“But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.” – Mark 3:27
There’s a lot of good news packed into this verse! The context is Jesus casting demons out of people, which He often did. The Pharisees accuse Jesus of doing this by the power of Satan. That’s absurd, as Jesus points out. Rather, Jesus makes it crystal clear that the meaning of all this is that He’s vastly more powerful than the devil!
Satan is the strong man Jesus refers to in this verse. Jesus is the one plundering the household of Satan by overpowering him. With the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom, Jesus made evident to the devil and the world that Satan’s time of power was nearing its end. Though Satan had authority over this fallen world, Jesus came to earth and started rescuing precious human souls from the clutches of the devil.
With each person who puts his or her faith in Jesus Christ, another soul is taken from the devil’s grasp and relocated into God’s Kingdom. Each believer is part of the treasure Jesus plunders from Satan’s house! Satan can rage about it. He can attack. He can tempt. He can undermine. He can’t win, though. One infinitely greater and more powerful has come!
There is no power of the devil that isn’t broken and overcome by Jesus. Praise God that when we trust in Christ, we are sealed by the Holy Spirit. Our souls are made secure in Christ and we become God’s treasure, rather than Satan’s trophy!