“ But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house” (Mark 3:27).
My Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
You’ve seen the movie before. It’s a very familiar plot line. A bad guy breaks into a home in the dead of night, awakens the occupants at gunpoint, ties them up, and takes whatever his wicked heart desires. This is a very real scenario that is played out over and again in our world with frightening regularity.
But there is nothing new here at all. This has been happening to homeowners since there have been private homes and families occupying them. Two-thousand years ago, our Lord Jesus mentioned this very scene as He interacted with the citizens of His hometown.
Having listened to what Jesus had to say, our Lord’s own family and a cadre of scribes from Jerusalem began to challenge His authority and His sanity (Mark 3:21-22). The most blasphemous charge hurled at Jesus that day was that His miracle-working ministry was being energized by “ the ruler of the demons” (v. 22).
It was in this rather tense setting that Jesus “ began speaking to them in parables” (v. 23).
The gist of our Lord’s rejoinder to the scribal charge was that Satan would never work against himself. If Jesus was indeed empowered by Satan, as they had alleged, then the devil’s diabolical kingdom would have already fallen. As Jesus suggested, it’s just simple logic that a “ kingdom,” or a “ house,” that is “ divided against itself” cannot “ stand” (vv. 24-25).
So, how was it that Jesus was able to heal the sick, release the demonized, and even raise the dead?
The encouraging answer is to be found in those words from verse 27 quoted above.
When Jesus came to this earth and began His public ministry of deliverance and salvation, it was like what happens when a robber enters a home, subdues the man of the house, and takes whatever he desires. Jesus came to the ‘home’ of the devil himself, bound him, and then proceeded to “ plunder” all of his possessions. This is what the ministry of Jesus made most apparent. The granting of forgiveness, the liberation of the captives, the various healings and deliverances all testified to the fact that the evil “ strong man” had been bound!
It is this very truth that the Apostle John so dramatically and symbolically portrayed in Revelation 20:1-3–
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended.
Taken together, all of this means that right now the devil is still bound in chains. Jesus has subdued him, and the devil’s abode is being plundered this very moment as the Gospel goes forth from pulpits and individual Christian disciples all over this world! The Lord is still saving His people as those spiritually blind receive sight, those spiritually deaf are enabled to hear, and those who are spiritually dead in their sins are being raised to new life in Christ! And all the while, the “ strong man” is helpless to stop this ‘robbery’! Amen! Hallelujah!
On this new Monday, there is a great message of encouragement for us that we dare not miss.
Because we belong to Christ Jesus the Lord, we are safe and sound even though we live, work, worship, and serve on the devil’s playground. While the ancient serpent is able to threaten, accuse, spew lies, roar like a lion, and curse us, he is ‘all tied up at the moment’! As Luther said, “ his doom is sure”! We are safe from his schemes as we trust in the sovereign power of the One who has “ plundered” his evil kingdom!
As Isaiah said, “ no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed” (54:17) for your Mighty Immanuel has disarmed your adversary! You are safe in His loving arms! He is always protecting those whom He has chosen and redeemed as His precious sheep! You can rest in His perfect peace right now and every moment of life!
I pray that your hearts and minds will be filled today with this awesome truth! May you serve Him faithfully and fearlessly as you are amply supplied with His great strength!
I love you all so very much,
Mike