The Beelzebul Controversy
THE BEELZEBUL CONTROVERSY
MATTHEW 12:22-37
Where did Jesus get his exorcising power? Notice Jesus’ very strong warning against speaking ill of the Holy Spirit.
The authorities had decided that Jesus’ attitude towards the Law (especially the Sabbath commandment) excluded all possibility of his acting by the commission of God. Yet he undoubtedly performed works of mercy and power, like the exorcizing of the demon from the blind and dumb man of 12:22 (cf. Luke 11:14). The common people might find in this further evidence of his divine authority—“Son of David” (12:23) means “Messiah” (cf. John 7:31,42)—but the Pharisees felt compelled to seek the source of his power elsewhere. Their charge that he expelled demons by the power of their prince, Beelzebul (anticipated in 9:34), was refuted by Jesus as self-contradictory (12:25f.). Beelzebul was an ancient Canaanite deity (“lord of the high place” or “master of the house”; cf. 10:25), long since demoted to this inferior status.
“Your sons” (12:27) means “your pupils” (cf. the “sons of the prophets” in 2 Kings 2:3; 6:1, etc). The Pharisees and their pupils exorcized demons; why should not they derive this power from the same source as Jesus? The truth was far otherwise: it was by the power and “Spirit of God” (12:28; Luke 11:20 has “finger of God”) that Jesus expelled demons, and this meant two things. It meant that:
Other sins might be forgiven; even the opponents of the Son of Man could be brought to a better frame of mind; but if people have made up their minds not to accept the witness of the Spirit, what further witness will convince them?
12:33-37 comprise a number of sayings, some of them proverbial, which drive home the point of 12:25-32.
Consider The best proof that a man has not sinned against the Holy Spirit is the fear that he has.