Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 3:27
No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
27. a strong man’s house ] The “strong man” is Satan; his House or Palace is this Lower world; the Stronger than the Strong is Christ, who first bound the Evil One, when He triumphed over his temptations. Comp. Luk 11:21-22.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mar 3:27
No man can enter into a strong mans house and spoil his goods.
The devils strength
Christ is showing that He casts out demons by a greater power than Satans, viz., by the power of His own Godhead. This He illustrates by a comparison taken from one who forcibly enters the house of a strong man, and makes spoil of it by violent seizure of the goods and weapons that he had in his house. Such an one must be stronger than the strong man, else he cannot do it. Even so (says the Saviour) seeing that I have forcibly entered upon Satans possession, and have bound him and spoiled his goods, i.e., taken from him that power and tyranny which he before exercised over the body of him that was possessed; and seeing I have also cast him out of his own house, i.e., out of the person possessed; hence it may appear that I have done all this by a greater power than the power of Satan is, even by the power of My Godhead. Note that-
1. Christ likens Satan to a strong man well armed, and furnished with weapons to defend himself and his house in which he dwells.
2. He likens Himself to One that is stronger than that strong man.
3. He resembles the person that was possessed with the demon to the house of the strong man in which he holds possession.
4. He resembles the power of Satan to the goods and weapons of the strong man.
5. He compares the casting out of Satan by Himself to the entering into the strong mans house, and binding of him, and spoiling of his house, etc. (G. Petter.)
Satan being likened to the strong man
, this teaches us that he is a creature of great strength and power (Luk 11:21; 1Pe 5:8; Eph 6:12).
I. Wherein this power of the devil is manifested-
1. In working upon the insensible creatures-air, earth, water, etc.
2. In working upon those sensible creatures that want reason-beasts, birds, fishes, etc. He is able to enter into them and to move and work in them.
3. On the bodies of men; entering into them, hurting and annoying them, vexing and tormenting them with pain and disease.
4. On the minds, hearts, and affections of men, in tempting them inwardly, and soliciting them to sin by inward suggestion. This he does, not directly, but partly by the outward senses representing evil objects to them and so conveying evil thoughts to the mind, and partly by insinuating himself into the fancy or imagination.
II. What kind of power it is. Not an absolute power, but limited.
III. From whence He derives it. From God only; and He who gave, controls it.
IV. Why God gives Him such power.
1. That His own Divine power may the more appear in subduing Satan.
2. For the trial of His own children.
3. For the executing of His heavy vengeance and punishment on the wicked by Satan. (G. Petter.)
The strong man armed:
First, the strong man armed keepeth his palace. For indeed it is a palace-that soul of yours-made to be a royal habitation; and well did the King of kings furnish it for Himself. He had supplied it marvellously with all that should be for royal use and royal glory, and He had decked it with the most precious ornaments, and He set a throne there. Is it empty? No. Who sits on it? Who is supreme there over the affections? Who is that that is holding his silken reins that are as bands of iron? The strong one-none know how strong but those who try to escape, and throw off his tyranny; so strong that his strength is unseen, while in stillness and in silence he holds his own; so strong that the greatest determination of the most strong-minded man, unaided, trying to break any one of those many bonds, would be as if he were to try to uproot a mountain. And well is that strong one armed. Not in vain has he been reading the human heart for six thousand years; not in vain are all his vast experiences. Of amazing intellect is he-of immense power-a fallen angel of light, and he can wear all aspects, and he can bear all disguises. Awful the thought-that as the Lord Jesus had His armour so has that strong one-wherein he rightly trusts. There are the light, glittering darts of pleasure, that which has slain many a mighty one. And there is the heavy sword of unsanctified intellect to lay low the strong-minded. And there is the breastplate of selfishness, wrapping the heart round in its soft indulgences. And there is the shield of uncharitable controversy, which irritates without convincing. And there is the helmet of bold presumption, starting high in its false professions; and the girdle of infidelity-cramping, binding, girding the very loins of the man; and the shoes that walk roughly, and the spirit that takes converse only with itself. So, for years and years, the strong one armed rules, and so he keeps his captives quiet. And it is a weeping sight before the holy angels-those noble courts of mans immortality, so trodden down, and profaned, and desolate. But the stronger comes; and now the fighting begins. Go with me a little