The Strong Man

Mark 3:27

“In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.” (Mark 3:27 NIV)

Jesus has been accused of casting out demons by Beelzebul, the Prince of Demons. Jesus points out to His accusers that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, nor can a house divided against itself; so if Satan is casting out Satan, then he is done and finished.

So this next verse can seem like just more of the same; but in fact it is making a much bigger point, one that we can easily miss.

Firstly, Jesus is pointing out to the Pharisees that since they are clearly not casting out Satan themselves, then they are admitting that the Strong Man, Satan, is currently in full control of his property as far as they are concerned, and that they, the Pharisees, are no threat to him, Satan.

Secondly, this does suggest that they – Pharisees, Israel, mankind generally – are in the unenviable position of having been previously plundered by the Strong Man. How else did he accumulate all that stuff that should have been mankind’s?

And of course, this is the story of Genesis 3. Satan was subject to the then Ruler of this world – Adam, operating under God’s authority – but played him and his wife for fools and traitors, and stripped them of all they had; including their rule. So Jesus is not just referencing what He Himself is doing, but also how it ever came about that Satan got to dwell in safety with a lot of stuff that wasn’t properly his.

He bound Adam and plundered his goods

And just note how it happened: Satan picked up there was some prohibition God had given Adam and Eve about the Garden, and so fed Eve a line – “did God say you weren’t to eat of any of the trees in the Garden?” – that tricked her into divulging the something Satan had no reason or right to hear – “Oh no, it is just this tree we can’t eat of…”. And that gave Satan all the information he needed in order to spring his trap.

So yes, the third and final part is that indeed, Jesus has bound the Strong Man, Satan. Everything that is rattling the Pharisees (e.g. the casting out of every demon) is the result of Jesus plundering Satan’s house.

And as I have observed previously, Jesus was able to say “I have overcome the world”, before He went to the Cross. He went to the Cross to free us and give us a legal share in His victory and His Kingdom; but Jesus had Satan beaten and bound when they faced off in the desert; and – unlike Eve – Jesus wouldn’t give him the time of day, nor any clue as to what He had come to accomplish. Satan never had any legal hold over Jesus, and Jesus never gave him one iota to work with. (Our situation of course was different: our first parents submitted themselves, and us, to his rule, so we all start a long way behind. But blabbing what God tells you, to those who have no need to know, is still a bad idea.)

And if you struggle with the thought that Jesus had already beaten Satan before He went to the Cross, Jesus makes it very clear. He wouldn’t be able to plunder Satan’s house now, if He hadn’t first bound him.