Jesus....His ASSAULT on the house of the strong man
Jesus declares the nature of His mission and describes a new relationship Mark 3vv23-35
This is a most remarkable portion of holy scripture. The scribes have just attributed to Jesus the ultimate slander, that He was inspired by Beelzebub, and that He operated in miraculous demonic power, "by the prince of devils casteth He out devils"..v22. The scribes were the legal guardians of holy scripture, kind of lawyers in the religious sense, and they should have known better; so unable they were to explain the power of Jesus, they resorted to slander. The charge was outrageous, because they used the most foul depiction of Satan to describe Jesus' miracles of exorcism. Jesus interpreted Beelzebub as Satan himself (v23). Beelzebub means "Lord of the dunghill", or "Lord of the flies" which flutter about the putrid, rotting dunghill. There are many titles of Satan in the bible, but this is among the lowest, depicting him as presiding over all the filth of the world, all that is disgusting, all that is fit only for the trash heap. Satan is the source of all the putrid filth in the earth, as scriptures like John 8v44 and 1 John3v8 state, and, unfortunately he has many willing followers who prefer the darkness of Satan to the light of God. Jesus answer to the scribes makes them look like the fools they were. He spoke to them in parables as He speaks to everyone who refuse to hear Him, and we behold the wisdom that exposed the folly of worldly-wise men. He simply states the obvious "How can Satan cast out Satan?" It has been, and always will be a fact, that any community divided against itself will not stand the test of time!
- A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand!
- A house divided against itself cannot stand!
Whether a large community, or a small community like a house, division will destroy that community. Every business knows it, every church knows it. Satan knows that even if we don't. "Divide and conquer" is the Satanic ploy, which has been used by every earthly predator, but you don't divide your own kingdom. Here we have the perfect servant "answering a fool according to his folly", and exposing the extreme religious bias that fogged their brain. The only outcome of a community actively rising up against itself is the demise of that community. The charge of the scribes was an impossibility by any standards.
Now Jesus makes the most powerful declaration of His mission on earth, the words of which, if we Christians carry with us through life will guide us in all our service for God. These words in parable form should be imprinted on our minds, the words of Mark chapter3v27 "No man can enter into a strong man's house. and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house." Note the clear implications of this parable:
- Jesus entered the strong man's house Satan usurped this world in the garden of Eden when he deceived Eve. In doing so he robbed mankind of his God given dominion on the earth. Unacceptable as it may be to a modern world the bible makes clear just exactly what this world is all about after the Fall. Satan is said to be " the god of this world who has blinded the minds that believe not." (2nd Corinthians 4v4); he is "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience" (Ephesians 2v2). He is said to be "the wicked one who has the whole world in his lap" (1st John 5v19). He is himself doomed forever and wants to take all of mankind down with him (Revelation 20v10). The biblical description means that this world could be described as Satan's house. Jesus entered that house by incarnation, not by generation, born of a virgin, born of the Holy Spirit, a sinless perfect man come to save mankind.
- Jesus bound the strong man After a perfect life of thirty years He confronted Satan in the desert during forty days of temptation and returned unscathed. This was the first time when Satan failed to bring down a man. After three and a half years of perfect service for God he declared in John 14 v30 "the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in Me." He went to the crucifixion at Calvary and submitted Himself to all the mockery and abuse of men. It was on that cross that He bound the strong man and Satan received the death blow promised in Genesis 3v15, which guarantees his ultimate doom. The interpretation of Calvary of what happened on that cross was stated in Colossians 2v15 "He spoiled principalities and powers and made a show of them openly triumphing over them in it." The writer to Hebrews states categorically that "through death He might destroy (render powerless) him that had the power of death, that is the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage." Satan is still alive, is still strong, but has lost much of his power. Jesus was "manifested that He might destroy (undo) the works of the devil. 1st John 3v8.
- Jesus is spoiling Satan's goods All across the world men and women are turning to Jesus Christ; 3,000 were saved on the first day of Pentecost, and since then countless millions have been delivered from the clutches of Satan, in the language of the apostle Paul in Colossians chapter 1v13 "delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Day after day from every nation under heaven, God is saving people from the clutches of Satan and bringing them into His glorious kingdom. This is the declared mission of Jesus Christ and through His Holy Spirit which He sent on the day of Pentecost, the message of salvation goes into every dark corner of the world and every soul saved is another loosening of the grip of Satan.
Jesus now sends out a warning to the smug scribes saying that "all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and blasphemies wherewith so ever they shall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." This warning of doom does not apply to the present day, because Jesus is no longer upon the earth. However a similar warning should be heeded in the matter of rejection of the gospel, which is the word of the Holy Spirit across the world and rejection of that will result in eternal damnation for very soul who fails to respond to the Him.
The section closes by reference to a new relationship in this world. which was occasioned by the coming of His mother and His brethren seeking for Him. He answered them saying "who is my mother or my brethren?" verse 34 "He looked round about on them that sat about Him." in verse 5 He had looked round about Him in anger for the hypocrisy of His doubters; here He looks round about His audience in the authority of instruction, He is absolutely certain of His teaching and He wants everyone to know it. He said to the audience "behold my mother and my brethren! for whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." This is not to reduce the value of family relationships because it was Jesus Himself who instituted the family. What He is saying is that our relationship to Himself supersedes even the divinely instituted family circle. Those in relationship to Him are those who do the will of God. Christian believers should be prepared for similar opposition, as predicted by Matthew in chapter 10v25 "If they call the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of His household?"
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