K Neill Foster Academic Articles -Binding the Strong Man

"How can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house"1

This passage from Matthew 12 has a parallel passage in Mark 3 and Luke 11. In all three contexts, the synoptic view is clear. Jesus is defending Himself against the accusation that He functions under the inspiration of Satan himself. Every kingdom divided against itself will fail, he asserts. However, Jesus seems to imply, when you bind Satan the strong man as He does, it is then a matter of course to spoil his house.

BINDING THE STRONG MAN?

The question arises- Did Jesus bind the strong man? The commentators suggest that He did indeed bind the strong man in the hour of resisted temptation. Tasker says it most succinctly. "Satan is already bound though not so as to be rendered completely impotent."2

Barclay asks,

When was the strong man bound? . . . Maybe there is no answer to that question, but if there is, it is that Satan was bound during Jesus' temptations in the wilderness. . . . When Jesus faced the Tempter in the wilderness and conquered him, something happened. For the first time Satan found someone whom not all his wiles could seduce, and whom not all his attacks could conquer. From that time the power of Satan has never been quite the same. He is no longer the all-conquering power of darkness; he is the defeated power of sin. The defences are breached; the enemy is not yet conquered; but his power can never be the same again and Jesus can help others win the victory he himself won.3

If Satan indeed was bound, how did he get loose? And is he still going about as a roaring lion in this age?4 Certainly he is. Which brings us to a very important observation on the whole subject of binding Satan. Even the binding done by our Lord was situational and local, an interim binding of the strong man in a context of conflict and battle.

Moreover, the book of Revelation announces an eschatological binding of Satan5 which suggests, as the commentators seem to agree, that even the binding which surrounded Jesus' temptation and victory in the desert was a binding that was total and complete only in the context in which it took place.

The complete conquest of Satan took place at the cross. The prince of this world is already judged.6 The prince of this world is already cast out.7 Still, the counter kingdom exhibits its power in the interim. As a prince whose time is short, Satan the strong man, pursues his doomed cause relentlessly and malevolently. In this day, the day of the Church, as the battle is joined, the binding continues in anticipation of a coming day.

DEFENSE

In addition, in this Matthew 12 passage, our Lord having already bound the devil in the wilderness, let us not miss that Jesus is explaining the process and is defending it. The defense of the faith is called apologetics.

Apologetics is the reasoned defense of the Christian religion (Sproul, Gerstner, and Lindsley 1984:13). It is also the defense and justification of the Christian world view, the Christian faith, the Christian God, the Christian servant (and all that is of Christ and God) against the attacks, slanders, counterfeits and deceptions of all the forces, powers and persons arrayed against them.8

According to these definitions, Jesus was certainly defending His ministry. He was being falsely accused, with the suggestion being made by the religious rulers that He was driving out evil powers by Beelzebub, the prince of the dark powers.

Notice further that Jesus explains that a kingdom cannot be divided against itself. Curiously, no one is arguing that nothing is happening as might be argued today. All concerned in this confluence of ideas in that back-and-forth battle of arguments are agreed that demons are being driven out. Apparently, the exit phenomena were totally convincing to all concerned.

But what is important for us is that this charge of Christ's being in league with Satan proves that there was something extraordinary to explain. If there had not been mighty works too remarkable to ignore and too notorious to deny, His enemies would never have taken refuge in so extravagant an hypothesis. . . we have evidence, unintentionally given in support of the miracles wrought by Christ.9

Notice also that according to the context, the strong man represents Satan. God is omnipotent, the devil is not. He is however, powerful. He may correctly be called the strong man. His power is great, but limited. He is potent, but not omnipotent.

The strong man has goods, indeed a house which may be plundered. He has treasures, and clearly those treasures may be spoiled. Moreover, to spoil Satan's goods, he must be bound so that his house may be entered and his goods plundered.

One gets the perception of a house, a cottage perhaps, or even larger dwelling, but a house as we perceive houses. And there at the door blocking all access is the owner of the house, a massive, hulking specimen of a person. Within are the treasures of this householder, but everyone realizes that access comes through the only visible door, guarded threateningly with this awesome and foreboding strong man. That is the picture my mind paints. If we pay attention to Luke who also records this incident, we realize further that the strong man comes "armed"10 So the strong man is guarding his treasures, and he is armed!

In fact, the Lukan account is rich with details not recorded by the other evangelists. Someone stronger must refer to the Lord Jesus Christ. The strong man is not just armed but fully armed. Attention needs to be given to the armory of Satan. With what does the leader of the counter-kingdom protect his treasures? When the attack comes on the strong man he is overpowered, and his armor in which he trusted is taken away. Is not Jesus telling all that there may be incidents of evangelistic and missiological nature in which the Church finally finds the strong man stripped of his armor and bereft of his arms? Could those times and places be connected with the great evangelistic ingatherings of history, the people movements from around the world where whole nations have rushed into the kingdom of God?

There are some ready interpretations. Carson insists that the reference to possessions preserves the metaphor of the house and has no relation to demonic possession except metaphorically.11 Are there not treasures of souls in his house? These teachings of Jesus Christ have direct bearing upon evangelistic endeavors and the missionary enterprise.

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