Dwell in the Word Mark 3:22-30

As we dwell in Mark 3:22-30, consider these questions:

1. What does it mean to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, and why is it considered an unforgivable sin? How can believers ensure they do not fall into this category?

2. How does Jesus' analogy of the strong man and the plundering of his house illustrate his authority over Satan and the forces of evil? How does this tie into Jesus' overall mission and victory over death?

3. How does the concept of Jesus binding the strong man give believers confidence and assurance in facing the challenges of the world? How can this understanding influence the way we approach our daily lives and struggles?

Transcript:

As I said when I started, this is an interesting passage. We come to this, and I'm actually going to start at the end. Usually we say, Let's start at the beginning. It's a very good place to start. But today we are going to start at the end because it's the most obvious thing that we are curious about. I believe we are always very naturally curious about this statement that whoever blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness because we don't want to do it. We are very concerned about this passage. It's for that very reason. So, what does that mean? Well, here we see that the Pharisees are ascribing the work of Satan to Jesus, or you could say that the work of Jesus is being ascribed to Satan. They're saying that what Jesus is doing is the work of Satan. And so, what is the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit here? Jesus, who is full of the Spirit, the one who is from God, they are rejecting His work completely and totally and utterly because they are saying that it is the work of Satan. And so we do not want to look at the work of the Spirit and say, That is the work of the devil.

And we should be able to know what the work of the Spirit is. We know what the fruits of the Spirit are. We know these things. We can see these things. And so, as we think about this thing that we don't want to do, we need to remember that because we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Spirit is already at work in us because we would never have believed without the work of the Spirit. And so, we can trust that we have not committed this sin because we are open to the work of the Spirit, which the Pharisees were not because they were not even seeing the truth of what Jesus was speaking. Now, as far as the rest of the passage, I want to focus on this verse 27. I just absolutely love this verse. I can think back when I do pulpit supply, different places in the evening sometimes. I did a sermon on this passage once, and I called it the strong man bound because I like this imagery. What does it say? No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods unless he first binds a strong man, then indeed he may plunder his house.

So, Jesus is using this parable, this imagery that why would Jesus, if he was doing the work of Satan, bind up the demons? Why would he cast them out? As we have seen him doing so often in the Gospel of Mark, right? How often do we see that he casts them out and they know who he is? And he's like, Be quiet. It's not time for people to know who I am, but he is thwarting the work of the demons, the work of the devil. And so, what is Jesus saying? Hey, if I was from Satan, why would I be thwarting the work of the devil? And then we get to this verse 27 that I just read. You can't plunder the goods of someone's house unless you go in and bind up the strong man. That's what Jesus has done. Jesus is binding up Satan so that He can come and plunder His house. And in His death and resurrection, He proves that He is the stronger man because He cannot be defeated by death, hell, and the devil. He binds up Satan, and He takes and plunders His house. He proclaims the Gospel to the Earth where the devil is at work, and people come to faith by the work of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ is the stronger man, and He has bound the strong man Satan. That is such an amazing thing to think about as we look at this. This is what Jesus is doing. By casting out the demons, He is binding up the stronger man to do His work. And ultimately in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension, He has done that to the nth degree. And so how do we apply this to our life today? Well, we need to remember that this is not a... This world that we live in is not a struggle between good and evil. Who will win? That's not where we're at. Now, sometimes it feels that way. Oh, the devil is getting the best of it. Now, it can feel that way, but ultimately, what has Jesus done? He has defeated death, hell, and the devil because He is the stronger man. And so, no matter what we face in this world, we can go into each and every day trusting that we are the servants of the stronger man who has bound Satan. And so may we trust His work. May we trust what He has done for us, and may we live in confidence and faith knowing that we have a Lord who has won the victory for us.