But some of them said: He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils.
τινες δε εξ αυτων ειπον εν βεελζεβουλ αρχοντι των δαιμονιων εκβαλλει τα δαιμονια
10 Church Fathers comment on this verse · 11 commentaries
The Pharisees malign the miracle and condemn the Lord as a fraud. They assert, "He associates with Beelzebub, and by his influence, he drives out evil spirits." The Lord responded to them, "How can it be that one demon drives out another demon?"
However, certain individuals, as the account reveals, including the scribes and Pharisees, driven by pride and jealousy, viewed this miracle as an opportunity to highlight their own weaknesses. Instead of offering Him praise, they engaged in the exact opposite behavior. Denying the divine works He accomplished, they instead ascribed His miraculous power to the devil, claiming that it was Beelzebub from whom Christ derived His ability. 'For through him,' they argued, 'He casts out demons.'
The scribes and Pharisees, described as individuals whose hearts were tainted by pride and jealousy, became consumed with their afflictions upon witnessing the miracle. Instead of praising Him, they completely shifted in the opposite direction. They rejected belief in His divine works, instead attributing Christ's mighty acts to the devil and Beelzebub. They claimed, “He casts out demons by the power of Beelzebub” (Luke 11:15). Others, similarly afflicted by malignance, failed to comprehend and resorted to irreverent and reckless speech. Fueled by envy, they sought a heavenly sign from Him (Luke 11:16). They tempted Him with assertions like, “Even though You have expelled a merciless and vile demon from a man, that alone does not constitute a remarkable act deserving of admiration. Achieving perfection does not verify divine ability.” Such were their misguided beliefs. Their desire to request signs from heaven only illustrated their acceptance of these thoughts about Him.
Matthew recounts that the people were astonished and remarked, “Is this not the Son of David?” When the Pharisees overheard this, they claimed that He cast out demons by the authority of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons. However, Jesus, aware of their internal dialogue, responded, “Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation,” and He added, “By your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned.” Similarly, Mark records the scribes asserting that Jesus drove out demons through Beelzebub, though this arose not in the context of healing the mute and blind demoniac but rather following separate incidents unique to his narrative.
It is possible that he, after recalling this exchange, associated it with another event, or perhaps he initially left it out and later chose to refer back to the sequence of occurrences. Luke presents the same message as Matthew, using almost identical phrasing.
How astonishing is the fervor of blasphemous folly expressed in their speech! The Son of God assumed human form to vanquish unclean spirits and reclaim the treasures from the ruler of this world; He empowered humanity to triumph over the forces of evil (cf. Eph. 6:12). He entrusted mankind with the ability to conquer these dark spirits, sharing with them the spoils of His victory, a characteristic of the Conqueror. Yet, there are still those who seek the assistance and protection of the devil’s influence!
Additionally, concerning this matter, the Pharisees made the following statement, as documented by Matthew.
What was the reaction of the Pharisees? Upon hearing the pronouncement regarding Jesus, the Pharisees in Jerusalem deemed it necessary to act swiftly. They propagated the malicious notion that Jesus healed the man possessed by demons not through divine authority but in collusion with Beelzebub, aiming to mislead the populace. Their intent was to gather followers to their side, thereby distancing them from God and entrapping them in the grasp of a malevolent spirit.
While on their journey, a man who was both blind and mute, possessed by a demon, was brought before Jesus. Jesus restored his sight and speech, causing the gathering crowd to marvel at this remarkable miracle. They were eager to identify this miracle worker. In response to the Pharisees’ claim that Jesus expelled demons by the authority of Beelzebub, one would have expected the community leaders, including the scribes and Pharisees, to provide a straightforward rebuttal. However, upon realizing that the people were inclined to acknowledge Jesus as the awaited Messiah, they resorted to their malicious accusations.
Unable to refute the evident deliverance of the demon-possessed man, they misleadingly attributed Jesus' miraculous deeds to Satan's influence, attempting to sow mistrust and animosity among the people as if He were complicit with unclean forces. According to Matthew, it was the Pharisees who leveled this accusation, while Mark recounts that scribes from Jerusalem disseminated the same slander. The Pharisees and scribes, a coalition opposed to Jesus, coordinated their efforts against Him. They rejected Him as the Messiah and approached Him to test His divine authority, asking for a demonstration of His power if indeed He cast out demons not by the might of Beelzebub but through divine grace.
