We think of Jesus in nice terms. I’ve heard Him likened before to a gentleman caller, and as a gentleman, Jesus doesn’t force His way into anyone’s life. He simply waits, politely, and says “Please.” He is the door-opening Savior.
Possibly. But that language doesn’t match up with passages like Matthew 12. The context here is a contentious argument between Jesus and the religious leaders, one in which the Son of God is accused of casting out demons by the power of Satan. Or at least that’s what the Pharisees were thinking. And Jesus responds in a very un-gentlemanly kind of way:
Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” (Matthew 12:25-26).
Then Jesus provides an un-gentlemanly illustration:
“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” (Matthew 12:29).
Jesus isn’t the gentleman here. He’s the robber. The thief. The one who breaks in and ties up the homeowner. And then He’s the one who plunders the goods in the house.
The Bible declares a strong Jesus. A mighty Jesus. A Jesus who is Lord over all creation, in whom all things have their being. He’s one that’s not intimidated by the ruler of this world. And thank God He is. Thank God Jesus didn’t wait for me, but instead, bound up the devil and robbed him blind.
Jesus plundered my soul.
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Well said-and humbling.
It should make us approach Jesus differently and people for that matter. I needed to be reminded I don’t serve a soft Jesus.
I wouldn’t compare Jesus to a robber. After all, “Thou shalt not steal” is pretty clear cut, as is Jesus’ statement that He came not to set aside or destroy the law, but to fulfill it.
A thief steals what is not his. Jesus has gone in to reclaim what was stolen from Him by Satan’s lies in the Garden. It’s much more like a special forces operation to reclaim one of ours that is a hostage in an international crisis.
The burden of the sin is on the strong man, not on the one who is plundering the house. Jesus is within his rights to plunder the house in order to take back what was His to begin with.
Granted, and from a larger theological context, I agree. Nevertheless, it seems like Jesus is, for the sake of His illustration, comparing Himself to a robber.
In His illustration, it’s the strong man’s house.