead people to true salvation.
We see the same reasoning later used by the apostle John when warning the church about testing the spirits:
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.”
— 1 John 4:1-3
Like Jesus, John argues that messengers from God will have the correct view of Him—they will confess that Jesus came in the flesh. Those who are not from God will not confess this truth.
It should be noted that the confession John refers to is not merely stating that Jesus is from God, but truly believing and living out this truth in all their conduct.
Sadly, we see a similar situation today. Many churches and preachers hold faulty views of Jesus. The point Jesus is making is that the only thing validating His authenticity as being from God, and not from Satan, is His true and accurate view of God.
Jesus further illustrates this point by explaining that Satan cannot do anything to undermine his own agenda. In other words, Satan cannot cast out Satan. Jesus emphasizes this with the following example:
“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”
— Mark 3:24
He continues with another example:
“If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.”
— Mark 3:25
Finally, Jesus makes the point clear: Satan cannot work against his own agenda. Since Jesus’ works—casting out demons, healing the sick, and preaching the gospel—lead people back to God for reconciliation, they cannot be the works of Satan. These very actions dismantle Satan’s kingdom:
“If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!”
— Mark 3:26
Jesus then states that only someone stronger than Satan can overpower him:
“But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.”
— Mark 3:27
In this, Jesus clearly shows that God is more powerful than Satan. While this may seem obvious, some theological perspectives undermine this truth.
There are those who believe God and Satan are equally powerful, battling to determine the victor. While most professing Christians may not openly hold this view, they sometimes live as though this is the case.
We often live as if God and Satan are in a power struggle. However, Jesus’ statement, along with the rest of Scripture, makes it clear that God is sovereign over all beings. The Bible tells us that in the end, Satan will be conquered. This is not a competition; the battle is already won. As the psalmist declares:
“Why do the nations rage
And the peoples meditate on a vain thing?
The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers take counsel together
Against Yahweh and against His Anointed, saying,
‘Let us tear their fetters apart
And cast away their cords from us!’
He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord mocks them.”
— Psalm 2:1-4
I pray that in reading this accusation by the scribes, we will not stand like them and attribute the works of Jesus to Satan. More importantly, may we understand that God is all-powerful, and nothing can stand against Him.
May you live a life that reflects you are on the winning side.
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