The following excerpt is taken from What Every Christian Should Know About Satan. Order your copy in print, Kindle, or Audible versions here.

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Jesus engages in recurring conflict with the Pharisees throughout Matthew 12. After Jesus’ disciples are seen plucking and eating heads of grain on the Sabbath, the religious leaders scold Jesus for allowing his followers to “do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath” (12:2). Jesus delivers a countercharge, accusing the Pharisees of condemning the innocent. And then he boldly proclaims his deity: “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath” (12:8).

Next, Jesus enters the synagogue, where he meets a man with a shriveled hand. The Pharisees test Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (12:10). Jesus replies, “Who among you, if he had a sheep that fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t take hold of it and lift it out? A person is worth far more than a sheep; so it is lawful to do what is good on the Sabbath” (12:11-12). Then, Jesus heals the man’s shriveled hand. This enrages the Pharisees, who depart the synagogue and plot to kill Jesus (12:13-14).

After a short respite, in which Jesus continues his healing ministry, the Pharisees deliver their strongest attack on the Savior:

Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and unable to speak was brought to him. He healed him, so that the man could both speak and see. All the crowds were astounded and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

When the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 

Knowing their thoughts, he told them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges. If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:22-28).

Much is happening in this scene. First, notice that demonization may manifest itself in physical disabilities. This is not always the case, nor are all physical disabilities the result of demon possession. But it’s clear in this instance that a demon successfully prevents his human victim from speaking and seeing. In response, Jesus heals the man. Matthew does not say an exorcism takes place, but no doubt he implies it when he records that the man is now able to both speak and see. Further, the Pharisees confirm that Jesus has driven out a demon.

Next, Jesus’ miracle astonishes the crowds, who wonder aloud, “Could this be the Son of David?” Jesus is so unlike their messianic expectations. He does not present himself as a conquering king or a forceful military commander. In fact, just a few verses earlier, he exhorts the people not to make him known (12:16-21). And yet, he speaks and acts with divine authority. Thus, people are compelled to entertain the possibility that this man from Nazareth is the promised Messiah. 

The Pharisees, however, are fully convinced Jesus is a pretender – a false prophet, a blasphemous self-promoter, a sorcerer, or perhaps even someone in league with Satan. They state their case clearly: “This man drives out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons” (12:24). The religious leaders are certain that the only way Jesus can cast out demons is with a little help from the prince of demons. Put another way, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of being Satan’s agent, claiming that Jesus performs extraordinary acts of exorcism only with Satan’s permission and help.

Of course, this is a baseless charge, which Jesus masterfully exposes. He knows the Pharisees’ thoughts – that their accusation is rooted, not in ignorance, but in unbelief, or even envy – so he counters them on two fronts. First, he states the obvious: “Every kingdom divided against itself is headed for destruction, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” (12:25-26). 

The Pharisees know, from history and personal observation, that kingdoms often crumble from within. Even smaller realms, such as cities and households, cannot withstand squabbling and factionalism. Perhaps some Pharisees are prompted to think about current battles their Jewish sect is having with the Sadducees, Herodians, and Zealots with respect to practicing their faith while under Roman occupation. 

If they live long enough, they will see how residents of Jerusalem in AD 70 worsen the Roman siege of their fortified city as they engage in vicious infighting. And it’s hard to dispute the truth that households are destroyed and reputations ruined when family members rise up against one another. Common wisdom shows that divided organizations come unraveled. The Pharisees are naïve if they think Satan is unaware of this truth.

Further, if Satan empowers Jesus to cast out demons, he’s just handing his arch-enemy the combination to his vault. The evil one is enabling Jesus to dismantle an army of evil spirits and free human captives under Satan’s power. Why would the ruler of demons wish for his own demise? Why would he pit one evil spirit against another? It is a patently absurd position. Jesus knows it. And, of course, the Pharisees know it, too. 

But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He offers a second line of attack: “And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? For this reason they will be your judges” (12:27). The Pharisees have spoken in haste. They have not stopped to reflect that some of their own people perform exorcisms – a fact Josephus affirms and claims to have witnessed. We even read about itinerant Jewish exorcists in the Book of Acts, including seven sons of Sceva, who carry on a dubious deliverance ministry (Acts 19:13-16).

In any case, the Pharisees would emphatically deny that Jewish exorcists are in league with the evil one. And yet, if supernatural authority is required to cast out demons, where are the Jewish exorcists getting their help? Obviously not from Satan.

Jesus leverages this well-known truth to place the Jewish exorcists over the Pharisees in judgment. These exorcists no doubt would testify to the fact that casting out demons is not a work of Satan. And they would rightly condemn the Pharisees for ascribing to Satan a work the exorcists know only comes from God. 

