Mark 3:23

23 Jesus called them together and used this illustration: "How can Satan force out Satan?

Mark 3:23 Meaning and Commentary

Mark 3:23

And he called them unto him
The Jerusalem Scribes, to come nearer to him, and attend to what he had to say in defence of his character and miracles:

and said unto them in parables:
similitudes, and proverbial expressions, as the following seem to be,

how can Satan cast out Satan?
or one devil cast out another? how unreasonable is it to suppose it? can it ever be thought that such, whose interest it is to unite, would ever oppose and dispossess one another? if therefore, as if he should say, I am Beelzebub, or have him, and he is in me, and I am in confederacy with him; was this the case, can any think I should ever cast him out of others, as I do?

Mark 3:23 In-Context

21 When his family heard about it, they went to get him. They said, "He's out of his mind!"

22 The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said, "Beelzebul is in him," and "He forces demons out of people with the help of the ruler of demons."

23 Jesus called them together and used this illustration: "How can Satan force out Satan?

24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot last.

25 And if a household is divided against itself, that household will not last.