(17-23) But he, knowing their thoughts.--St. Luke seems here to bring together into one narrative two incidents which in St. Matt. (Matthew 9:32; Matthew 12:22) appear as separated. The points of resemblance, the dumbness in both cases, both followed by the whisper that Jesus cast out devils by Beelzebub, may have easily led one who collected the facts some years after they occurred to regard the two as identical. On the general tenor of the passage, see Notes on Matthew 12:24-30.

11:14-26 Christ's thus casting out the devils, was really the destroying of their power. The heart of every unconverted sinner is the devil's palace, where he dwells, and where he rules. There is a kind of peace in the heart of an unconverted soul, while the devil, as a strong man armed, keeps it. The sinner is secure, has no doubt concerning the goodness of his state, nor any dread of the judgment to come. But observe the wonderful change made in conversion. The conversion of a soul to God, is Christ's victory over the devil and his power in that soul, restoring the soul to its liberty, and recovering his own interest in it and power over it. All the endowments of mind of body are now employed for Christ. Here is the condition of a hypocrite. The house is swept from common sins, by a forced confession, as Pharaoh's; by a feigned contrition, as Ahab's; or by a partial reformation, as Herod's. The house is swept, but it is not washed; the heart is not made holy. Sweeping takes off only the loose dirt, while the sin that besets the sinner, the beloved sin, is untouched. The house is garnished with common gifts and graces. It is not furnished with any true grace; it is all paint and varnish, not real nor lasting. It was never given up to Christ, nor dwelt in by the Spirit. Let us take heed of resting in that which a man may have, and yet come short of heaven. The wicked spirits enter in without any difficulty; they are welcomed, and they dwell there; there they work, there they rule. From such an awful state let all earnestly pray to be delivered.But he knowing their thoughts,.... Being God omniscient,

said unto them; the following parables, as they are called in Mark 3:23 or proverbial expressions, very pertinent to the purpose, and sufficient to set aside the base calumnies of the Pharisees:

every kingdom divided against itself, is brought to desolation; in process of time, division will end in destruction; and as it does in the kingdoms of the world, of which there have been fatal instances, so it would in the kingdom of Satan, was there in it a division, which the calumny of the Pharisees supposes:

and an house divided against an house, falleth. The Persic version renders it, "an house divided from the foundation, falls"; the sense is, a family, in which one part is opposed to the other, issues in the ruin of both; See Gill on Matthew 12:25, Mark 3:24, Mark 3:25.