Jesus Accused by His Family and by Teachers of the Law^(A)(B)

²⁰ Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered,^(C) so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat.^{(D) 21} When his family^[a] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”^(E)

²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem^(F) said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul!^(G) By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”^(H)

²³ So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables:^(I) “How can Satan^(J) drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.^(K)

¹⁷ This was to fulfill^(A) what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah:

³¹ Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat,^(A) he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

³¹ Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi,^(A) eat something.”

³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat^(B) that you know nothing about.”

³³ Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

³⁴ “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will^(C) of him who sent me and to finish his work.^(D)

¹⁹ The Jews who heard these words were again divided.^{(A) 20} Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed^(B) and raving mad.^(C) Why listen to him?”

²¹ But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon.^(D) Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”^(E)

²² Jews demand signs^(A) and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified:^(B) a stumbling block^(C) to Jews and foolishness^(D) to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called,^(E) both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God^(F) and the wisdom of God.^{(G) 25} For the foolishness^(H) of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness^(I) of God is stronger than human strength.

²⁶ Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.^(J) Not many of you were wise^(K) by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose^(L) the foolish^(M) things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not^(N)—to nullify the things that are,