Unlimited: Is it God or the Devil?
And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.”
So, Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house” (Mark 3:22–27, NIV).
Jesus’ enemies are mainly based in Jerusalem. When they see Jesus driving out demons, they tell the people that he is able to do this because Jesus is possessed by the devil himself, and he is doing it to deceive the people.
The teachers of the law can’t deny what Jesus is doing; that he really is liberating people from the power of demons. And since they can’t deny it, they try to explain it away by saying that Jesus is doing it by the power of the devil.
Jesus applies some good sound logic to the situation. He asked the religious leaders, “How can Satan drive out Satan?” Satan can’t work against himself.
But notice what Jesus said at the end. He said, “No one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house.”
What Jesus was saying was that Satan was the “strong man” and that he was the one plundering Satan’s house. But to do that, he had to disable the strong man and leave him helpless.
Jesus was saying that when people saw him driving out demons, it was because Satan was helpless before him.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
Eli’s Reflection: Sometime today, find a nice, quiet spot where you can pray and meditate on the Word of God. What is the one area of your life in which Satan attacks you the most? Do you realize that the devil lies bound and helpless at the feet of Jesus? Hand this area of your life over to Jesus and ask for his mercy and power.
Republished with permission from Blogs.crossmap.com, featuring inspiring Bible verses about Unlimited: Is It God Or The Devil? | Good News Unlimited.
