The power of Jesus to exorcize demons led to a very evil and sinister accusation being made against him by his opponents, the teachers of the Law. It was said that the power which he showed in exorcism was given to him by Beelzebul, the leader of all the spiritual powers of evil, the chief of demons (3 :22). It was also rumored that Jesus was mad and when his family heard this, they set out in great alarm to bring him home (3 :21). In a :23-27, the dreadful absurdity of the accusation against Jesus is made clear in two short parables. The meaning of 3 :27 is that it was Jesus who had defeated and bound Beelzebub.

In 3 :28-30 a terrible warning was given by Jesus about spiritual evil and blindness, with reference to what the teachers of the Law had said about him. A man's attitude may become so evil and perverted that he can no longer distinguish between good and evil. What is evil he calls good and what is good he calls evil. When a man obstinately and deliberately chooses the path of evil, he may reach a stage where he cannot repent and cannot respond to God's love and forgiveness. Those who saw only evil in what Jesus was doing were reaching that terrible state.