way; for, thank God! that that gentle One who is so tender with weak and child-like hearts that He will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, is yet of such gigantic might that He, stronger than the strongest, can and will trample down all His enemies and ours under His feet, till He brings forth judgment unto victory. See, then, how He binds. A little while ago some straitening circumstance happened to you, and you felt strangely circumscribed. Perhaps you were confined to your house; perhaps you were laid on a sick bed-you were shut out from the scenes you loved so well-your spirit felt cramped-your life became as a galling fetter-and you chafed against the restraint which you felt, but could not overcome. You did not know or think at that time that this was the very way by which that stronger one was proceeding to bind that old, strong, self-willed, impetuous nature in you, which, rampant so many years, had done you such grievous harm-you, who were the slave of your evil passions! Or, a very heavy trial almost crushed you-not you, but the old habit-the old affection-the old man in you-which many a lighter means had been tried, and tried in vain, to subdue and to destroy. Or, a very deep humiliation visited your heart, and many a high thought of your youth was brought low-you felt it very hard; for you did not realize into what pride the strong one was lashing you, and what curbing that proud heart of yours needed before it could be broken. And remember, even the knocking off the prisoners chains will give him pain, and the longer he has worn the chain the greater the pain of loosening. Now mark the spoil. He will bind the strong man, and then He will spoil his house. The habit of sin broken, the soul emancipated; Christ is free to claim His own property, which His own blood has purchased, and His own right hand has rescued. He had restored the property to its rightful owner. And wondrously, in His infinite love, He divides the spoils which He has taken. You, He gives to yourself, so that that is which was not before, nor ever could be-He has made you your own. Nevertheless, you are not your own, but His-your own, because you are His. Your heart, which Satan bound, and He looses, He keeps all for Himself. Your fellowships, your sympathies, He allots for the Church. Your time, your talents, your energies, your charities for the world; your highest exercises of mind, for communion with Himself; your faith for the promises; your ambition for the extension of the truth, and the exalting of His own empire; your awe and love for holy worship; your soul, bound up in the bundle of life, for heaven, and for eternity; your knees for prayer; your tongue for holy utterances; your ears for truth; your eyes to receive and emit sacred influences; your feet for mission; your whole body for saintly service. So He divides the spoils; and yet they are all the more one, because they are divided; for it is all for all; and all for all for Him; and all for all for Him forever. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 27. -30. No man, &c.] For an explanation of these verses, and a definition of the sin against the Holy Ghost, see Mt 12:29-33.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
No man can enter into a strong man’s house,…. This is properly a parable; the other seem to be proverbs, or sayings, that were commonly used to show the ill consequences of discords, factions, and divisions, as is explained in the note on
[See comments on Mt 12:29].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Spoil (). Plunder, compound verb, thoroughly ransack. Picture of Satan plundering the demons, the very tools () by which he carried on his business. A reductio ad absurdum. Jesus is the conqueror of Satan, not in league with him.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Spoil [] . Mark uses the stronger and more vivid compound verb, where Matthew employs the simple aJrpasai. The verb means, primarily, to tear in pieces; to carry away, as the wind; to efface, as footsteps. So, generally, to seize as plunder, snatching right and left.
His goods [ ] . Lit., his vessels. So Wyc. Compare Mr 10:16; Act 9:15; Act 10:11; 2Ti 2:20. The special object of the robber may be precious vessels of gold or silver; but the word is probably used in its general sense of household gear.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “No man can enter into a strong man’s house,” (all’ ou dunatai oudeis eis ten oikian tou ischurou eiselthon) “But not a single person is able to enter into the residence of the strong man,”
2) “And spoil his goods,” (ta skeue autou diarpasai) “To plunder his goods,” and if Jesus was evicting demons from the habitat to which Beelzebub had assigned them, was He not by their own admission stronger than Beelzebub?
3) “Except he will first bind the strong man (lean me proton ton ischuron dese) “Unless he should first bind the strong man,” who was over the strong man’s household, the devil’s household, deranged spirits that Jesus was casting out, Mar 3:11; Mar 3:15.
4) “And then he will spoil his house.” (kai tole ten oikian autou diarpasei) “And then he will plunder his house or residence;- This is what Jesus has done to Satan, through His death, Heb 2:14-15; 1Jn 3:8.
