Matthew 12:27

Your children] i.e. 'your disciples.' Famous rabbis and their disciples professed to cast out devils by magic and exorcism, and their success was attributed to the power of God. Why then, asked Jesus, are My miracles, which are much more striking than theirs, and are not worked by magic, but by a mere word, not regarded as coming from God, and why do I not receive from you the same honour as your own exorcists? Josephus (born 37 a.d.) writes: 'I have seen a certain man of my own country, whose name was Eleazar, releasing people that were demoniacal in the presence of Vespasian and his sons and his captains. He put a ring to the nostrils of the demoniac, and drew out the demon through his nostrils.. making mention of Solomon and reciting the incantations which he composed.' See also Acts 19:13; Tob 8:2.