Jesus had just been falsely accused of being demonised, casting out demons by the power of Satan (Matthew 12:22-24).  Exposing that lie was such an important issue that Mark (Mark 3:23-27) and Luke (Luke 11:14-20) also recorded this incident.  And John recorded three episodes when Jesus was called ‘demon possessed’ (John 7:20; John 8:48-52; John 10:20-21).  The Apostles knew that Jesus’ ministry was to defeat Satan’s work (1 John 3:8).  They were and are on opposite sides.  The church must never be confused.  There must be no compromise with Satan.  The devil must always be resisted because there is no truth in him (John 8:44; James 4:7).  In the end, Satan and his demons will be destroyed, as they have known for a long time (Mark 1:24; Revelation 20:10).

Jesus demonstrated that their conclusion about Him was totally wrong.  By using a careful logical argument, like a lawyer in court, Jesus demolished their foolish and wicked accusation.  Firstly, Jesus presented their argument as laughable: if any organisation is internally divided it cannot last long, it must fail.  It made no logical sense for Satan to attack himself.  Secondly, Jesus knew that some Jews practised exorcism ... then their exorcists must also be demonised.  Jesus asked them to consider the logical arguments and come to an opinion.
 
Then He spoke clearly about His own powerful ministry.  He said that He was working by the Spirit of God (Luke says He cast out demons by the finger of God in Luke 11:20), and demons had to submit to His authority.  The evidence was clear – Jesus expelled demons.  They needed to think about that and come to the only logical conclusion – that God’s kingdom had come in power and Jesus is King.  They must not avoid the evidence which was plain for everybody to see.  However, the religious leaders could not focus their minds on the truth because they hated Jesus.  There is no consistent logic in hatred and lies.
 
Wickedness is born in rebellious hearts and has no logical consistency.  Like all lies, there will be a logical gap in the story, or a contradiction.  No thought, word or action which offends God can ever be fully justified or shown to be true.  In the end, God will demonstrate the weakness of all our excuses as we give an account of our lives to Him (Hebrews 4:13).  So let us decide to reject the works of darkness (Romans 13:12) and live in the light - knowing that we are transparent to God.  And let us never credit Satan for anything which God has done.