In Matthew 12:22–32, the healing of a demon-possessed man turns into a controversy over the source of Jesus’s power. While the people respond by wondering whether Jesus might be the Messiah (“Son of David”; 12:23), the Pharisees ascribe his power to the prince of demons (as at 9:34). Jesus’s response to this accusation centers on the impossibility of a kingdom warring against itself (so Satan could not drive out demons; 12:25–26). Instead, Jesus’s exorcism of demons is an indication that his power comes from God’s Spirit, a sign that “the kingdom of God has come upon you” (12:28; for the connection of God’s Spirit and final restoration, see Joel 2:28–29). Jesus the…