Binding the Strong Man

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Scripture Text:  Mark 3:22-30

Mark 3:24-26

24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.

(ESV)

When confronted by the scribes about His ability to cast out demons, the scribes accuse Jesus of possession by the demon Beelzebul and that by this power, was able to cast out demons (Mark 3:22).  Jesus confronts the scribes with a statement of simple logic, "How can Satan cast out Satan" (Mark 3:23).  This leads to the question of how one can have a belief in liberty and yet call for the removal of that liberty from people they disagree with?

The late comedian Flip Wilson is famous for his saying "The Devil made me do it."  While this makes for good comedy, it is not a theology upon which to base one’s life.  What the video of Flip Wilson does point out is that usually bad trouble in our lives is often due to bad decisions we make.  Eve could have said no to the serpent in the garden but instead said yes, leading to Adam and Eve’s eviction from the Garden of Eden and separation of humanity from God (Genesis 3:1-7).  Fortunately for humanity, God is also gracious and promised a redeemer to undo the damage from this bad choice (Genesis 3:15). 

The Devil did not make David commit adultery with Bathsheba for it was his own flesh stirred up by lust at continuing to look at her (2 Samuel 11).  Instead of running from temptation as Joseph did with Potiphar's wife (Genesis 39), David continued to allow the temptation to fester leading to the sins of adultery and murder.  The Devil did not make Peter deny Jesus, but it was his fear of rejection and suffering the same fate as Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75).  Thankfully both David and Peter sought and received forgiveness for their sins and a gracious God provided a path to salvation through Jesus' death on the cross. 

While it is not the Devil that makes us get into trouble, He does have powerfully deceptive powers, powerfully tempts us to sin, and creates fear leading to bad decisions.  Ephesians 6:12 reminds Christians that they are in a battle against powerful forces not of this earth, but in heavenly places and that battling these strong forces requires the armor of God (Ephesians 6:13-17).  This is the strong man Jesus refers to in Mark 3:27. 

The Salvation provided by Jesus' death on the cross is complete, but this does not mean the Devil will not challenge our liberty in Christ through deception, temptation, or fear.  This strong man will point out past sins and through deception tell us we are not good enough.  This is where we challenge the deception with the helmet of salvation reminding the Devil we have eternal life in Christ and no condemnation (John 3:16-17).  When temptation comes, we must remind the strong man that no temptation is beyond our ability to overcome and that Jesus provides a way of escape as he did with Joseph and David if he had just looked away (1 Corinthians 10:13).  We must remind the strong man that fear is not from God with God providing power and soundness of mind to overcome fear (2 Timothy 1:7).  James 4:7 reminds us to resist the devil and he will flee from us or as this song from Crowder reminds us “Run Devil Run”. 

The mission of the Church is spreading the Gospel and making disciples (Mark 16:15; Matthew 28:19-20).  To fulfill this mission the Church must continually bind the strong man, the Devil and not compromise but stay on course.  The Church must not allow deception, temptation, or fear to take it off course through following deceptive teaching, the temptation to water down the truth of the Bible to appear more acceptable to the world or allow fear to keep it silent.  Instead, may the Church follow the advice of God towards Joshua to remain strong and courageous (Joshua 1:9).