The conflict between Christ and the Pharisaic scribes penetrated to the very heart of the matter, intensifying over time. Christ, through acts of compassion and the powerful proclamation of the new gospel of spiritual liberty, dismantled the misguided structures of Pharisaic legalism and ritualism. This led to an escalating animosity from the Pharisees toward this new Teacher. They perceived His actions and teachings as personal affronts, particularly because these stood in stark opposition to their beliefs and practices. While proclaiming the arrival of the Messiah’s kingdom, He associated with “tax collectors and sinners,” figures whom the rabbis avoided as if they were ritually unclean. He came to fulfill the law, yet He appeared to violate the most sacred Sabbath observances.
Moreover, as a resident of the despised town of Nazareth, and lacking formal education in rabbinical circles, He had the audacity in His parables to cast the esteemed rabbis in an unfavorable light, notably when compared to sinners and tax collectors as illustrated in the parables of the Prodigal Son and the Publican and the Pharisee.
In the first parable, the Pharisee is depicted as the elder son, dutifully obedient but bereft of compassion, begrudging the feast his father prepared for the returning prodigal. His refusal to rejoice over his lost brother’s return drew censure from the merciful father for the absence of joy in his hardened heart (Luke 15:25-32). In the second, the Pharisee, cloaked in the fragrance of false piety and self-righteousness, stands next to the penitent tax collector who humbly pleads for forgiveness (Luke 18:9-14). Ironically, it is the tax collector who emerges as the one justified. This portrayal only fueled the Pharisees’ fury and deepened their opposition to Christ. As His teachings and miracles sparked increasing anger among the rabbis, they simultaneously became ever more significant and impactful. In addition to His typical deeds, He performed extraordinary and incomprehensible miracles, such as the casting out of demons, confronting the dark forces of hell.
To the Pharisees, He was an enigma. They found His teachings to be nonsensical, yet His miraculous works testified powerfully to the truth of His message. He spoke in ways they deemed blasphemous, yet His actions were distinctly messianic. Even in their state of legal blindness, the Pharisees understood the necessity of a common foundation for word and deed: both must either be true or false. This dilemma only deepened their distress. Faced with the choice of either repressing their animosity towards the Galilean Teacher or formulating a worldview that justified their hostility, they chose the latter. They opted to view both His words and His deeds as malevolent. They reasoned that He performed His miracles in collusion with Satan, asserting that if He cast out demons, it was done by the power of Beelzebub (Matthew 12:27). Thus, they concluded that He embodied deceit in both speech and action, and that His exorcisms were merely illusions serving the agenda of evil.
The absurdity of such reasoning was glaringly apparent, and Christ effectively dismantled this accusation with their own rabbinical logic. He stated, “If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself: how shall his kingdom stand? And if I cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, by whose power do your sons cast out demons? Therefore they shall be your judges” (Matthew 12:26-27). In this moment, the antagonism from the rabbis reached its apex against Christ. Given the untenable basis of their claim and the ease with which Christ refuted it, the possible outcome was only an intensification of their bitter hostility and an unwavering denial of the illuminating truth of God.
Certain individuals, specifically the Pharisees, as clarified in the writings of the Hebrews. In the Gospel of Matthew, it is recorded that they made a statement, for which further explanation can be found in the note associated with Matthew 12:24.
Upon the Lord's return to Capernaum, the miraculous healing of the man possessed by demons served as a pretext for the Pharisees and scribes to engage in malicious blasphemy against Him, which they sought to disseminate among the populace. This afflicted man was both blind and mute, with the malevolent spirit obstructing his pathways to faith—sight, hearing, and speech (Blessed Theophylact). However, the compassionate Lord restored the man’s health by expelling the unclean spirit, enabling him to see, hear, and speak once more.
In wonder, the simple and open-hearted witnesses of this miracle asked one another, “Is this the Christ, the Son of David?” As Jesus and His disciples entered a house to dine, they found themselves encircled by such a multitude that there was no opportunity to consider food. Among the Pharisees and scribes present, some had traveled from Jerusalem, and together they hatched a new malicious conspiracy against Jesus. First, the envious spread the rumor that He was deranged, prompting His neighbors to come and take Him away upon hearing this. Unable to refute the miraculous event that had occurred openly, they then accused Him of casting out demons by Beelzebub, the prince of demons.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 14 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS