When Did Jesus Bind the Strongman?
Question: In Luke 11:21-22 Jesus said: “When a strong man, with all his weapons ready, guards his own house, all his belongings are safe. But when a stronger man attacks him and defeats him, he carries away all the weapons the owner was depending on and divides up what he stole.” My question is, when did this happen? And if it already happened, why does it seem that Satan continues to have so much power in this world?
Answer: Your question addresses the famous “already/not yet” tension in New Testament eschatology. The New Testament speaks of Christ’s victory over Satan and of our salvation in three tenses: past, present and future. Christ defeated Satan on Calvary, is defeating Satan through the Church, and will defeat Satan when he fully establishes his Kingdom on earth.
The analogy that is often used to describe this “already/ not yet” tension is D-Day. World War II was for all intents and purposes won by the Allied Forces on June 6, 1944 (D-Day). Yet, it took another year to get to V-Day (Victory Day, when Germany surrendered). Meantime, there were still important battles to fight.
So, Jesus accomplished D-Day when he died and rose again. In principle, the “strongman” was bound at this time. Yet, this victory is still in the process of being manifested and will only be fully manifested when Christ returns and fully establishes his Kingdom on the earth. This will be the V-day of the Kingdom and for all creation.
Category: Q&A
Tags: Bible, New Testament, Q&A
Topics: Atonement and The Cross, Spiritual Warfare, Cosmic Conflict
Related Reading
Why did God create me with an uncontrollable sex drive?
Question: Why did God create us with far more of a sex drive than we need for reproduction and far more than we can handle to refrain from sex before and outside of marriage? It seems like a cruel joke! Answer: Sex is a wonderful, beautiful, God-glorifying gift. It’s not just for reproduction–it’s also for…
When God Endorsed Polygamy
We often find God acting as if he supports things we know, by other means, that he does not. For example, though his ideal was monogamy, it’s clear in the biblical narrative that, once God decided to permit men to acquire multiple wives and concubines, he was not above bearing the sin of his people…
What is the significance of Exodus 13:17?
The Lord didn’t lead Israel along the shortest route to Canaan because Israel would have had to fight the Philistines. The Lord wanted to avoid this, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt.” [NIV: “If they face war they might change their minds and return to Egypt”].…
How do you respond to Deuteronomy 30:16–23?
The Lord tells Moses of his impending death and then prophesies that “this people will begin to prostitute themselves to the foreign gods in their midst…breaking my covenant that I have made with them” (vs. 16). The Lord will have to judge them accordingly (vs. 17–18). He then inspires Joshua to write a song for…
“You” Means “Y’all”
Mrs Logic via Compfight Justin Hiebert over at Empowering Missional wrote a piece last week titled The Bible isn’t for you. Justin rightly points out that our individualistic mindset has caused us to misread huge portions of the Bible. He challenges us to read the Bible as a community rather than as individuals. It seems…
Doesn’t Psalm 139:16 refute the open view of the future?
One of the passages most frequently cited in attempts to refute the open view of the future is Psalm 139:16. Here David says that God viewed him while he was being formed in the womb (vs. 15) and then adds: “[Y]our eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in…