Binding Satan

Mark 3 : 22 - 30

The popular opinion of this passage often centers on anxiety regarding the danger of blasphemy. However, I believe we miss the deeper focus of the passage if we only view it as a strong warning about this sin. Of course, I don’t want to trivialize the sin of blasphemy or treat it lightly. But if we are still struggling with anxiety over this issue, it may indicate that, unintentionally, we are in fact blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Rather than focusing solely on the danger of blasphemy, I think we can learn much more from Jesus’ teaching. If we examine the structure of this pericope, we see that Mark applies a kind of “sandwich structure.” What does that mean? By carefully reading the previous and following passages, we can observe that people— even Jesus’ followers—are attempting to “bind” Him. Yet, in this passage, it is Jesus who binds the strong man, namely Satan.

Many sermons have pointed out that there is a tendency in sinful humanity to attempt to bind Jesus, which means to confine Him to a compartment that fits our limited understanding or projections. According to our sinful nature, we don’t want to follow Jesus; instead, we want God to follow us. So, not only do we fail to realize that we must first be liberated in order to follow Him, but we also, in our imprisonment, try to “catch” or “compartmentalize” Jesus according to our own small capacity for understanding.

This issue is not only a warning for the self-righteous Pharisees and scribes, but also for Jesus’ own followers and family. Isn’t it ironic that even Jesus’ family members thought He was out of His mind and tried to cease Him? The word “cease” in Greek implies an effort to bind someone, to strip them of their freedom. While Jesus is the one who can liberate humanity from its bondage, they believed He was the one who needed to be imprisoned.

What can we learn from this story? Namely, that even close blood relationships—like that of Jesus’ family—can fail to truly understand or know Him. This principle applies to us as well. There’s no guarantee that, because we believe in or love God, our families will be of one heart and mind with us. Following Jesus is a personal decision—an individual engagement. Each of us must stand alone before Jesus and choose to respond to His invitation.

So, what are our options in this story? Do we see the work of God in Jesus, or do we see evil at work in Him? The self-righteous scribes and Pharisees took the latter stance, making a malicious judgment. In truth, Jesus was doing the work of His Father, revealing the character of God. Yet, because of their unbelief, they couldn’t see this and instead accused Him of doing evil.

The same principle applies when it comes to the Church. Do you see God at work in the Church, or have you become so disillusioned that you can only criticize, unable to see the beauty of God’s work? I’m not equating the Church with Jesus—after all, Jesus is sinless, while the Church is imperfect. There is a qualitative difference. However, if we only see evil in the Church, I believe we are making a malicious judgment. We are blind to the work of God and only focus on its flaws.

This is the subtle danger of blasphemy—when we don’t directly blaspheme God or Jesus but instead keep suspecting God’s beautiful work of being evil. The Holy Spirit is at work, but because of our judgment, we fail to recognize His work. So, we must be cautious of this kind of sin.

Earlier, I mentioned that Jesus is the one who can liberate us from sin and unbelief. A beautiful quote from a commentary puts it this way: “Jesus does something for humanity (for you and me) before doing something to it.” What does this mean? It means that Jesus must first liberate us from the bondage of sin and evil before He can restore us to bear the image of God.

We are utterly unable to free ourselves from the power of sin. Even in our sinful nature, we tend to focus on the negative—on flaws in the Church, in others, and in our families. So, to truly believe in Jesus and recognize the beauty of God’s work is a gift from heaven.

There’s also the possibility of misjudging Jesus’ work as motivated by evil rather than driven by His Father. John Milton provides a striking depiction of Satan in his writings, describing him as one who finds goodness unbearable. This echoes the warning from Isaiah 5:20: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” And this is exactly what happened in Mark 3:22. The people failed to see the light and beauty of God’s work and instead called it the work of darkness.

Why do people misjudge the work of God? It’s often due to the sin of pride or self-righteousness. If we are too prideful or self-righteous, we cannot see God’s word or His beautiful work. Not only will we fail to see it, but we will also call light darkness and darkness light. This isn’t just a problem for the Pharisees; it is a human problem in general. That’s why we must be aware of the subtle danger of blasphemy.

We live in a fallen world, and we are often conditioned to see evil all around us. However, we must be careful not to lose sight of the beauty of God’s work in this broken world. If we become too sarcastic or cynical, we may start to believe that nothing good can happen. This attitude is a form of blasphemy, because it denies the ongoing work of God. That’s why we must approach God humbly, ask for forgiveness, and pray that He would open our eyes to see the beauty of His work, even in a fallen world.

We can begin to recognize God’s work in our families, in the marketplace, and in society. As we learned in a previous sermon, the God we believe in is not a territorial God, but the God of the universe. What does this imply? It means that God is at work not just in the Church or in certain parts of the world, but also in our homes, workplaces, governments, and societies. Again, living in a fallen world often leads us to sarcasm and disappointment. Sarcasm is a form of hopelessness. But we have true hope in Jesus Christ. So, while God is still at work, we are called to participate in His beautiful work. This is the very opposite of blasphemy.

The good news of liberation also applies to the self-righteous scribes, Pharisees, and all who misjudge Jesus. Unfortunately, they rejected the very possibility of being liberated by Jesus. This is the Church’s mission: to preach and proclaim that without Jesus, there is no freedom from the power of darkness. So, we must believe, ask the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts and minds to see the beautiful work of God, and actively participate in God’s work. May God bless us all. (G.N.S.)