Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." (Matthew 12:25-28)

Jesus has just healed a man on the Sabbath. The Pharisees accuse him of being able to do so because he is Satan's servant.

Jesus refutes the charge with incisive logic. He then makes an extraordinary claim: in his actions the kingdom of God has come.

The kingdom of God (not heaven, as is typical of Matthew) has come upon the Pharisees.

The text does not suggest the presence of the kingdom in anyway effects the Pharisees. In fact, they have mistaken it as Satanic, rejected it, and - even after Jesus has used impeccable logic to clarify its presence - refused to accept that they have experienced the kingdom of God.

How often, I wonder, have I done the same?

It is difficult for an American to read this passage without hearing Lincoln's house divided speech.