Now, Jesus makes a final point: “If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (12:28). It’s obvious that Satan cannot – or at least, would not – cast out his own minions, thus sabotaging his kingdom. And the Pharisees are not denying that a supernatural activity has taken place. The only question is the source of Jesus’ power over demons. So, Jesus asks the Pharisees to consider that he drives out demons by the Holy Spirit. And with this divine activity, he demonstrates that the kingdom of God has arrived – a kingdom at odds with Satan’s domain. 

A cautionary tale

Perhaps that’s why Jesus immediately follows this statement with a parable: “How can someone enter a strong man’s house and steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house” (12:29). It’s clear in this context that Satan is the strong man who possesses great treasure and power. But Jesus has come, not to serve the evil one, but to bind him and to plunder his goods. 

The kingdom of heaven – that is, the rule of God – has come to earth, personified in King Jesus. He launches a frontal assault on the evil one’s realm, overpowers Satan through kingdom miracles like healing and exorcisms, and frees those in the grip of the evil one. The miracles Jesus performs – miracles of creation, such as turning water into aged wine, and miracles of restoration, such as casting out demons and healing the sick – prove his deity and demonstrate the work of the Holy Spirit in him. 

The Pharisees should be in awe of Jesus, as the crowds are. Yet, they have so hardened their hearts that they have passed the point of no return. Later, Jesus pronounces woes against the Pharisees and scribes, reminding them they are filling up the measure of their fathers’ sins (Matt. 23:31-32). Jesus seems to be saying there is a limit to the mischief God graciously permits – a line in the sand, if you will. When a person, family, city, or nation crosses that line, God’s mercy gives way to divine judgment. 

We see it in the days of Noah, at Sodom, and in the defeat of both the northern and southern kingdoms of Israel. No doubt, the Pharisees who plot Jesus’ death also have crossed that line. For this reason, they are hastening the day of judgment that falls on Israel in AD 70, when the Romans besiege Jerusalem, destroy the temple, kill more than one million Jews, and scatter the rest. It is a particularly pointed accusation that the Pharisees are guilty of an unpardonable sin – ascribing to Satan what only God can do.

Jesus then draws another line, and every person must find himself or herself on one side or the other. “Anyone who is not with me is against me,” he says, “and anyone who does not gather with me scatters” (12:30). The Son of David indeed has come as a conquering king, but his enemy is not the Romans. Rather, Jesus has set his sights on a much more imposing foe. He has come to invade Satan’s kingdom, conquer Beelzebul by his own blood, storm the gates of hades, and deliver those held prisoner in the evil one’s lair. 

Later, when Jesus asks his disciples who they say he is, Peter asserts, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). Jesus confirms Peter’s confession and then declares, “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it” (Matt. 16:18). 

By “this rock,” Jesus may be referring to Mount Hermon, the seat of ancient pagan practices and, in the Savior’s day, considered the very gates of hades. In essence, Jesus declares war on the evil one and then almost immediately sets his sights on Jerusalem, where he endures the cross, only to rise triumphantly three days later. This is why Jesus came into the world, and he bids us join him – or oppose him. There is no neutral ground – no Switzerland, if you will – in the global war for human souls. 

Where there can be no neutrality, our choices present serious consequences. Jesus offers forgiveness for “every sin and blasphemy,” but not for “blasphemy against the Spirit” (12:31). It’s not that other sins are petty and easily forgiven. All sins grieve the heart of God, and each sin demands the death penalty – a payment only an eternal being who has taken on sinless human flesh can pay. 

When we agree with God that we have sinned, and when we repent and entrust our lives to Christ, we pass immediately and irrevocably from spiritual death to everlasting life (John 5:24). But the Pharisees’ sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit – ascribing the Spirit’s work to the prince of demons – fills up their measure of sin. The sin is unpardonable, not because God cannot forgive it, or because he would not forgive it if they truly repented. It is unpardonable because their blasphemy against the Spirit is damning evidence of hearts hardened beyond all remedy. They do not come to Christ because they will not come to Christ. 

Put another way, in the context of this passage, sin against the Son of Man is rejection of the gospel, a violation that may be set right through repentance. However, sin against the Holy Spirit is full and final rejection of the gospel in that it denies the evident work of the three persons of the Trinity. It is conscious, willful, determined, and irreversible hardness of heart, for which there is no cure, only judgment.

The unpardonable sin, as Jesus depicts it here in Matthew’s Gospel, cannot be committed today. It was a particular sin the Pharisees wrought against the triune God. They had rejected the testimony the Father had sent through the prophets. They sought to kill the eternal Son of God, who came in fulfillment of messianic prophecies. And they blasphemed the Holy Spirit by equating his divine power with demonic forces. Once the three persons of the Godhead are cast off, where else is one to go for salvation? 

