Mark 3:20 …they could not even eat bread. 21 And when His relatives heard about it, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, He is beside Himself. 22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons He casts out the demons.
Because the Lord's relatives could not understand Him, they said that He was beside Himself. This saying opened the door for the scribes, the opposers, to defame the Lord. The scribes could have said, "You see, even his relatives say that he is beside himself. Do you know why he is beside himself? He is beside himself because he has a demon, and this demon is Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons." The Slave-Savior cast out demons, the evil workers for the dark kingdom of Satan; yet the opposers said that He did it by the ruler of the demons. Beelzebub means the lord of flies, the name of a god of the Ekronites (2 Kings 1:2). It was changed in contempt by the Jews to Baalzebel, which means lord of the dunghill, and was used for the ruler of the demons. The scribes reviled the Slave-Savior by saying that He cast out demons by the ruler of demons. This most blasphemous name expressed their strongest objection and rejection. No doubt, the name Beelzebub refers to the Devil. The Devil is lord of flies and lord of the dunghill. The scribes could not have chosen a worse term with which to defame the Lord Jesus. They said not only that He had a demon, but that He was under Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons. This blasphemy was so serious that the Lord later indicated that it was unforgivable, being a blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:28-30). (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 109-110. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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