This morning is Palm Sunday, the day when we celebrate the day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem for the Passover to fulfill this prophecy of Zechariah.
Zechariah 9:9-12
9 Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion!
Shout, Daughter Jerusalem!
See, your king comes to you,
righteous and victorious,
lowly and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
10 I will take away the chariots from Ephraim
and the warhorses from Jerusalem,
and the battle bow will be broken.
He will proclaim peace to the nations.
His rule will extend from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you, because of the blood of my covenant with you,
I will free your prisoners from the waterless pit.
12 Return to your fortress, you prisoners of hope;
even now I announce that I will restore twice as much to you.
Peace by establishing Jesus’ rule here on the earth. Freedom for prisoners of hope, double restored for what has been stolen because of the blood covenant that God has made with us.
Jesus once stood up in the synagogue where He grew up in on the Sabbath, asked for the scroll of Isaiah and read:
Isaiah 61:1
1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners
He then said that on that day, this prophecy was being fulfilled. I believe that not only did Jesus fulfill this prophecy, but that we get to fulfill it as well!
The past three weeks, we have learned about the fundamental church element of God’s provision. Oh, if we only realized all that has been provided under this new covenant and what the fullness of our salvation makes available to us!
As we learned last week, we truly do reap what we sow and we reap to the degree of our generosity in sowing.
This morning, we move onto another principle that could be another reason for us still finding ourselves in need. There was definitely not enough time to cover this one last week!
There may be things in our lives that either need to be bound or loosed.
Here’s an example of this. A woman was crippled and bent over for 18 years and could not stand up straight. She needed healing; perhaps spine surgery or a really good chiropractor, right? Well, her need for healing could not be met by medical methods.
Luke 13:10-17
10 On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, 11 and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. 12 When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, “Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.” 13 Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.
14 Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue leader said to the people, “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath.”
15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?”
17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
Her need for physical healing existed because she was spiritually bound and needed loosed. The root cause was spiritual and not physical, but it manifested itself physically.
I really wish that spirits of infirmity would just find something more productive to do… Why would Satan keep this poor woman bound for so long?
Well, we know that his goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. Think of everything in your life that would be affected if you were forced to be doubled over like that for 18 years! More than we would think would be stolen, killed, and destroyed by that condition…
What need might we have that just seems to never be met no matter what we do to try and deal with it? There might just be a spiritual issue at play!
In teaching about demons, Jesus made the analogy that our lives are like houses.
For the most part, we choose who we allow into our homes; who we bind our lives together with. We also choose who is not allowed into our homes; those whom we loose from our lives.
No matter how secure and clean and occupied of a home that we keep, unwanted visitors who were never invited in decide to make our home their own. Whether it be vermin like mice, rats, or bats or bugs like spiders, stink bugs, or lady bugs, they invade our homes.
We have to deal with these uninvited invaders and clearly show them that they are not welcome in our homes.
If we were to ever leave our homes for an extended period of time, even though we still own them, we’ll find that many others will come to occupy them. If we don’t occupy and steward our physical homes, it does not take long for them to fall into disarray and to be invaded by others.
Speaking of demons may be uncomfortable, but it’s a necessary topic. It’s one of the primary root issues that Jesus dealt. Many of His miracles of healing and deliverance and provision were performed by commanding demons to flee.
Being a Christian doesn’t mean that we won’t ever have to deal with demons in our lives. I don’t believe that we can be fully possessed by demons because of the Holy Spirit’s presence within our lives. However, we can certainly be afflicted and oppressed by them.
They don’t leave Christians alone. In fact, I think that we are more of a desirable target for them because we are more of a threat to them and they’re jealous that we have something that they never can; salvation!
Having stronger faith and a greater infilling of the Holy Spirit and more knowledge of the Bible and a rich prayer life and moving in more of God’s miraculous power and whatever else we may think make us a greater Christian won’t spare us this reality, either.
It’s tough to find a more effective Christian than the one who wrote most of the New Testament and performed the same miracles that Jesus did. However, even Paul dealt with demonic affliction. In fact, it was being entrusted with great spiritual revelation that seemed to open the door for this affliction. He said:
2 Corinthians 12:6-9
6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Binding and loosing sometimes has to do with what we permit and deny in our lives by our own choosing.
Sometimes, we forget to close a window in the summer and as darkness falls and our lights come on, insects are drawn in. We opened up our home to them and invited them in without realizing it.
Sometimes, people aren’t what they seem to be. We invite them in and bind our lives together with them on purpose. However, as time goes on and truth begins to be revealed and fruits are shown, we realize that they aren’t really someone that we should be bound to.
