Satan’s house

When the scribes accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, Jesus answers, “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand” (Mark 3:23, 25). The points seems to be: Even if one accepts, for the sake of argument, that Jesus is fighting Satan with Satan’s power, that means that Satan’s house is divided and will fall. He forces the scribes to an aporia : Even if Jesus is in league with Satan, in short, He is against him.

But there is perhaps something more concrete in mind. Thus far in Mark, Jesus encountered Satan in the wilderness, but then found a demon-possessed man in a synagogue and also found murderous Pharisees in a synagogue (3:1-6). Synagogues are the enclosed spaces where Jesus meets Satanic threats face-to-face.

Jesus withdraws to a different house (3:20) and there discourses on the boundaries of His family (3:31-35).

Thus Jesus’ house has been set in contrast to the house of Israel, which is currently where Satan dwells. When Jesus claims to be dividing Satan’s house, he is literally talking about the divisions He creates within Israel. When He talks about plundering the strong man’s house, He is talking about plundering people who are oppressed by the Satanically-inspired leaders of Israel.

Israel is the house that Satan rules, and Jesus comes to divide and topple it, so that He can construct a new house from the pieces.