This consort of Pharisees, Scribes, and Herodians sought at this point, not only to destroy Jesus but also His new found church, whose apostles He had empowered to perform miracles, cast out devils, Mar 3:15; Joh 15:20; 1Ti 3:15.
UNION IN STRENGTH
An aged man, who was dying, requested his sons to assemble in his chamber, each one being provided with a stout stick. These, he requested them to bind together. He then commanded each, to try to break the whole bundle. Not one could do this. Once more the sticks were distributed, when each one easily broke the stick he held. “Learn from that,” said the old man, “that union is strength.” While you are united, and stand by each other, no enemy or adverse circumstances will destroy you. But become disunited, and your overthrow will be easy.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
‘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’ (Luk 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 (Mar 1:13) compare Rev 12:7-9; Rev 20:1-2, 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’ (Isa 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’ (Isa 49:24-25). So here God was at work in deliverance as promised in Isaiah. How could they then deny it?
Mat 12:28 adds, ‘If I by the Spirit of God (Luk 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 Mar 3:29, and is made clear in Mar 1:10; Mar 1:12, together with the emphasis on the nearness of God’s Kingly Rule (Mar 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 Mar 9:14-29 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 (1Pe 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.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Mar 3:27. The strong man The strong one; Satan rightly so called, from his power in the hearts of men. Heylin.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
27 No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
Ver. 27. See Trapp on “ Mat 12:29 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mar 3:27 by another figure shows the true state of the case. Jesus, not in league with Satan or Beelzebub, but overmastering him, and taking possession of his goods, human souls. The saying is given by Mk. much the same as in Mt.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
No man Cau = No one is any wise able to.
No. Greek. ou. App-105.
a = the.
spoil = plunder.
goods = vessels (of gold or silver), &c.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Mar 3:27. -, -) A most similar construction occurs; Deu 20:5, etc.- , ; also Gen 27:12; Mat 5:25; Mat 26:53; Mat 27:64; Rom 11:25-26; Rom 11:35; also Mar 5:23 at the end of the verse; Luk 13:25; Luk 18:7; Joh 12:35.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Gen 3:15, Isa 27:1, Isa 49:24-26, Isa 53:12, Isa 61:1, Mat 12:29, Luk 10:17-20, Luk 11:21-23, Joh 12:31, Rom 16:20, Eph 6:10-13, Col 2:15, Heb 2:14, 1Jo 3:8, 1Jo 4:4, Rev 12:7-9, Rev 20:1-3
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN GOOD AND EVIL
No man can enter into a strong mans house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
Mar 3:27
We have no a priori right to deny the existence of evil spirits. It has been urged that in a world created by a good, and wise, and powerful God, a being like Satan can have no conceivable place. But the argument obviously proves too much. We have not a few bad men, and not a few bad women, around us, who act the part of tempters to others, and labour hard to make them as depraved and as wretched as themselves. How are they to be accounted for? And unless we are prepared to show cause why an unseen and spiritual personage should be an utter impossibilitythe very fact of the existence in the world that we do know of such people as I have spoken of may well raise the presumption that there may be something corresponding to them, and even on a larger scale of intelligence and power, in the world that we do not know.
I. Our Lords testimony.In the passage before us, our Lord is quite at one with His accusers in the crowd as to the fact of the existence and the agency of evil spirits. He speaks of Himself and of another person (not impersonation) who is opposed to Him. The latter is strong, and hold his goods and keeps his house; but Jesus is stronger, and enters into the others house and binds him and wrests his possessions out of his hand.
