The scribes did not deny that Jesus cast out devils. They attacked the source of His power, saying, "by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils" (Mark 3:22). Barnes says these scribes came "to watch his conduct" and charged Him "with having made a compact or agreement with the prince of the devils." Gill describes the charge as a claimed "confederacy and familiarity between them."

Jesus called the scribes to Him and answered with a question that shows how foolish the charge was. If Satan were driving out his own servants, he would be fighting against himself. Gill puts the point plainly: "how unreasonable is it to suppose it?"

Jesus answered His own question with two pictures. "If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand," and the same is true of a house (Mark 3:24-25). So if Satan rose up against himself, "he cannot stand, but hath an end" (Mark 3:26). Then Jesus gave the true explanation: "No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man" (Mark 3:27). He closed with a solemn warning about blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, given "Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit" (Mark 3:28-30). No reply from the scribes is recorded.

Scribes were experts who copied, taught, and interpreted the law of Moses. These had come "down from Jerusalem," and Barnes says they came to watch Jesus.

Beelzebub was a name used for the prince of the devils (Mark 3:22). Barnes explains that Beelzebub was originally "a god of the Ekronites," a name that literally means "the god of flies," and that the Jews applied a form of it to Satan "to express supreme contempt and aversion." Barnes adds that the Greek reading here may be Beelzebul.

Mark says Jesus spoke "in parables" (Greek parabolais). Thayer's lexicon defines a parable first as "a placing of one thing by the side of another," and so a comparison. Here the parables are short comparisons drawn from a kingdom, a house, and a strong man.

Jesus' question turns the scribes' charge upside down. Barnes says, "Jesus made their argument recoil on their own heads." Every person set free was not evidence of a deal with Satan but evidence that Satan's house was being plundered. Barnes explains the strong man picture this way: no one could carry off a strong man's goods unless he had first made him helpless, so the taking of the goods proves the man was bound (Mark 3:27). Matthew Henry says the doctrine of Christ "had a direct tendency to break the devil's power."

Mark sets this charge between two scenes about Jesus' family (Mark 3:21, 31-35). Some close to Him said, "He is beside himself," and the scribes said, "He hath Beelzebub." Both misjudged Him. Jesus' question invites a better answer: He is the One who binds the strong man and sets his captives free.