By whom does Jesus cast out devils?
By Elizabeth Prata
It’s hard to describe the level of contempt the Scribes felt for Jesus. They were blasphemous, to their eventual doom. But until that day, the Scribes were a gang like no other gang, and they poured out their invective on their own Messiah!
The Scribes were THE authority of the day when it came to scriptures. They were learned and revered and if they weren’t revered, they expected to be. Lots of ego investment in their job.
Being a scribe came with a high esteem, the people regarded them highly because of their literacy, their education, and their influence in the community
The scribes taught the Law, and did so since Ezra the Scribe (who was also a priest) through to the time of Jesus and beyond to today. The scribe’s job was to copy and recopy the scrolls, preserve them, and interpret them. But that was not all. They were the interpreters of the Law.
We always think of the Pharisees’ collusion against Jesus then second, the Sadducees for their hatred and collusion to get rid of Jesus. But probably the Scribes exceeded or at least equaled both of those groups in their hatred of Jesus.
They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath Jesus entered the synagogue and began to teach. 22And they were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. (Mark 1:21-22)
Here is a transcript from a sermon of a pastor I know describing how seriously the scribes hated Jesus. It’s based on Mark 1:21-22 verses above. Here is a transcript from a sermon describing how seriously the scribes hated Jesus. Once you see it all listed you can almost feel their hostility through the screen.
Begin sermon excerpt-
“The people contrasted Jesus’s teaching with that of the scribes. Now, when you hear the word scribe, you probably think of someone who copies manuscripts or writes documents. And that’s one way to use the word. And that was certainly true in the day of Jesus.“
“But in the Jewish religious system of those days, the scribes were considered experts in the Mosaic law and the traditions handed down by the rabbis. That was their chief role. They were part of the elite religious authority and were looked on as authoritative teachers.”
But Mark’s gospel exposes them for what they really were, corrupt teachers who denied Jesus’s power and authority. They’re never cast in a positive light throughout this book.
“In the pages ahead, Mark shows, for example,“
- They accused Jesus of blasphemy. Chapter 2, verse 6.
- They condemned him for eating with sinners and tax collectors. Chapter 2, verse 16.
- They spread the rumor that he was possessed by the prince of demons and derived his power from Satan. Chapter 3, verse 22.
- They demanded to know why he didn’t walk according to the tradition of the elders. Chapter 7, verse 5.
- They rejected him. Chapter 8, verse 31.
- And were responsible for plotting his death. Chapter 10, verse 33.
- They feared him and wanted to find a way to destroy him. Chapter 11, verse 18.
- They demanded to know by what authority he taught and performed signs. Chapter 11, verse 28.
- They tried to trick him and entrap him. Chapter 12, verse 28.
- They came with Judas to arrest him. Chapter 14, verse 43.
- They tried him unfairly. Chapter 14, verse 53.
- And sentenced him to death. Chapter 15, verse 1.
- They even mocked him on the cross. Chapter 15, verse 31.
–end transcript of sermon
Now, that is not to say that the Pharisees also didn’t blaspheme and point their invective toward Christ, also.
But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.” (Matthew 12:24).
They could not deny a miracle had occurred, but they decided to cast aspersions on Jesus rather than glorify Him for casting out demons!
Barnes’ Notes on that verse says,
“Here was a manifest miracle, an exertion of power unquestionably superior to what people could put forth. The common people were fast drawing the proper inference from it, and coming into the belief that this was the Messiah. The authority and power of the Pharisees were declining. Unless, therefore, some way should be devised of accounting for these facts, their influence would be at an end.” Source Barnes’ Notes
Uh-oh! Can’t let that happen!
“Whatever way of accounting for them was adopted, it was necessary that they should acknowledge that there was “superhuman power.” The people were fully persuaded of this, and no man could deny it. They therefore ascribed it to the prince of the devils – to Beelzebub. In this they had two objectives:” (Barnes)
–To concede to the people that here was a “miracle,” or a work above mere human power.
–To throw all possible contempt on Jesus. Beelzebub, or Beelzebul, as it is in the Greek, and correctly rendered in the margin, was an opprobrious name given to the leader of the devils as an expression of supreme contempt. (Barnes)
Unable to deny that a miracle occurred, there were only two options, its power came from heaven. or the power came from hell. They chose hell. Gill’s Exposition says of the Matthew 12 verse,
but to deprive him of the glory of the miracle, and even reproach him for it, and to bring him into contempt with the people they not only speak of him in a scornful manner, “this” sorry man, “this” vile fellow; but ascribe the miracle he wrought to familiarity with the devil, to diabolical influence and skill in magic art: they pretended he was in confederacy with Satan source Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
This shows that the Pharisees and Scribes knew that satan and his demons had supernatural (magical) power. That they could do miracles. In fact, let us remember the wizards at Pharaoh’s throne who performed miracles along with Moses…until the power of God through Moses outpaced the wizards and they could not keep up, as we see in these verses (Exodus 7:11, Exodus 8:18).
Imagine being so invested in your ego, your position, your title, that you’d rather deny the glory of Jesus standing in front of you and point to hell instead.
But the power of sin is so great. We love ourselves. We love ourselves almost more than anything. It’s why Jesus said “love your neighbor as yourself” – that is a most powerful love but we are supposed to turn it outward instead of inward (like the Scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees did).
The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Enjoy our God from heaven and praise Him that He saved us from declaring He operated from hell.
Further Reading
