Chapter # 3 Paragraph # 5 Study # 4
December 10, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
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Thesis: Satan's "strength" as "the strong man" consists of his ability to gradually deepen the depravity of men to a "point of no return"; whereas Jesus' "strength" as "the stronger man" consists of His ability to break the power of deception unto repentance.
Introduction: In our studies of this paragraph, we have seen that the "point at issue" is "the official decision of first century Judaism regarding Jesus". The "disciples" (excluding Judas) "went to Him when He summoned them" on the strength of their confidence in His identity as The One Who has authority to forgive sins. The "ones who were supposed to be 'alongside of Him' " attempted to evade this critical issue by simply relegating it to the rantings of a deluded man. And the "scribes from Jerusalem", representing "official Judaism", accused Him of operating by the power of Satan.
Jesus reveals the stupidity of this "official" position by pointing out that the scribes have absolutely no basis in anything they know to declare that "Satan is casting out Satan". Then He claims that He, as the stronger Man Who can bind Satan and "plunder" his holdings, is in a position to exercise His "authority" to "forgive sins". In this claim, it is "people" who are the 'wealth' of the 'strong man' which he attempts to keep within his "house", and it is "some of those people" whom Jesus takes away from the strong man by the promise of the Gospel that "repentance leads to the forgiveness of the sins that have put people into the bondage of Satan's house".
This evening we are going to look into what Jesus went on to say. He specifically addressed the issue: which of those whom the strong man has taken behind the walls of his "house" will Jesus take away from him? In other words, for whom will Jesus exercise His "greater strength"?
- I. The Back Story.
- A. The "big" issue is that issue which establishes Jesus as "The One Who Has Authority To Forgive Sins": exorcisms.
- 1. Healings are a "witness" to Jesus' identity (Matthew 11:2-6), but they do not "establish" Him as "The One Who Has Authority To Forgive Sins".
- a. In Mark's record, "healings" are not what enables people to be "forgiven".
- b. In so far as a "healing" brings a person to the point of "repentance", it might be considered a "tool" unto repentance.
- c. But, as Mark 7:37 compared to 8:27-28 reveals, "healings" do not necessarily bring people to the proper attitude for "forgiveness".
- 2. But "exorcisms" are set, by Mark, in the context of pressing men to yield to Jesus' "doctrine" of "repentance unto forgiveness" (1:27).
- a. Because salvation is "through faith", there has to be a solid foundation laid for "faith" to be a real option.
- b. The reason the scribes declared that "exorcisms" could be a function of an emissary of Satan was that "exorcisms" draw the clear line in the sand: Jesus is more powerful than Satan (making Him "The Stronger One Who will baptize with the Holy Spirit": 1:7-8) and His "new doctrine" is greater than Satan's "twist" on the Law (that it was given to make salvation possible through obedience).
- c. Additionally, in our text/context, the "root" of Satan's "strength" to underwrite the destruction of men consists of his ability to "lead" them into "faith in the deception that Jesus is his tool": for any/all who go that far, Satan has effectively, and permanently, effected their destruction.
- d. What Jesus is declaring is that He has set a limit upon Himself in respect to His "ability" to bind the strong man and plunder his house: He will never forgive anyone who goes so far in his wilfulness as to identify the Holy Spirit with Satan.
- 1) He claims the authority to forgive men (a claim declared "blasphemous" by the scribes: 2:7).
- 2) He warns in our text that no one who "blasphemes" the Holy Spirit will ever be forgiven.
- B. This clearly means that He will not "forgive" anyone who goes down that path and His explanation for His reason for teaching in parables in 4:11-12 is to keep certain ones from any possibility of coming to "repentance" so as to be "forgiven".
- II. The Particulars.
- A. The "scribes" have engaged in determined opposition to Jesus and, thus, have placed a very large stumbling stone before the people as to "what is believable": Jesus does not take this lightly.
- B. Jesus clearly makes Himself "the Stronger Man", but sets a "self-imposed" limit upon His "strength".
- 1. He is fully aware of the nature of Sin and its "progressive 'rot' ".
- a. He allows "forgiveness" to be extended to men whose "sins and blasphemies" are anywhere from slight to enormous.
- b. But He disallows "forgiveness" to any who are actually doing what they accuse Jesus of as to essence: His action is to cast out demons to establish His doctrine; their action is to attempt to reinforce their doctrine by submitting to the demons and Satan's deceptiveness (thus, they become the tools of Satan so that they accuse Him of being such).
- 2. He is also fully committed to making sure people understand what is at stake: eternal freedom from the consequences of "sins and blasphemies" or eternal bondage to those consequences.
