JESUS has just revealed this tremendous news that the Kingdom of God has come upon people, that is that it is near and available for all who seek membership. He now explains why this is so in this analogy of the strong man armed being overcome by one stronger than he is. There is wonderful truth being taught and explained here. Let us consider it together.

The first thing to establish is who Jesus is referring to by the strong man, and the one stronger than the strong man. There can be no doubt that Jesus is referring to Satan when he speaks of the strong man, and to himself when he speaks of the one stronger than the strong man.

Jesus describes Satan as a strong man who guards his court. This suggests that the strong man is a king, which is true of Satan. He rules over a kingdom. Then we need to ask ourselves what Jesus is referring to when he speaks of the goods, or possessions of the strong man. The answer is the whole host of sinful humanity in the world. Satan holds his goods, all sinful humanity, in peace, because Satan has total control over them. He is their jailer, and he has humanity locked up under his rule. Satan's control over all humanity is the Just and terrible sentence of God that the soul which sins must die. Satan's hold on sinful humanity is because as sinners we are sentenced to be cast from the presence of God, and given over to the death of Satan's rule. This rule must end with everlasting damnation in hell unless a way of escape can be found.

Satan holds humanity in peace because sinful humanity has no power to escape the sentence of death for their sin. The requirement for escape from the rule of Satan is obtaining a perfect righteousness which meets all the demands of God's holy law and commandment. This is impossible for fallen and corrupt human beings to achieve. Even if it were possible for someone to turn over a new leaf and live a perfectly holy life thereafter, this still would not be enough. Because the demands of God's holiness is perfect righteousness without one failure, there is nothing extra sinners can do to atone for past sins. Those sins remain and bring eternal condemnation upon the sinner. The fact is that not only are sinners unable to atone for past sins, they are totally unable to live without sin in the future. The best we sinners can do is to sin a little less.

Here is the reason Satan holds his goods in peace. His unassailable armour is that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and fallen sinners have no way or power to change this situation.

But Jesus declares here that he is the stronger than the strong man. Jesus declares that he has come to overthrow the works of the devil, and he is totally able to do this. Jesus tells us here that he is able to remove all the armour of the strong man, and divide his spoils, which means Jesus takes from him all of those he wishes to save.

How is this power in Jesus? We have already shown in an early meditation that it would be no good for Jesus simply to cast the devil out, for the devil would take his goods, sinful humanity, with him into hell. So how can Jesus be stronger than the strong man, and spoil his goods. The answer is in his life and his death.

The first thing Jesus had to do was to live as man, and live a totally righteous and sinless life. Only in this way could Jesus represent sinners before God. Where the first Adam failed to be sinless, the 2nd Adam had to be sinless if he was to be able to save sinners. Having lived such a sinless life, Jesus was eligible to be the 'lamb without blemish' and offer himself as a perfect sacrifice for sin in the places of sinners. This Jesus did. He accepted the will of God, his Father, and submitted to having the sins of the world put to his account. Then he submitted to death, even death on the cross, where God visited on his only begotten and well-beloved Son all the just punishment the sin of the world deserves. Jesus suffered death and hell on the cross, and being forsaken of the Father.

When Jesus rose from the grave, this was God's testimony that the sacrifice unto death Jesus made was an all-sufficient and complete atonement for the sin of the world. God declared, when he raised Jesus from the dead, that his holy law was entirely satisfied, and death for sin had been fully taken. It was in this way Jesus, at so great a cost, took away the armour of the strong man, the devil. The devil has no hold on sinners who put their trust in Jesus, because Jesus has paid the full price for their release from Satan's rule and bondage, and so Satan must release them into the custody and benign rule of Jesus.