The signs are an act of God’s grace through which he would make men aware what hour it is. Whosoever does not repent is damned. So it comes to pass with the inhabitants of Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum. But whosoever blasphemes against the Holy Ghost and ascribes the signs to the power of ungodliness has no forgiveness in eternity. The scribes from Jerusalem made themselves guilty in Galilee of this offence (Mk 3:22 ff.). Those, however, who did not harden themselves held that the Kingdom of God stands at the door and that Jesus is the Forerunner, because they had evidently entered [pg 143] the age of signs which the Scripture had prophesied. 4. The Victory over Demons and the Secret of the Kingdom of God. For Jesus the signs signified the nearness of the Kingdom in a sense still higher than the purely temporal, chronological nearness. By his victory over the demons he was conscious of _influencing the coming of it._ The secret of the Kingdom of God plays into this conception. The thought is contained in the parable with which he repels the false suspicions of the Jerusalem scribes (Mk 3:23-30). The meaning of this parable is, in fact, not exhausted by the thought that the argument that evil spirits do not undermine their own dominion by rising up one against another. In the concluding word we encounter unexpectedly the “now and then” which is characteristic of the secret of the Kingdom of God: “No one can enter into the house of the strong man and spoil his goods, except he _first_ bind the strong man, and _then_ he will spoil his house.” The casting out of demons, therefore, signified for Jesus the binding of the power of ungodliness and rendering it harmless. Hence this activity, like the moral renewal in the secret of the [pg 144] Kingdom, stands in causal relation with the dawning of the Kingdom of God. Through his conquest of the demons Jesus is the man of violence who compels the approach of the Kingdom. For when the power of ungodliness is bound, then comes the moment when the dominion shall be taken from it. In order that this may happen it must first be rendered harmless. Hence in sending the Disciples upon their mission Jesus not only commands them to proclaim the nearness of the Kingdom, but he also gives them authority over the demons (Mt 10:1). In that moment of highest eschatological expectation he sends them out as the men of violence who are to deal the last blow. The repentance which is to be accomplished by their preaching, and the overcoming of the power of ungodliness in the demoniacs, work together for the hastening of the Kingdom. Thus the parables of the secret of the Kingdom (Mark 4), the parable in Jesus’ apology to the Pharisees (Mk 3:23-30), and the parable in the eulogy of the Baptist (Mt 11:12-15) all express the same thought. The two latter correspond even in the drastic image of violent action, whence the notion of “robbery” is common to them both (Mk 3:27 = Mt 11:12). [pg 145]