“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzeboul, how much more those of his household!”
But they must expect persecution. For Jesus their Teacher and Lord is being, and will be, persecuted, and thus they must expect to be so too. For a disciple is not more important than his Teacher (for Jesus as Teacher see Matthew 9:11), and a servant is not more important than his Lord. Rather they should be happy that in this they will be parallel with Him. And as their antagonists have called Him as the master of the house Beelzeboul, they of His household must expect to be called so too.
Note how Jesus now sees His band of disciples as a ‘household'. They are the new ‘house of Israel', or, as He will later speak of them, the new ‘congregation' (ekklesia - church). It was the households of the Patriarchs that made up the old Israel (Exodus 1:1). Now it is His new household which makes up the new Israel. Note also how it is therefore ‘like Teacher, like disciple', and ‘like Lord, like servant'. They are one with Him in His persecution, (compare ‘I am Jesus Whom you are persecuting', spoken by Jesus of the persecution of His disciples - Acts 9:5). In the same way those who receive them receive Him (Matthew 10:40), and those who do them good do good to Him (Matthew 25:40). He and they are one, because the household is one, and they are united with Him in it (as they are in the true Vine - John 15:1-6).
‘Beelzeboul.' Compare Matthew 12:24; Luke 11:15. Different manuscripts and versions present the full name differently It is given as ‘Beelzebub' in the Syriac and Vulgate versions - probably as taken from the name of the oracular god in 2 Kings 1:2-3, and as ‘Beelzeboul' in most manuscripts. It is given as ‘Beezeboul' in only a few manuscripts, but these include weighty ones (Aleph, B). The latter may, however, simply have dropped the ‘l' because ‘lz' was difficult to Greek speakers.
The correct name may well thus be Beelzeboul. ‘Zeboul' may represent ‘zebel' (dung) or ‘zebul' (dwelling). Thus the name may mean ‘lord of the house (or dwelling)' (see Matthew 10:25 b which seems to confirm this). Or it may be ‘lord of dung' as an insulting name for Satan. The former would explain the stress on ‘house' in Jesus' repudiation. The name Zbl is also found in a Ugaritic text, linked with baal, where it may be a proper name or mean ‘prince', and thus ‘Prince Baal' (but why is it then changed to ‘zeboul'). Matthew 10:25 b thus suggests that Beelzeboul is seen as master over a household of demons (compare ‘Lord of the house'). The thought was horrific. Jesus being compared to the Prince of Demons. But it was clearly set policy for His opponents (Matthew 9:34; Matthew 12:24). They had to have some explanation for the wonders that they saw in front of their eyes and could not explain away. As the narrative goes on we learn that this is a synonym for Satan, as we would gather from him being the prince of the demons.