Bible Study series: Mark 3:22-30. The teachers of the law from Jerusalem falsely accuse him of expelling demons by the prince of demons. The blasphemy of the Spirit is also looked at here.
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Scripture: Mark 3:22-30
22 Then teachers of the law from Jerusalem came down and were saying, “Beelzebub is his master,” and “He expels demons by the ruler of demons.” 23 When he summoned them, he began to speak to them in parables, “How can Satan expel Satan? 24 And if a kingdom is divided against itself, this kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a household is divided against itself, this household cannot stand. 26 If Satan rose up against himself and was divided, he would be unable to stand; instead, the end is his master.
27 “Rather, no one entering a strong man’s house is able to plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he is able to plunder his household.
28 “I tell you the truth: All sins and blasphemies will be forgiven for all of humanity, in whichever way they may blaspheme. 29 But he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness forever but is answerable to an eternal sin.” 30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” (Mark 3:22-30)
Comments
Most scholars consider this pericope an intercalation or a sandwich between the two family-conflict pericopes (vv. 20-21 and 31-35). Jesus got slammed by his family in the previous pericope, and now he will be falsely accused and misunderstood by the teachers of the law. Wow. I wonder whether I could withstand such opposition. He truly was the Anointed One.
22:
“teachers of the law”: They were also called scribes. You can learn more about them, here:
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
See v. 6 and the Pharisees on how the teachers of the law were also the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior
“coming down”: Jerusalem was on a hill, so the city was elevated. They were the elites coming from the holy capital. They were either sent by the leaders or came on their own, to criticize him. It was an evil intent and goal. Jesus is getting attacked in vv. 20-35.
“Beelzebub”: This is another name for Satan (v. 18). It probably comes from the Canaanite deity Baal-Zebub (2 Kings 1:2, 3, 6, 16), or it may refer to dwelling of Baal, the Hebrew word zebul, meaning “residence” or “palace.” So it means “lord of the high abode” or “prince Baal.” Matt. 9:34 calls him prince or ruler of demons. Jesus called him the prince of this world (John 14:30). Paul calls him the god of this word or age (2 Cor. 4:4).
“Beelzebub is his master”: it could be translated as “Beelzebub has him.” Note v. 26, which says, “The end is his master.” However, Jesus turns the tables on the teachers of the law.
The Greek really does read “has.” “Demonized” is not the only verb to express a demonic attack (see Matt. 11:18; Mark 3:22, 30; 7:25; 9:17; Luke 4:33; 7:33; 8:27; Acts 8:7; 16:16; 19:13). But I see no substantive difference between the two verbs and are used interchangeably in Luke 8:27, 36. What is more relevant is the soul of the person being attacked and how deep the attack goes because the person gives the demon access.
How Does New Testament Define Demonic Control?
“ruler of demons”: these are the words of his critics, so are the words reliable? Is Satan really the ruler of demons? Yes. He heads up the demonic kingdom that is invisible to our eyes, but which manifests itself in cases like the mute man.
See my posts about Satan in the area of systematic theology:
Bible Basics about Satan and Demons and Victory Over Them
Bible Basics about Deliverance
Magic, Witchcraft, Sorcery, and Fortunetelling
23:
“parables”:
These verses show that Jews debated the accusation:
19 There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” (John 10:19-20, ESV)
Now, let’s analyze things more theologically.
First, he speaks of a general principle. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. Nor can a household divided against itself can stand. Self-division is destructive, while unity and a common purpose is constructive.
Jesus speaks obvious truths that refute the absurd and false claims of the teachers of the law. Division in a household or kingdom or Satan divided against himself will cause each entity to fall. Clear enough, simple enough. Therefore the accusations thrown around by the religious leaders were obviously false.
