Matthew 12:23-24

Matthew 12:23-24

[23] And  all  the people  were amazed,  and  not  this  the son  of David?  [24] But  when the Pharisees  heard  it, they said,  This  not  cast out  devils,  by  Beelzebub  the prince  of the devils. 

What does Matthew 12:23-24 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The astonishment of the crowd prompted their question. It expected a negative answer. Literally they said, "This cannot be the Son of David, can it?" They raised the faint possibility that Jesus might be the Messiah, but primarily their question reflected their amazed unbelief. The Jews expected Messiah to perform miracles ( Matthew 12:38), but other things about Jesus, for example His servant characteristics, led them to conclude that He was not the Son of David.
The Pharisees again attributed Jesus" power to Satan (cf. Matthew 10:25). This time their accusation created an open breach between themselves and Jesus.
"Three times before Matthew 12the kingdom was said to be near ( Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Matthew 10:7). Then after Jesus" opponents accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan ( Matthew 12:24-32; Mark 3:22-30; Luke 11:14-26), the nearness of the kingdom is never mentioned again in the Gospels." [1]
John"s Gospel, by the way, makes no reference to the nearness of God"s kingdom. By the time John wrote, probably late in the first century A.D, it was clear that the messianic kingdom had been postponed.