Jesus and Beelzebul^(A)

²⁰ Then Jesus went home. Again such a large crowd gathered that Jesus and his disciples had no time to eat. ²¹ When his family heard about it, they set out to take charge of him, because people were saying, “He's gone mad!”

^22 (B)Some teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem were saying, “He has Beelzebul in him! It is the chief of the demons who gives him the power to drive them out.”

²³ So Jesus called them to him and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a country divides itself into groups which fight each other, that country will fall apart. ²⁵ If a family divides itself into groups which fight each other, that family will fall apart. ²⁶ So if Satan's kingdom divides into groups, it cannot last, but will fall apart and come to an end.

²⁷ “No one can break into a strong man's house and take away his belongings unless he first ties up the strong man; then he can plunder his house.

²⁸ “I assure you that people can be forgiven all their sins and all the evil things they may say.^{[a] 29 (C)}But whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, because he has committed an eternal sin.” (³⁰ Jesus said this because some people were saying, “He has an evil spirit in him.”)

Jesus and Beelzebul^(A)

¹⁴ Jesus was driving out a demon that could not talk; and when the demon went out, the man began to talk. The crowds were amazed, ^15 (B)but some of the people said, “It is Beelzebul, the chief of the demons, who gives him the power to drive them out.”

^16 (C)Others wanted to trap Jesus, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him. ¹⁷ But Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he said to them, “Any country that divides itself into groups which fight each other will not last very long; a family divided against itself falls apart. ¹⁸ So if Satan's kingdom has groups fighting each other, how can it last? You say that I drive out demons because Beelzebul gives me the power to do so. ¹⁹ If this is how I drive them out, how do your followers drive them out? Your own followers prove that you are wrong! ²⁰ No, it is rather by means of God's power that I drive out demons, and this proves that the Kingdom of God has already come to you.

²¹ “When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe. ²² But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.

^23 (D)“Anyone who is not for me is really against me; anyone who does not help me gather is really scattering.