Victory . . . in Jesus

Matthew 12:28-29

But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house.

Tom Wright, Matthew for Everyone (Vol. 1)

In fact (verses 29-30) what Jesus is doing is a sign of something he’s already done. If he’s now helping himself to the property of “the strong man,” it can only be because he’s already tied him up. First you have to win the victory over the satan (our minds, of course, go back to Matthew 4:1-11); then you can plunder his possessions. There is a sobering word there for all who seek to advance God’s kingdom. Are we prepared to go the long, hard route of first winning the victory over temptation! (148).

A. Orendorff

Victory within the gospel-shaped life, does not arise from what we do, from (as Wright says) “first winning the victory over temptation.” Instead, victory arises exclusively from what God has done for us (on our behalf) via His Son. The point of vv. 28-29 is to stress the objective and indicative nature of Christ’s kingdom bringing work, not the subjective and imperative nature of what we as followers must do. Jesus (not us) has bound the strong man. Moreover, this binding is a statement of redemptive fact not a moralistic command. God has (past action, on going result) “disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him [through the cross]” (Col. 2:15). Our action, empowered by the Spirit, occurs as a response to what God has already done, in Jesus, to win the victory for us. We fight not to win, but because One greater than us has already secured the outcome.