“Tying the Strong Man”
Matthew 12:22-37:
Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 “Or again, 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 plunder his house.
30 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
33 “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. 35 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. 36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. 37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Demon possession in our text above caused physical defects. (This is why we must enter the battle – some are hurt and held.) Jesus healed the suffering man’s deepest problem, and physical relief proved it.
Obviously, God’s power is seen here overcoming Satan’s rule.
Verse 28: If the release and victory over demons is by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has come. Conversely, the central reason for the Kingdom not appearing is the failure to drive out demons by the Spirit of God.
Verse 29: This fruit – victory – must be won within the strong man’s house. That stronghold must be entered, and the people and goods being held there must be released.
However, FIRST, one must tie up the strong man.
Do we know how to do this?
There may be one thing worse than trying to supplant the devil without planting the church and that is trying to plant the church without supplanting the devil.
How grotesque is that enterprise called a church in which Satan is not displaced. The more he is able to co-exist with what is thought of as acceptable form and doctrine, the worse it is.
There must be a breaking down as well as a building up. Those who avoid this negative dimension will not arrive at God’s holiness, nor establish His holy temple.
A common mistake in missions is striving to make an easy glide from where the people are to where they should be – emphasizing commonalities in beliefs and practices without properly challenging the wrong. In other words, striving hard to affirm the wicked person without calling him to full repentance.