22Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"
24Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."
25But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges. 28But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29Or how can one enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house. 30He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.
Jesus never tells people who He really is, but people are starting to speculate. Is He the Son of David, their promised Messiah that they have all been waiting for? The Pharisees don't want Him to be their promised Messiah as Jesus has spoken out against them many times. So they try to discredit Jesus, saying His work must be the work of Satan, claiming He rules over the demons.
But Jesus explains that if He were doing the work of Satan, and by Satan's power being able to cast out demons, Satan would be fighting against his own kingdom. Satan's kingdom would not be able to stand, as any kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation.
Interestingly, Jesus turns the same question against them. By whose power do the Pharisees cast out demons? If Jesus does it by the power of Beelzebub, they must be doing likewise. And what does this imply? Who is their judge? Who determines if they are allowed in the kingdom or not? Their judge would be Satan, the one who they get their power from, and the kingdom they would belong to is the kingdom of Satan.
But if Jesus casts out demons by the Spirit of God, God would be helping to build His kingdom, to clean it out, to give it a solid foundation, by casting out demons. Surely the kingdom of God is present and demons will be cast out of it. God would be claiming this kingdom as His own. He would be the judge of who would belong to His kingdom.
No, it does not make sense that a ruler of a kingdom would cast out its own members or the kingdom would no longer exist. Rather, those of a stronger kingdom may bind the ruler of the weaker kingdom and have power over them. Jesus' ability to cast out demons is because He is of the stronger kingdom, the kingdom of God. And by the power of God He is binding Satan and casting out the demons.
But Jesus takes it a step further. A kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, a city or house divided against itself will not stand. Jesus is bringing the kingdom of God to everyone. But the kingdom of God will not be a house divided. To be part of that kingdom, you must be with Jesus, must gather with Jesus. The kingdom of God is upon them. God will be their judge. They will either be with Jesus or against Jesus. Those with Jesus will become part of the kingdom. Those not with Jesus will be scattered abroad. The Pharisees are trying to bring about dissension. But the kingdom of God will stand strong. They will not be able to divide the kingdom of God. Rather they will be scattered, left outside the kingdom of God.