22 And the Scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
23 And he called them unto Mm, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan ?
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, ex- cept he will first bind the strong man ; and then he will spoil his house.
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme :
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation :
30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
We all know how painful it is to have our conduct misunderstood and misrepresented, when we are do- ing right. It is a trial which our Lord Jesus Christ had to endure continually, all through His earthly ministry. We have an instance in the passage before us. The " Scribes which came down from Jerusalem" saw the miracles which He worked. They could not deny their reality. What then did they do ? They accused our blessed Saviour of being in league and union with the devil. They said, " He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils."