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E. Refuting the Allegation of the Pharisees
One day people brought a demon-possessed man to Jesus. The man was blind and mute. After Jesus healed him, the man could talk and see (Matthew 12:22,23). The people who witnessed this miracle were astonished and said: “Could this be the Son of David?” In other words, they wondered if Jesus could be their long expected Messiah.
However, the Pharisees, religious leaders among the Jews, blasphemed, alleging that He cast out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the demons. In fact they alleged that all the demon-possessed He healed, He healed through Satan (Matthew 9:34; 12:24-37; Luke 11:15). Somehow they thus implied that Jesus could order Satan to order Satan’s servants to abandon their victim – as if without Satan He could not do this.
Jesus dismissed this allegation as absurd. Why should Satan destroy his servants, his own kingdom? Moreover, the Gospel accounts clearly demonstrate that Jesus rejected any form of collusion with Satan to spread God’s Kingdom on earth – even though His rejection of collusion ultimately cost Him His life. At the same time Jesus, while recognising the power of evil in this world, clearly demonstrated God’s authority over all the forces of evil: “All the people were amazed and said to each other, ‘What is this teaching? With authority and power he gives orders to evil spirits and they come out!’ ” (Luke 4:36)
Let us look at these events a little more closely.