Jesus binds the strong man...

Mat 12:28-29 NASB "But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. (29) "Or how can anyone enter the strong man's house and carry off his property, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house.

Just thought it's interesting how the deity, authority, and omnipotence of Christ is consistently challenged. Whether it be a cult, individual, or scoffer, they all take their shot and diminishing the power of Christ. For example, the preceding verse depicts Jesus challenging the Pharisees and their allegations that He was casting out demons by the power of demons. This is typical of those who wish to dismiss or even worse deny what is truly the work of the Spirit.

The strong man's house is plain to see as the house of the enemy himself, Satan. Many take this verse and misconstrue it into a prescription for binding Satan and binding his evil spirits/works upon them. But that is not what this passage "plainly" states. If we look at Scripture, we can see how easily the strong man's house can be understood as being the enemies' in this context (2 Cor 4:4, Phi 3:19, Eph 2:2)

Jesus' powerfully proclaims His deity in the statement, "...kingdom of God has come upon you" and promptly places the Pharisees and their accusations in their rightful positions, which just so happens to be error. The Gospel of Luke echoes this very same statement (11:20). Jesus makes His point apparent, at least in a plain reading. Jesus asks them (Mt. 12:27) to account for who among them casts out demons and by what name do they do so? So Jesus states a powerful tangible here, "If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God..." then they are basically in a whole lot of trouble, for the kingdom of God has come upon them!

So here's the thrust of this passage. We have assurance in the power of Christ. No doubt He has asserted not only His authority (Spirit of God), and His strength (Mt. 12:30), but His grace for those who follow and attribute to Him all glory and honor! Jesus has bound the strong man, plundered his house and taken what was his (Us). Anyone else who would say otherwise and blatantly deny what Christ says is obvious, and ignore the forgiveness of sins by the Son of God stands and stays condemned (Mt. 12:32).