Mark 3:22-27 - Setting captives free

While the Lord’s earthly family members thought that He had lost His senses, the scribes who were sent from Jerusalem to assess Him concluded that He was a demoniac. They obviously came with a preconceived conclusion. They did not even had any conversation with the Lord.

There were two things they said about Him. Firstly, they said, “He is possessed by Beelzebub,” implying that He was controlled by a powerful ruler of demons. The second accusation was that “He casts out demons by the rulers of demons.” They could not deny the fact that the Lord had some authentic deliverance in His ministry. In the parallel passage in Matthew 12:22-24, Jesus had just delivered a man of a blind and dumb spirit. They would not attribute that deliverance to God and they also could not deny that it was a bona fide deliverance. So they made Jesus out to be a tool of Satan. They concluded that He was merely a demonized exorcist.   

In verses 23-27 we see the Lord’s response to their allegations. So He called them to Himself and spoke to them in parables. He began by asking them “How can Satan cast out Satan?” This was like telling them how illogical their presumption was. Then He proceeded to give them two logical hypothetical illustrations to debunk their allegations. Firstly, He said that a kingdom that is divided cannot stand. Secondly, He said that a house that is divided also cannot stand.  Then He concluded for them, that if Satan had risen against himself and was divided, He could not stand but his end had come.   

The Lord proceeded to say that a robber had to first enter a house, bind up the strong man of the house before he could plunder it and take away the loot. Satan is that “strong man.” Satan’s kingdom on earth is his house. The helpless victims who are held in bondage by his demons are his possessions. The one stronger than Satan is the Lord Jesus Himself. He is the only one who can free the victims and this is exactly what Jesus had done and is still doing it today. He is the One who had entered Satan’s domain, had him bound and set the captives free. What He said left the accusers absolutely awestruck and astounded.

One impression we have from this account is this: while Satan is a defeated foe, we cannot under-estimate his power. He is still the roaring lion prowling around seeking to devour. It behooves us as God’s people to be wary of his schemes. We need to arm ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the armour of God to us and will help us to stand firm in the day of demonic onslaught. Meanwhile cheer up and don’t despair, for we are on the victory side!