Mark 3:27

‘But no one can enter into the house of the strong man and spoil his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then he will spoil his house.'

For it is evident that only one who is stronger than the strong man, the ‘stronger than he' (Luke 11:22), can enter his house and bind the strong man. He alone can spoil his goods. And by casting out evil spirits this was exactly what Jesus was doing. He was proving Himself to be stronger than the ‘lord of the house', the strong man. He had bound Satan. This may have been seen as having partially happened in the forty days in the wilderness, tested by Satan and overcoming with the Spirit's power as the angels ministered to Him (Mark 1:13) compare Revelation 12:7; Revelation 20:1, and partially in the casting out of evil spirits by His binding word. But it does not stop there. He is bound because of Jesus' inherent authority. The Kingly Rule of God was here. Now He could ‘spoil his goods' and divide the spoil with all who come under God's Kingship for He was of superior strength. In the words of Isaiah, ‘He will divide the spoil with the strong' (Isaiah 53:12). When we think of the power of Satan this has huge implications for how we see Jesus. Who could of Himself have such power over Satan but God?

Jesus probably also has in mind earlier words of Isaiah, ‘Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captives be delivered? But thus says the Lord, even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered, for I will contend with him who contends with you, and I will save your children' (Isaiah 49:24). So here God was at work in deliverance as promised in Isaiah. How could they then deny it?

Matthew 12:28 adds, ‘If I by the Spirit of God (Luke 11:20 has ‘the finger of God' which means God Himself active through His power) cast out devils, then is the Kingly Rule of God come upon you'. This connection with the Spirit of God, the personal power of God, is not mentioned by Mark here but is confirmed on the basis of Mark 3:29, and is made clear in Mark 1:10; Mark 1:12, together with the emphasis on the nearness of God's Kingly Rule (Mark 1:15). It was the Holy Spirit Who initially ‘drove' Jesus to commence His battle with Satan. The point therefore is that Jesus operates in the power of the Spirit of God, and that to denigrate His work is to denigrate the Spirit. So these learned Doctors of the Law are by their words denying the clear and indisputable work of the Spirit of God.

His firm contention was that in His activity He was demonstrating quite clearly that His power was from God in accordance with the Scriptures and that He was God's strong man in the defeat of Satan. And thus that for them to deny this could only be because they were deliberately closing their hearts against the testimony of God. And once they did this they should be aware that they would be in danger of being permanently hardened. They were in danger of blaspheming against what was God in action, His divine activity revealed in His personal power manifested against Satan, and thus in danger of blaspheming against the Holy Spirit Himself.

We should note here that He did not refer to the testimonies of the evils spirits in order to justify Himself. He did not point out that they cried out, and in fear declared Him to be the Son of God. For even when He was not trying to keep secret Who He was, He would not accept their testimony. He wanted none to think that there was any connection between Him and them. There is also here a reminder that Satan continues to be a strong man. He may have been ‘bound' by Jesus but his fight continues and his strength is still apparent. In Mark 9:14 the disciples discover that with all the authority given to them they are still helpless against Satan in his strongest mode. There is only One Who never fails to defeat him. And he is like a raging lion, stalking around, seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). His final defeat, however, is guaranteed by every evil spirit that is cast out, and by the presence of the Stronger than he.