Mark 3:20-27

Binder of The Strongman

Devotional 16 of 50 · Mark chapter 3

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After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards trembled in fear of him and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; He has risen, just as He said! Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples, ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.’ See, I have told you.” So they hurried away from the tomb in fear and great joy, and ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” They came to Him, grasped His feet, and worshiped Him.

Mark 3:20-27 · BSB

²⁰Then Jesus went home, and once again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples could not even eat. ²¹When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.” ²²And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.” ²³So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ²⁵If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ²⁶And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house.

Jesus

How desperate! The Pharisees are clawing at anything they can to explain that Jesus is not the Son of God. And since He is doing miracles, they only have one option available. And Jesus, without missing a beat, calls out this ridiculous notion. Satan cannot and would not defeat himself and his own works. With this being the case, Jesus is saying that He has accomplished this work. To have authority over Satan like Jesus does, He is stronger than Satan. Satan is tied up, bound, and Jesus is able to plunder as He wills. This is exactly what Jesus is doing—kicking anything demonic out of people.

This again shows Jesus’ power and authority over darkness. Some people have a skewed view of Jesus and satan. Some think they are rivals, equally matched, the classic good versus evil story. This could not be further from the truth. There is tension, yes, but they are not equally matched. Jesus has infinitely more authority, control, and power than satan. This is why the demon possessed people don’t run away from Him. He has such authority, the only option is to fall at His feet.

His Desires

Jesus desires that the record be set straight, and there is no logical room to ascribe the works He does to satan. The Pharisees said He is out of His mind, but how could a crazy man do such miracles. People must wrestle with the miracles He does and where His power and authority comes from. Jesus does not fit in any category other than God incarnate.

Follow Through

Praise Jesus for His authority over satan.
Rest in His authority.
Be willing to be rejected and seen as crazy for following Jesus.

Testimonies

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Devotional 16 of 50

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Comments

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