Ok,.... why is binding and loosing important in Christianity?
Well, I submit it was the way that Jesus removed evil spirits from people. Jesus made this statement,...
Mat 12:22 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the dumb man spake and saw.
Mat 12:23 And all the multitudes were amazed, and said, Is this the son of David?
Mat 12:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This man doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.
Mat 12:25 And knowing their thoughts he said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:
Mat 12:26 and if Satan casteth out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand?
Mat 12:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? therefore shall they be your judges.
Mat 12:28 But if I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is the kingdom of God come upon you.
Mat 12:29 Or how can one 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.
What started this was the casting out of an evil spirit from a possessed man, which was considered a healing in the text. Jesus then makes the mention of binding the strong man first to then spoil the house, or in other words, remove him. He makes the mention of this in direct relation to the casting out of that evil spirit.
So how is this done??? How is an evil spirit bound to remove him/it??
The text doesn't explain it here, but there is another section of text in scripture that does make mention of binding, and it is over in Matthew 16 and 18,...
Mat 16:19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth shall be loosed in heaven.
I submit that this portion of the gospel account is affiliated with the binding of the strong man. This was the way they were commanded out by Jesus. Now do we have an example of this? We have a partial example of this,...
Luk 13:10 And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath day.
Luk 13:11 And behold, a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years; and she was bowed together, and could in no wise lift herself up.
Luk 13:12 And when Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.
Luk 13:13 And he laid his hands upon her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.
Jesus commanded the evil spirit away by stating that she was loosed from it and it's affects upon her. From what I can tell from the text, this evil spirit was not possessing her, it was somehow around or attached to her and causing her disease and injury and affliction, and Jesus removed it from her by using the loosing portion of the binding and loosing method He mentioned. It seems that not every evil spirit requires to be bound first.
Again, I submit that the binding and loosing method was the method that Jesus used to remove evil spirits.