Mark 3:27
We
have learned from the movies that the person with the biggest guns wins the
gunfight. If it is hand to hand combat, the person who is the fastest with the
best moves wins. We also learn that winning and losing fights depends on the
plot line, much more than reality! How the enemy machine guns never hit our
hero and how a rock thrown blindly around a corner can kill multiple people. Or
that the villains in car accidents get killed and heroes survive.
Jesus
work and reputation have been attacked by His family and by the religious
establishment. Both have heard about what Jesus was doing and came to a
conclusion based on what they knew. And since they were missing some essential
facts, they drew the wrong conclusions.
The
religious leaders have charged that Jesus was under the power of Satan and it
was Satan’s power that enabled Him to be able to cast out demonic entities.
Jesus showed that this just can’t happen.
The
religious leaders’ second charge against Jesus is that He is using someone
else’s power to cast out demons, not His own. This is where the use of the word
picture of the strong man comes into play. Jesus is talking about home
invasion. You can’t break into the strong man’s house and get away with it.
Their strength will overcome any intruder.
If
you think about the houses of drug dealers, at least the ones portrayed on TV
and in the movies, they have multiple layers of security. They have security
cameras and alarms, and big, muscular, gun-wielding thugs protecting them. At
the low end houses, they have booby traps and explosives rigged to protect themselves.
They also have escape routes planned and practiced. They usually also have some
people with guns.
In
order to penetrate these houses you have to come with more power and strength.
You have to bring battering rams, snipers, flash-bang grenades, insertion teams,
body armor, armor protected vehicles, high-tech listening devices, and
overwhelming manpower. You can’t beat a strong man unless you are stronger.
That
is Jesus’ point. Satan is the strong man. If Satan is being defeated, then
someone stronger than him has arrived. Jesus is stronger than Satan, that is
why He is able to defeat him and cast out demons.
No
matter what battle you are facing, Jesus is more powerful than the battle.
Invite Him to be with you in that battle. Or get out of the battle and be with
Him.