MARK 3

Mark 3:1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.

He entered again into the synagogue at Capernaum cf: Matt. 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11. The man had a withered hand which was dried up but he had two good feet showing the proverb true: It is never so ill with us but it might be much worse.

Mark 3:2  And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.      

The same critics who had found fault with Him in the preceding chapter have come to accuse Him.   There was present a man whose right hand was withered, and they watched in the Greek: maliciously watched to see whether the Lord would heal him on the Sabbath so they might accuse Him of breaking the law.  These Doctors of the Law had been told 750 years before that when the Messiah came He would heal as a sign of who He was. 

Isaiah 35:3  Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

Isa 35:4  Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Isa 35:5  Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

Isa 35:6  Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

Isa 35:7  And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

Isa 35:8  And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

Isa 35:9  No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

Isa 35:10  And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away

Mark 3:3  And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.

He read their thoughts and determined to do the good work. He would heal him on the Sabbath; heal him in the synagogue, heal him before them all.

Mark 3:4  And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.

Jesus makes a thrust right at the heart of these Doctors of the Law and fault-finders. They wanted to kill Him, they were harboring murderous thoughts; he was seeking to save a life.  Which was breaking the Sabbath?

Mark 3:5  And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.

The most astonishing miracles were lost upon a people who were determined to disbelieve every good thing.  Jesus had anger and righteous indignation because of the Greek: hardness, callousness, deadness and blindness of their hearts; which was shown by their fault finding, evil thoughts, and their silence to his common sense questions. Since Jesus healed the man by the His spoken word the Doctors of the Law could not say He was working on the Sabbath day.

Mark 3:6  And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.      

Already these groups were resolved to destroy Jesus. They took counsel how it might be done. Malice makes strange bed fellows.  The Herodians were a sect existing from the time of Herod the Great.  Herod adopted Greek and Roman culture, subjected himself and the Jews to the dominion of Romans in opposition to cf: Deuteronomy 17:15 Thou shalt not set a king over thee-which is not thy brother – a member of the 12 tribes. He also built heathen temples set up images and joined in idolatrous worship. As they went to the party of Herod, who ruled in Galilee, they probably sought to persuade them to have Herod put Jesus to death.

Mark 3:7  But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea,

Jesus withdrew himself to the sea of Galilee.

Mark 3:8  And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.

Idumæa was more anciently called Edom and was located Southeast of the Jordan, and south of the Dead Sea. That country was occupied by the descendants of Esau. Herod the Great was, on his father's side, was an Idumæan.

Mark 3:9  And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.

A small fishing boat not a ship. The Revised Standard Version correctly renders the Greek term by the word boat.

Mark 3:10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.

Mark 3:11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.

Mark 3:12 And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.

Mark 3:13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.

The selection of the apostles occurred before the Sermon on the Mount see Luke 6:13.

Mark 3:14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,

These disciples who became Apostles were to attend Him in order to be specially prepared to preach Christ to the whole world.

Mark 3:15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

Mark 3:16 And Simon he surnamed Peter;

This He did previously cf: John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.

 Mark 3:17  And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:

Why this title was bestowed on James and John we are not told. The title was possibly from their power as preachers or their desire to call down fire upon a village of Samaria for their unbelief cf: Luke 9:54.

Mark 3:18  And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,

Mark 3:19  And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.

They went into a house when they returned to Capernaum.

Mark 3:20  And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

The multitudes were so eager to hear, or be healed, and Jesus so ready to bless them, that there was no time for meals.

Mark 3:21  And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.

His friends were probably His friends and relatives. See verse 31. His brethren were not yet counted among his disciples. They thought He was carried away by unwise enthusiasm.

Mark 3:22  And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. 

Also see Matt. 12:22-37 and compare Luke 11:14-23. The men who were leaders in this effort to destroy the influence of Jesus were a delegation from the very religious bodies at Jerusalem that finally sent him to a death on the cross.  They did not say this to Jesus face they said it to the croud of people.

Mark 3:23  And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?

Jesus confronts His enemies to their face Matthew 18:15ff He does not speak behind their backs.  The Devil does not work against himself.

Mark 3:24  And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

Mark 3:25  And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

Mark 3:26  And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.

A good cause will produce a good effect an evil cause a evil effect.

Mark 3:27  No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

 Satan is the Strong Man and men through sin become the very house or dwelling place of Satan.  It is Jesus alone who can deliver from the power of this bondage.  

 Mark 3:28  Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

Behold the grace and mercy of God.

Mark 3:29  But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

 Many have come to me through the years fearing they have committed this sin. Some think it is: adultery, cursing God, some divorce and remarriage, some think it is suicide … but what it was the Doctors of the Law had done it …

 The Hebrew of Matthew’s account of this verse neither in this world or the world to come is: O’lam ha bo which is, the world to come, or the Christian dispensation to come.

 Mark tells us exactly what the sin is in V:30:

Mark 3:30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

Because they said he had an unclean spirit. This was the sin against the Holy Spirit because Jesus did mighty works in the power of the Holy Spirit, and they ascribed the power to an unclean spirit.

Therefore, the sin of blasphemy of the Holy Ghost is to see Christ work a miracle, and ascribe the power to the Devil, rather than the Holy Spirit of God.  It is a sin that we can not commit today.

Matthew 12:22-37 Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. V:23 And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? V:24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.  V:25 And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:  V:26 And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?  V:27 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges.  V:28 But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. V:29 Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.  V:30 He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. V:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.  V:32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. V:33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit. V:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. V:35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. V:36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. V:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

 Mat 12:43-45  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none.

 A fallen, corrupt spirit can have no rest, but in a polluted human heart.  The corruption of one is suited to the pollution of the other, and thus like spirits cleave together. 

 V:44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.

 Notice the stubborn possessiveness of evil.  Satan considers us his house and property.  The empty heart is a soul that has lost the power of goodness and has become idle or unemployed.  His affections and desires no longer are toward the things of God. 

 V:45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.

 Seven was a favorite number of the Jews, implying completed or filled up.  This generation of Jews grew worse and worse until they were destroyed in 70 AD.

 God told Cain cf:  Genesis 4:7  If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

1Peter 5:8-9  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:   Whom resist stedfast in the faith …

Mark 3:31  There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.

Mar 3:32  And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

Mar 3:33  And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

Mar 3:34  And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!

Mar 3:35  For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

Then came his brethren and his mother. See Matt. 12:46-50 and also compare Luke 8:19. The natural inference is that the "brethren" were the sons of Mary and the half-brothers of Jesus. No other idea would ever have been thought of had it not been that the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary arose some centuries after the apostles by the Catholic Church.