24-26:
We learn from this passage that Satan has a kingdom that corresponds to countless numbers of worldly kingdoms run by humans (v. 17). So there are three kingdoms (1) God’s, (2) Satan’s, (3) and humanity’s (many of them). God wants to guide—as distinct from theocratically ruling over—the third kingdoms towards righteousness and justice and light, so he gave them moral law, which is figured out by moral reasoning and conscience. The best path for worldly kingdoms is for moral reasoning and conscience to then implement moral law by legislation, so they will have no more injustice, like slavery or joblessness, because the economy booms with liberty and life. The problem is that Satan wants to rule over the third kingdoms and absolutely control them. He does this by blinding leaders with all sorts of human vices, like greed and oppression and extermination. Any society that practices extermination is on the side of Satan. Any nation that practices slavery—or used to practice slavery—was listening to Satan within that singular policy (but not entirely wrongheaded about other issues, like liberty and freedom of the press and freedom of religion and so on). However, the third, human-ruled kingdoms have enough evil people in them that Satan does not need to work very hard to implement his evil oppression. All he has to do is nudge people.
The best news is that eventually, when God sees that the time is right, he will send his Son a second time, and he will sweep aside all worldly kingdoms and set up his lasting kingdom. But right now, we his followers have to fight for truth and righteousness and most of all for the salvation of people’s souls and hearts.
These same obvious truths about division in a kingdom apply to the household as well.
27:
Jesus shifts slightly to a new idea or application to the earlier one about division. The strong man is Satan, and the stronger man is Jesus (the stronger man is implied; see Luke 11:22). Jesus invades the domain of Satan and overpowers and conquers him. Now what does the conquering Lord do? He plunders or robs and distributes his plunder or spoils of war. What are Satan’s spoils? One commentator says things like salvation and the Holy Spirit, but this is impossible, since they are not Satan’s possessions. So what is the plunder? You and me. Now Jesus distributes us where he wills in the new kingdom of God. Yes, Satan is strong, so never underestimate his power and authority to make people’s lives miserable. However, never underestimate Jesus’s victory over him and ultimately over his entire house or kingdom. Demon expulsion is the key sign in Jesus’s ministry that Satan was losing his grip and power. Jesus’s kingdom is forcefully advancing (Matt. 11:12; Luke 16:16).
Binding Satan refers to the popular belief in Judaism of antediluvian (before the Flood) imprisonment of fallen angels; however, here it means the eschatological defeat of the forces of evil:
21 On that day the Lord will punish
the host of heaven, in heaven,
and the kings of the earth, on the earth.
22 They will be gathered together
as prisoners in a pit;
they will be shut up in a prison,
and after many days they will be punished. (Is. 24:21-22, ESV)
“That day” typically refers to the wrap of the entire age, the final day. The host of heaven may refer to elemental principles that have a life of their own, in a spiritual sense—evil invisible beings.
The NT clarifies them as satanic (Eph. 6:12).
12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph. 6:12, ESV)
Right now, before the last day, we have victory over them because of Christ’s work on the cross:
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. (Col. 2:13-15, ESV)
Verse 15 is the important one for us here. On the cross, he disarmed the invisible rulers and authorities. We now have victory over the strong man, by Jesus’s death, and in his name.
28-30:
“blasphemes”: iBDAG, a thick Greek lexicon, says it means, depending on the context: “to speak in a disrespectful way that demeans, denigrates, maligns, … in relation to humans slander, revile, defame … in relation to transcendent or associated entities slander, defame, speak irreverently / impiously / disrespectfully of or about.” The Shorter Lexicon adds the obvious: “blaspheme.”
A few people are anxious about this blasphemy verse in their own lives. I address this topic in a long, separate article. It’s too complicated to cover here.
What Is the Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit?
But pastorally, if someone is anxious about it, then he has not committed it. Those who have (and they are extremely rare) are too far gone to worry about such things.
Here is what Matthew says: “But whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven of him, neither in this age, nor in the one to coming” (Matt. 12:32). So the same Greek word in v. 29 here in Mark could be translated as “age-long unforgiveness” and “age-long sin.” The word here in a Jewish background does not necessarily mean “forever” or “eternal” in a Platonic philosophical sense.
For more information on why Jesus fought back verbally, see v. 6 and the honor and shame society. He did not just stand there and take it.
“has an unclean spirit”: It is the demon that makes the person unclean. Remember: pagans though being possessed was a good thing. Mark clarifies that a demon is not positive but unclean. For other references to the verb “have” a demon, see v. 22.
GrowApp for Mark 3:22-30
1. Have you ever been falsely accused? Has anyone challenged your own soul and character?
2.. What about the source of your ministry? How did you respond?
RELATED
10. Eyewitness Testimony in Mark’s Gospel
2. Church Fathers and Mark’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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