Mark 3:22
And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
The verse records a renewed charge after Jesus again healed a possessed man who was blind and dumb, that He is possessed by Beelzebub and drives out demons by the power of the prince of demons, meaning He acts through Satan in league with hell to deceive the people. The scribes come down from Jerusalem with the Pharisees and rulers made it because they could neither deny His extraordinary healings nor explain them as natural nor answer His teaching, but from prejudice and blindness under Satan's training explained His miracles away. The charge means calling the work of the Holy Spirit done through Christ the work of Satan and cutting off the fountain of blessing, and deliberate unbelief in so rejecting the evidence is sin against the Holy Spirit, the unpardonable sin. Speaking against Jesus Himself from failure to discern His divine character can still be forgiven when the soul repents and believes and the guilt is washed away in His blood, but wilfully rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit rejects the means by which God works upon the heart and cuts off the channel by which God can communicate, placing the person where repentance and faith cannot come to him so that when the Spirit is finally rejected there is no more that God can do for the soul.
Words and Historical Setting
The charge was renewed after Jesus a second time healed a possessed man who was blind and dumb, attributing His driving out of demons to the ruler of demons. It belongs to the account in Mark 3:20-35 told also in Matthew 12:22-50 about who are Christ's brethren, where the charge of casting out devils by the prince of devils is made.
The charge said He has Beelzebub and casts out demons by Satan's power, by the prince or chief of demons. It meant He acted through Beelzebub, was in league with hell, served demons and deceived the people. The Jews refused to receive Christ despite His miracles and attributed His power to cast out devils to the chief of devils.
The accusers were the scribes come down from Jerusalem, the Pharisees and priests and rulers. They could neither deny His extraordinary works of healing nor explain them as natural, so from prejudice they explained His miracles away. They could not answer His teaching while He redoubled His works of mercy and poured light on a sin-stricken world, and the people rejoiced in His wonderful works, so they threatened, hunted, and persecuted Him instead. Their charge came from blindness under Satan's training and discipline.
The accusation was made despite their having witnessed His mighty works, including His command that the dead rise. They had seen many evidences of His power, including the grave opening at His command and the dead restored to life and walking forth alive. They knew He was no impostor, yet they called Him a traitor and blasphemer falsely asserting He was the Son of God and King of Israel.
Before Herod the priests and rulers vehemently repeated the charge of working miracles by power from Beelzebub, the prince of devils. They made the charge after Herod denounced Jesus as an impostor and commanded Him to work a miracle. They were terrified when Herod commanded Him to work a miracle, because any exhibition of divine power would prove a death-blow to their plans and might cost them their lives. So they renewed the Beelzebub accusation to turn opinion against Him.
The charge brought reproach upon His family, who feared for Him and tried to persuade Him to stop His exhausting work. The priests and rulers tried to keep sufferers from coming to Jesus by claiming that He healed the sick through the enemy's power. Their accusation did not stop Him: He continued to heal and to seek the hearts of those who resisted Him.
Doctrine and Solemn Warning
The charge renewed after Jesus a second time healed a possessed man who was blind and dumb was that He drove out demons by the ruler of demons, by Satan's power. It meant calling the work of the Holy Spirit done through Christ the work of Satan, and so cutting off the fountain of blessing. Deliberate unbelief that could neither deny His extraordinary works of healing nor explain them as natural, yet rejected the evidence and called God's holy work satanic and Him in league with hell, constituted sin against the Holy Spirit and the unpardonable sin. Prejudice that explained His miracles away as done through Beelzebub, the prince of devils, illustrates the danger of refusing light and resisting the Holy Spirit.
Speaking against Jesus Himself from failure to discern His divine character can still be forgiven, because through the Holy Spirit the person can be brought to see error and repent. Whatever the sin, if the soul repents and believes the guilt is washed away in the blood of Christ. But wilfully rejecting the work of the Holy Spirit and declaring it to be from Satan rejects the means by which God works upon the heart, cutting off the channel by which God can communicate. It places the person where repentance and faith cannot come to him, so that when the Spirit is finally rejected there is no more that God can do for the soul.
By refusing to receive Christ despite His miracles and attributing His power to cast out devils to the chief of devils, the Jews failed God's purpose, were cut off from the True Vine, and could no longer bear fruit to God's glory. Yet they could be grafted into the parent stock again and bear fruit if they stood on the right platform in humility. The same kind of accusation was later turned against Paul, whose wonderful and miraculous works opponents falsely claimed were accomplished through Satan's power, denying God's part in them. It was turned also against Paul and Barnabas together, when their opponents denied God's part in the healing and claimed it was done through demons, accusing them of serving demons and deceiving the people as Christ had been accused.
The accusation came because His opposers could not answer His teaching while He redoubled His works of mercy and poured light on a sin-stricken world and the people rejoiced in His wonderful works, so from blindness under Satan's training and discipline they threatened, hunted, and persecuted Him instead. It reveals the terrible condition professed children of God reach when they oppose Christ. It warns that those who begin to criticize and judge others do not know to what lengths they will be led, showing how far criticism and judgment can lead those who claim to serve God.