When Jesus had driven out a demon, some of the crowd said:
“By the power of Beelzebul, the prince of demons,
he drives out demons.”
They said this because they were jealous and envious of the success and popularity of Jesus. They knew at some level that what he was doing was good. Their "own people" drove out demons without being accused of being in league with Beelzebul. They tried to invalidate the good Jesus was doing by insinuating the power or the motives behind it. But because the fruit was entirely good there was no real way to find fault with the tree producing it.
Every kingdom divided against itself will be laid waste
and house will fall against house.
In other words, what Jesus was doing was a direct assault on the kingdom of darkness. He was about the business of freeing those who had been held captive therein, "who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (see Hebrews 2:15), delivering them "from the domain of darkness" and transferring them "to the kingdom of his beloved Son" (see Colossians 1:13). This strategy was absolutely undermining the strongholds of Satan. Although Satan might take the appearance of an angel of light (see Second Corinthians 11:14) he would never go so far as to compromise his own interests in this way. His appearance of goodness was only that: appearance. Jesus himself drove out the powers in darkness in a way that brought about genuine freedom, transforming individuals down to the very core.
But if it is by the finger of God that I drive out demons,
then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.
The work Jesus was doing could not be imitated. It was well beyond that which other exorcists of his day could do. It was something that the powers of darkness could not fake. It testified to the way in which Jesus himself was utterly unique, in which his finger was, beyond mere metaphor, the very "finger of God".
Whoever is not with me is against me,
and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
The crowd that were not entirely with Jesus were part of a house divided, postured in a way that was unsustainable. They weren't entirely bad, but insofar as they condemned Jesus they were still in the grip of the devil. They were scattering by the fact that they were not helping Jesus himself to gather together all those he came to save. However, insofar as they weren't yet entirely his own, Jesus would continue to pursue them. He would not leave them in the hands of "a strong man fully armed" but would attack and overcome him.
“When an unclean spirit goes out of someone,
it roams through arid regions searching for rest
but, finding none, it says,
‘I shall return to my home from which I came.’
We who have been set free from the powers of darkness by the mercy of Jesus must ensure that our hearts are not simply well-ordered neutral spaces that are ready again at any moment to entertain the company of unclean spirits. We must welcome Jesus himself into our hearts, into every aspect of our being, so that the enemy finds no room, no quarter within us in which to hide. Jesus himself desires to enter, stands outside and knocks on the door of our hearts. All we need to do is let him in. Let's not keep him at the door or entryway but give him the full access he desires. He wants to live within us, not simply to visit. And his presence is more than enough to keep us safe from the powers of darkness.
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