II. The opposing forces.In this great universe, of which we men form apparently so inconsiderable a part, there are two kingdomsthe kingdom of light on the one side, and the kingdom of darkness on the other; or, to express oneself in different words, the kingdoms of good and of evil, or of truth and of falsehood. Each of these kingdoms has a personal Head. On the one side stands Jesus Christ, the God-man, the source of all light and knowledge, of all holiness and purity and goodness, the loving, gentle, kind, sympathising Saviour and Sovereign of mankind. And ranged behind Him, and guided and directed by Him, and working under Him, are the multitudes of the saints, the men and the women who believe in His Name and desire to extend His influence over the earth, and with them an innumerable, but invisible, company of the holy angels. These three together (the Captain and his two bands of soldiers) constitute what may be called the army of the living God. On the other side stand the dark hosts of Satan. They form (we suppose) a vast organisation. St. Pauls language seems to intimate as much when he tells us that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities; against powers, against the ruler of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The idea conveyed in this language is, first, that of great numbers. Then, of the formidable power. This huge organisation, bound together not by the tie of love, but by the tie of fierce, consuming hatred against God, is led (as it appears) by one mighty chieftain, whom our Lord denominates Satan. Is it fanciful to suppose that this dark potentate and his subordinates, who have now studied our human nature, and the circumstances in which we live, for thousands of years, know all about us, and all about each individual member of the human family; understand our weaknesses, our proclivities; are acquainted with our past and our present; and, like the hunter, who prepares the most tempting bait for the creature he wishes to entrap, are skilful to spread the toils into which we are most likely to fall, to weave the airy, unsubstantial phantoms by the fascinations of which we may be most easily led on to the very verge of the pit of destruction? Such a view, I think, we are justified in taking. It is not fanciful; it is not poetical. It is plain, simple matter of fact.
III. No neutrality.The conflict between these two kingdoms is even now going on. And the formidable, the almost appalling thought is this, that we are compelled, whether we like it or not, to take our part in it. We might wish to stand aloof as mere spectators; perhaps we do wish to be spared the trouble, the effort, the strain, the risk of it. But that cannot be. We must take one side or the other. We must be for Christ, or against Him. And the veriest trifler, who flits about, butterfly-like, from pleasure to pleasure, in apparent innocence and gaiety of heart, doing no harm (as we say), but also doing no good, is and must be implicated in this great strife, which is going on through the ages, and which, if we had only the faculties to look into the heart of things, we should see to be in deed and in truth shaking both heaven and earth.
Rev. Prebendary Gordon Calthrop.
Illustration
In that terrible scene, when the future Judge of all was brought up to the bar of a human judge, and was accused and condemned by His own creatures, Pilate laboured hard to exonerate himself from responsibility, to lay the burden upon others shoulders, to stand aside himself, so as not to be implicated and entangled with one party or the other; and he took water and washed his hands before the multitude, in order to show how completely (as he thought) he had succeeded in the attempt. But he had not succeeded. He was under the necessity of taking his side for or against, as all men have to do when Christ appears before them.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE STRONG MAN ARMED
When Christ cast out an evil spirit from a man, it was in itself a great act. But Christ gave it a far greater importance, by the way in which He taught us to regard it. It was not, He said, a solitary miracle; it was a part of a great undertaking which He was accomplishing.
I. The house.Every ones own heart is a house, or a palace, which Satan, as a strong man armed, holds and keeps. So long as the strong man holds his palace on an undisputed tenure, it is all quiet; his goodsalas that the man himself is among the chattels!his goods are in peace. But when Christ, Who is represented as the stronger Onewhen the stronger One comes, there is warfare, warfare to the death; and this warfare in the breast is the first, and for a long while, the only token for good.
II. The binding.See how He binds. A little while ago some straitening circumstances happened to you, and you felt strangely circumscribed. You chafed against the restraint which you felt but could not overcome. Or a very heavy trial almost crushed you, or a very deep humiliation visited your heart, or for a while you were utterly shut in to dark and dreary thoughts. The mystery grew very deep. But, unknown to you, the stronger was binding the strong one. The fire of persecution and shame and suffering that was kindled upon youit was not to burn you, but the enemies that were spiritually oppressing you; and at the same time, it consumed the bands that encircled you, and set you free, to walk joyfully through the furnace.
III. The spoil.He will bind the strong man, and then He will spoil his house. The habit of sin broken, the power of sin reduced, the love of sin destroyed, the soul is emancipated; and now Christ is free to claim His own property, which His own blood has purchased and His own right hand has rescued. Has not He a right? Are not all the spoils His?
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
7
The illustration is this. A man must overthrow another in order to plunder his house, and to do that he would have to be stronger than the man of the house. If Satan casts out Satan, then we have the foolish conclusion that Satan is stronger than Satan which is so absurd that no reply was possible.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Verse 27
The strong man; meaning Satan,–with whom they had accused him of being in league.