The Pharisees witness first-hand the Word who became flesh (John 1:14) and reject him. They deny the divine power of his miracles. They cling to their corrupt legalism rather than embrace the Son of God, who came offering freedom. And they take their stand on the wrong side of the line, thinking they are doing the Lord’s work when they cry out for the death of the Lamb of God.

At the same time, there is a sense in which a person in our day may commit an unpardonable sin. Though we do not see Jesus in the flesh – teaching, healing, and casting out demons – we have eyewitness testimony of his finished work on the cross. Further, all people have sufficient revelation of God in conscience and creation so that, one day, they stand before God without excuse (Rom. 1:20). To consciously, willfully, repeatedly reject the Son of God is to stand across the line from Jesus and refuse his gracious invitation to cross over. As one commentator puts it:

When a person takes up a position like that of the Pharisees, when, not by way of misunderstanding but through hostility to what is good, that person calls good evil and, on the other hand makes evil his good, then that person has put himself in a state that prevents forgiveness.

The ruler of demons

We should take note of the Pharisees’ description of Beelzebul as “the ruler of the demons” (12:24). There is little doubt Satan commands a vast army of evil spirits. Jesus tells us hell has been prepared for “the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41), while other passages indicate that evil spirits operate in a hierarchy that is well-constructed and strategically led. 

The word “ruler” is archon in Greek and means “commander,” “chief,” “prince,” or “magistrate.” In the New Testament, archon depicts several different types of rulers: rulers over nations (Matt. 20:25; Acts 4:26); religious leaders (Matt. 9:18, 23; 23:13; Acts 3:17); and city authorities (Acts 16:19).

But archon also refers to leaders in the demonic realm. In one of the passages we’re currently studying (Matt. 12:22-28), Beelzebul is called the archon (prince, ruler) of demons (cf. Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15). Elsewhere, Satan is called archon of this world. Consider:

John 12:31. After Jesus predicts his crucifixion and the Father speaks from heaven, the Son of Man declares:

“Now is the judgment of this world. Now the ruler [Gr. archon] of this world will be cast out. As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all people to myself.” He said this to indicate what kind of death he was about to die (12:31-33, emphasis added).

John 14:30. Throughout John 14, Jesus promises to send “another Counselor” like himself – the Holy Spirit, who will be with, and in, his disciples (14:16-17). He then describes the marvelous manner in which the Father and Son will make their home with those who love Jesus (14:18-21, 23). And he assures the disciples that the Father will send the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ name to teach them all things and remind them of everything Jesus has told them (14:26). 

Finally, Jesus promises his followers peace and urges them to not let their hearts be troubled (14:27). He goes on to say:

You have heard me tell you, “I am going away and I am coming to you.” If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens so that when it does happen you may believe. I will not talk with you much longer, because the ruler [Gr. archon] of the world is coming. He has no power over me. On the contrary, so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do as the Father commanded me (14:28-31, emphasis added).

John 16:11. Jesus tells his disciples to brace for future persecution, while assuring them of assistance from the coming Holy Spirit who, through their faithful proclamations, convicts the unbelieving world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, “because the ruler [Gr. archon] of this world has been judged” (emphasis added).

Ephesians 2:2. Paul reminds his readers that, prior to conversion, they “walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler [Gr. archon] of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient” (emphasis added). Paul also writes about the evil one’s “domain of darkness” where he and evil spirits are at work (Col. 1:13). Satan not only commands a worldly domain; he rules a demonic host that resides in the spiritual realm. We more fully explore Satan as the ruler of this world in Chapter 12.

Even though human, demonic, and Satanic authorities threaten the gospel, we should take heart. Jesus reigns as the archon of all the kings of the earth. As John declares to the seven churches in Asia Minor, Jesus Christ is “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler [Gr. archon] of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5, emphasis added).

Jesus’ encounters with the Pharisees in Matthew 12 show a common understanding of Beelzebul, or Satan, as ruler over a vast spiritual realm. He has a kingdom, and he engages a phalanx of evil spirits to enslave people in sin and sickness. Unlike Jewish exorcists of the first century, who go through elaborate ceremonies in their sometimes-successful efforts to expel demons from people, Jesus commands demons with the same verbal authority he exercised in the creation of the universe. 

Without exception, evil spirits know Jesus, revile him, and fear him. When Jesus casts them out, whether into a herd of pigs or off to desert places, they obey – and they understand that they, along with their prince, are destined for the lake of fire and sulfur (Matt. 25:41; Rev. 20:10).

Next: “He’s out of his mind” (Mark 3:20-30)