The phrase bind the strong man (or strongman) is a reference to a passage in the book of Mark, where Jesus is responding to some Jewish scribes who were accusing Him of being possessed by Beelzebul. Their argument was that “by the prince of demons he is driving out demons” (Mark 3:22). In other words, the reason the demons listened to Jesus was that they were in league with Him and recognized Him as their commanding officer, so to speak. Jesus refuted their blasphemous argument with plain logic: “How can Satan cast out Satan?” (Mark 3:23) and then gave them a parable. First, Jesus spoke of the principle of a divided kingdom, which cannot stand (verses 24–26). Then He told them, “No one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house” (Mark 3:27). Jesus refers to Satan as the “strong man” and to Himself as the One who enters the house and plunders the place. Of course, before Satan allows his domain to be “plundered,” he must be incapacitated. Jesus was not in league with Satan, as the scribes suggested, but had come to the earth, to what is essentially Satan’s “house” (1 John 5:19), in order to bind Satan and plunder his “goods,” which are the souls of men (John 17:15; Luke 4:18; Ephesians 4:8). A parallel passage says this: “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder” (Luke 11:21–22). Satan is strong, and he holds possessions that he guards jealously. But Jesus is the One who was and is stronger than the strong man. He is the only One who can bind the strong man and rescue us from his clutches (see John 12:31). Some Christians, usually in the Charismatic or Pentecostal movements, apply Jesus’ parable to the spiritual warfare that believers must wage. They teach that Christians are the ones who must “bind the strong man” in their lives or in their cities and then win the victory in Jesus’ name. Some Charismatic preachers even name the “strong men” and attempt to identify the cities or geographical areas over which they hold power. Such doctrines go far beyond what Jesus said. The Lord’s parable was simply to impress upon the scribes that He was not in league with Satan. Never does Jesus instruct us to “bind the strong man” or tell us how to do it. We do not have warrant to interpret the parable as a spiritual reality over geographical regions. The phrase bind the strong man (or strongman) is a reference to a passage in the book of Mark, where Jesus is responding to some Jewish scribes who were accusing Him of being possessed by Beelzebul. Their argument was that “by the prince of demons he is driving out demons” (Mark 3:22). In other words, the reason the demons listened to Jesus was that they were in league with Him and recognized Him as their commanding officer, so to speak. Jesus refuted their blasphemous argument with plain logic: “How can Satan cast out Satan?” (Mark 3:23) and then gave them a parable. First, Jesus spoke of the principle of a divided kingdom, which cannot stand (verses 24–26). Then He told them, “No one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house” (Mark 3:27). Jesus refers to Satan as the “strong man” and to Himself as the One who enters the house and plunders the place. Of course, before Satan allows his domain to be “plundered,” he must be incapacitated. Jesus was not in league with Satan, as the scribes suggested, but had come to the earth, to what is essentially Satan’s “house” (1 John 5:19), in order to bind Satan and plunder his “goods,” which are the souls of men (John 17:15; Luke 4:18; Ephesians 4:8). A parallel passage says this: “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder” (Luke 11:21–22). Satan is strong, and he holds possessions that he guards jealously. But Jesus is the One who was and is stronger than the strong man. He is the only One who can bind the strong man and rescue us from his clutches (see John 12:31). Some Christians, usually in the Charismatic or Pentecostal movements, apply Jesus’ parable to the spiritual warfare that believers must wage. They teach that Christians are the ones who must “bind the strong man” in their lives or in their cities and then win the victory in Jesus’ name. Some Charismatic preachers even name the “strong men” and attempt to identify the cities or geographical areas over which they hold power. Such doctrines go far beyond what Jesus said. The Lord’s parable was simply to impress upon the scribes that He was not in league with Satan. Never does Jesus instruct us to “bind the strong man” or tell us how to do it. We do not have warrant to interpret the parable as a spiritual reality over geographical regions. Matthew 12 is a pivotal chapter in the narrative of Jesus’ earthly ministry and one that includes Jesus’ notable statement that “he who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matthew 12:30, NKJV). Up to the point when Jesus says, “He who is not with Me is against Me,” He had been proclaiming the good news about the kingdom that He was offering, but in Matthew 12 He and His kingdom are rejected—particularly by the leaders of the nation. The situation comes to a head when Jesus heals a blind and mute man (Matthew 12:22). The crowds were in awe and were wondering whether He might be the Son of David, the Messiah (Matthew 12:23). The Pharisees, on the other hand, quickly rejected Jesus’ healing work as Messianic and instead asserted that Jesus had healed the man by demonic power (Matthew 12:24). Jesus challenged the absurdity of this critique and the failed logic of a divided kingdom and Satan fighting against Satan (Matthew 12:26–29). He then presented them with a dilemma, asking in whose power their sons cast out demons (Matthew 12:27). The point Jesus was making was that, if Jesus was casting out demons in the power of God, as He was claiming to do, then indeed the kingdom He was presenting had come because the King had come (Matthew 12:28). Jesus