Matthew 12:24 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 12:24 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.”

But when the Pharisees heard it, they said: it is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons. The Pharisaic response to the crowd's messianic wonder is the Beelzebul charge: Jesus casts out demons by the power of the prince of demons. The accusation is the Pharisees' only available alternative to acknowledging what the miracle suggests: since they cannot deny the exorcism, they must explain it by attributing Jesus' power to Satan. The this fellow communicates the contempt behind the charge.

Church Fathers on Matthew 12:24

The Lord had refuted the Pharisees above, when they brought false charges against the miracles of Christ, as if He had broken the sabbath in doing them. But inasmuch as with a yet greater wickedness they perversely attributed the miracles of Christ done by divine power to an unclean spirit, therefore the Evangelist places first the miracle from which they had taken occasion to blaspheme, saying, 'Then was brought to him one that had a daemon, blind and dumb.'
Gloss (Glossa Ordinaria) · medieval compilation · non occ.

The word 'Then' refers to that above, where having healed the man who had the withered hand, He went out of the synagogue. Or it may be taken of a more extended time; Then, namely, when these things were being done or said.
Remigius · 9th century

We may wonder at the wickedness of the daemon; he had obstructed both inlets by which he could believe, namely, hearing and sight. But Christ opened both, whence it follows, 'And he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw.'
Chrysostom · 4th century

Read all 11 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

COMMUNITY REFLECTIONS

Publish a reflection on this verse

No reflections on this verse yet. Be the first to write one!