Mark 3:21-25
Mark 3:21 (KJB)
And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they
said, He is beside himself.
Then the word had spread not only to His friends but probably more to his family
concerning the turmoil which His ministry was producing. They had probably
thought that if He does not curtail the crowds, then the Romans would come and
arrest Him for causing a riot wherever He went. They may have also though that
He was not taking care of Himself in the physical realm such as lack of sleep or
food and that is why they stated “He is beside Himself.” That phrase could also
be taken to mean “insane, confused, astounded.” They had heard of these “riots”
and maybe they thought Jesus was causing them for the wrong reason. To lay hold
on Him meant they wanted to minister to Him the same way He was ministering
almost non-stop to the crowds. There is no intent of a violent action against
Jesus here but more of a “for His own good” mentality.
Mark 3:22 (KJB)
And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by
the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
Once again the Scribes heard it and their jealousy was aroused and now they
accused Jesus of casting out the devil, not by the power of God, but by
Beelzebub, which is another name for Satan. The name Beelzebub means “lord or
master of the flies” and is attributed to the chief deity of Ekron. (2 Ki
1:2 KJV) And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was
in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go,
inquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease.
These Scribes were in essence saying that Jesus was in league with the devil to
deceive the people and gain a following. They believed Jesus was under the
authority of Satan.
Mark 3:23 (KJB)
And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast
out Satan?
Once again Jesus uses His favorite method of teaching unbelievers and that is
with parables. It is not written as to whether the Scribes had reasoned within
themselves as they did previously or if they were verbal. The bottom line is
that Jesus now addresses their opposition with a simple question. How does Satan
cast out Satan? It is a question of logic. Whenever Jesus cast out a devil from
a person, the devil had to depart the person because Jesus, being the more
powerful one, had the authority and power to command the devil to leave. How
then can Satan cast out Satan, that is, how can Satan cast himself out by
himself since someone stronger is needed to do the expulsion? Equal power would
result in a stalemate.
Mark 3:24 (KJB)
And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
Jesus knew what lies the Pharisees were telling about Him, so He gives them a
lesson in maintaining the power of a kingdom. If a kingdom was all in agreement
and the people were obedient and served the goals and aims of the kingdom, then
it would become much stronger. History has proven that empires have crumbled not
because of being attacked from the outside but from the inside. Whenever there
is dissension and it turns into factions and those factions turn into street
actions, it will cause trouble for the government, then that will weaken the
nation and eventually it becomes so weak that it will be unable to defend itself
and then it would be ripe for takeover. We see this happening in so many
countries in the world today, including the United States.
Mark 3:25 (KJB)
And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
Jesus then brought it down from a kingdom and applied the principle to a family
in a house. If there is continuous fighting in a family and then factions form,
eventually that home will be destroyed. This is something that we see every day
in our society. Divorce would be a good example. Disagreements start out small
but if they are allowed to smolder, then they will only get bigger to the point
of everyone taking sides and eventually the family will split and that house
will fall.