then took it one step further by saying that “he who is not with Me is against Me.” The people had to make a choice. Their Messiah had come, offering to them the prophesied and covenanted kingdom of the heavens (which was ultimately God’s kingdom in the heavens come to earth in fulfillment of God’s covenant to David, with the Messiah ruling on David’s throne in Jerusalem). Jesus was the Messiah, and He was presenting His kingdom to the people. They had to choose—if they were for Him, they would have to change their mind (repent) about how they could gain entrance into the kingdom (Matthew 4:17). They would have to recognize that they could only enter the kingdom by the internal spiritual righteousness Jesus described, and not by their external obedience to the Law of Moses (Matthew 5—7). The Pharisees and other leaders were deeply opposed to changing their minds about these things; they could not accept that He was the Messiah, lest they have to submit to what He was telling them. Their rebellion illustrated Jesus’ statement that “he who is not with Me is against Me” (Matthew 12:30). Like the Pharisees of that era, we also have a choice to make about Jesus. Jesus famously asked the question of His disciples, “But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:15). Each one of us has to answer that question for ourselves. Either we acknowledge that He is who He said He is—the Messiah—or we reject that and attribute His words and works to something other than the true ministry of our Creator, Messiah, Savior, and King. With this choice there is no third option. Jesus did not give His listeners the option of avoiding the choice. “He who is not with Me is against Me,” He said. And if we claim to be for Him, then we must come to Him as He prescribes and not as we might prefer. The Pharisees were open to God’s involvement in their lives and the lives of the nation of Israel, but only on their own terms. As creations of the Creator, we don’t get to make the rules; we simply have to decide whether we are for Him or against Him. During Paul’s third missionary journey, he encountered some men who are described as “disciples” who had not yet received the Holy Spirit. Luke recounts the incident: “Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’ They answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’ So Paul asked, ‘Then what baptism did you receive?’ ‘John’s baptism,’ they replied. Paul said, ‘John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.’ On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all” (Acts 19:1–7). We know that, when a person is born again, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in that person’s life (1 Corinthians 6:19). If a person does not have the Holy Spirit, then he does not belong to Christ (Romans 8:9). So why is it that these men in Ephesus did not have the Holy Spirit, when it seems that they had believed? The key is that they had not yet believed in Christ. They did not know about Jesus’ saving work (or the Holy Spirit’s indwelling) until they met Paul. A careful reading of the first part of Acts 19 reveals several facts about this group of twelve men: 1) They were “disciples”—but not of Christ. Rather, they were self-identified disciples of John the Baptist (verse 3). 2) They were not believers in the risen Lord Jesus Christ—Paul’s question about their conversion experience reveals that they knew nothing of the Spirit or His power (verse 2). 3) They had taken the first step—repentance of sins—but they had not taken the corresponding step—faith in Christ. In short, the “Ephesus Dozen” were still living under the Old Testament economy. They saw the need of repentance and were still awaiting the Messiah. They did not know the Christian message. A further clue of their spiritual condition is found in the preceding chapter. Apollos, an Alexandrian Jew and a skillful orator, had been preaching in Ephesus (Acts 18:24). However, “he knew only the baptism of John” (verse 25). The only information Apollos had about Jesus was what he had heard from John; thus, he knew Jesus was the Messiah, but he knew nothing of Jesus’ sacrificial death and resurrection. Two believers in Ephesus, Priscilla and Aquila, took Apollos aside and “explained to him the way of God more adequately” (verse 26). After he understood and received the gospel, Apollos became a great apologist for the Lord Jesus (verse 28). It would seem that the twelve men whom Paul encountered were some of Apollos’ followers. They had been baptized for repentance, but they had not heard the whole gospel message. Paul filled them in on the details of Jesus’ death and resurrection—the essential elements of the gospel—and told them to believe (Acts 19:4). Once the men received Christ by faith, the Holy Spirit, true to form, filled them with His presence. They became new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). John the Baptist’s ministry was one of preparation for people to receive Christ (Mark 1:2). He preached repentance of sins, and, as people repented, they showed their change of heart by an outward cleansing. But simply repenting of sin is not enough. We must have Christ. John himself understood the limitations of his ministry: “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Those who, like Apollos and the “Ephesus Dozen,” stopped with John’s baptism only had half the story. They needed more than repentance; they needed faith in Christ. The disciples in Ephesus heard about Jesus from Paul the apostle, Jesus’ representative (Acts 9:15). As they received his message, they were baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, and they received the Holy Spirit in a way that publicly, unmistakably linked them to the gospel as preached by Paul. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13). |
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