We choose to loose that relationship. Either we distance ourselves a bit from them or we stop having them around altogether.
All of these physical analogies apply spiritually.
Luke 11:14-26
14 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebul, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” 16 Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven.
17 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 20 But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.
23 “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.
24 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”
So really, our goal shouldn’t be a to have a clean and tidy house of a life, but a full life so that those impure spirits stay on the outside where they belong.
Binding and loosing.
To do so is to first understand a lot of what we’ve been covering recently. God’s power and how to use the authority that we have been trusted with. Valuing our relationship with Jesus and getting to know who He is. Being good stewards over all that we are and all that God has given us. Understanding that ultimately God’s will shall always be done and not our own.
Matthew 16:13-19
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be (or will have been) bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be (or will have been) loosed in heaven.”
There are a whole lot of thoughts and ideas that theologians have about this scripture. However, I believe that it wasn’t really Peter who was the main subject and point of focus here.
I don’t believe that this established Peter as the first pope in a long line of popes. I don’t think that Peter will be awaiting us at the pearly gates of Heaven deciding who will get in and who will be denied access.
I don’t believe that Peter alone was given the keys of the kingdom nor that he alone was given the authority to bind or loosen.
The context, as I read it, is all about Peter realizing who Jesus truly was. That was the focus and the point.
It was this revelation that Peter had about who Jesus was that released this access and authority. Shortly after, Jesus says this again to all of His disciples; the church.
Matthew 18:15-20
15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
18 “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be (or will have been) bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be (or will have been) loosed in heaven.
19 “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Why two or three? Authority is a legal issue.
Deuteronomy 19:15
One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
Two or three witnesses has always been God’s standard. The only reason that God’s word is always true and needs no witnesses is because He exists as three-in-one; Father, Son, and Spirit, so there are always two other witnesses.
Can we bind and loose things ourselves? Me and the Holy Spirit are how many? 2. So, yes, we can. However, there is greater authority when we have agreement among 2 or 3 or more in the context of church. When 2 or 3 believers gather in Jesus’ name, He said that He is right there with them. 2 or 3 with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus, well, demons get a little uncomfortable when we all show up!
So what do we bind and what do we loose?
It goes back to what Jesus prayed, how He lived, and how He ministered.
He taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father that His kingdom would come and that His will would be done here on the earth even as it is in Heaven. He said that He could do nothing by Himself, but can only do what He sees His Father doing.
We are binding here on the earth what is bound in Heaven and loosing here on the earth what is loosed in Heaven. The tense of words get tricky in the heavenly, eternal realm. The concept of binding and loosing is that what we do here on the earth affect the heavenly realm around us.
In fact, a good concept for us to keep in mind with binding and loosing is marriage. Marriage is a legal agreement that binds two together for life and is required to be done before witnesses. Divorce is loosing the legal binding agreement of marriage.
What are we choosing to bind to our lives either intentionally or unintentionally? What access have we opened up in the houses of our lives? That access either permits good or bad into our lives, which binds itself to us.
We want to bind good and Godly things to our lives. We want that access to be wide open!
Jesus says:
Revelation 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.
We have to open the door of our lives and invite Jesus in; binding our lives to Him and His to us.
In Deuteronomy 6, God commanded His people to bind His word on their hands and foreheads, on their doorposts and gates as reminders of His truth and His promises.
We want to loose bad and evil things from our lives. We want to close up that access!
Ephesians 4:27-28
27 and do not give the devil a foothold. 28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.
Denying access to the enemy is directly related to the way in which he previously had us bound. In this example, someone has a temptation to steal, so they instead must take those idle and sneaky hands and put them to use working and providing for those in need. Access denied!
1 Thessalonians 5:21-22
21 …hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
Romans 12:9
…Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
What we do in the natural realm affects what is happening in the spiritual realm. What we bind on earth is bound in the heavenly realms and what we loose on earth is loosed in the heavenly realms.
Ephesians 6:10-12
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
Why do we bind and loose, though?
Why doesn’t God just do it?
He purposed us as co-laborers; to work and care for His creation.
We created us to cultivate and keep it; to tend and watch over it.
Jesus said:
1 John 3:8b
The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
1 John 4:17
This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
This Palm Sunday we are reminded that Jesus sent the demons fleeing and set many captives free by loosing those who were bound.
Now we have been entrusted, empowered, and authorized to also bind and loose. Here on earth even as it is in Heaven!