A House Divided

Back at home, the crowd keeps Jesus and his disciples from eating. His family hears of it and goes out to take custody of him, saying he is out of his mind.

T²⁰hen Jesus went home, and once again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples could not even eat. ²¹When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.”

The scribes accuse Jesus of working by Beelzebul, but he answers that Satan cannot cast out Satan. He uses images of a divided kingdom and a strong man tied up before his house can be plundered.

²²And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul, ” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.” ²³So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ²⁵If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ²⁶And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.