seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Mark 3:1 Another time Jesus went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, “Stand up in front of everyone.”
4 Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 When they heard about all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10 For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11 Whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he gave them strict orders not to tell others about him.
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14 He appointed twelve[a] that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to drive out demons. 16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 When his family[b] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”
22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
23 So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. 28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”
30 He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.”
33 “Who are my mother and my brothers?” he asked.
34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
a. Mark 3:14 Some manuscripts twelve—designating them apostles—
b. Mark 3:21 Or his associates
I guess I can say... now that's a family torn by the truth. Jesus was a good man and His family totally missed it.
This is from the blueletterbible.org site.
They watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath: The critics of Jesus expected Him to heal this man with the withered hand. By their expectation, they admitted that Jesus had the power of God to work miracles. Knowing this, they watched Him closely … so that they might accuse Him. They knew what Jesus could do yet their knowledge didn't draw them to Jesus. It was as if a man could fly, but the authorities wanted to know if he had a pilot's license.
Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? In His question to the religious leaders, Jesus emphasizes the truth about the Sabbath: there is never a wrong day to do something truly good.
The Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him: Jesus did nothing but a wonderful miracle. In response, two parties of former enemies (the Pharisees and the Herodians) can agree together in one cause: to destroy Jesus.
"The Herodians were not a religious party; they were a group of Jews who were sympathetic to King Herod and supported his rule." (Wiersbe)
Fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God": "The demons addressed Jesus as the divine Son of God in a futile attempt to render him harmless. These cries of recognition were designed to control him and strip him of his power, in accordance with the conception that knowledge of the precise name or quality of a person confers mastery over him." (Lane)
Why did Jesus choose twelve disciples? Because this is the foundation of the new chosen people, and as Israel had twelve tribes, Jesus would have twelve apostles.
When someone has been with Jesus, and is sent out to serve Him, they can expect that Jesus will give them to power to serve Him, including the power to see miraculous works (heal sicknesses and to cast our demons) done in their midst.
There are many interesting connections with this group. There are brothers (James andJohn, Peter andAndrew); business associates (Peter, James, and John, were all fishermen); opposing political viewpoints (Matthew the Roman-collaborating tax collector, and Simon, the Roman-hating zealot); and one who would betray Jesus (Judas Iscariot).
How can Satan cast out Satan? Jesus shows that if He is an agent of Satan, and works against Satan, then surely Satan's kingdom is in civil war and will not stand - Satan won't work against himself.
Because they said, He has an unclean spirit: These religious leaders were in danger of blasphemy of the Holy Spirit because they looked at the perfectly good and wonderful work of God in Jesus, and officially pronounced it the evil of Satan. This points to a settled rejection of heart against Jesus - possible evidence of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.
Whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother: Mark 3 ends with a huge contrast. There are religious leaders in danger of damnation, and an invitation to be part of Jesus' family.
"The right way to be ennobled indeed, and inrighted to Christ and his kingdom, is, to believe in his name, and obey his will. This, this is to become Christ's brother, and sister, and mother. Sister is named, to show that no sex is excluded. And mother last mentioned, that the prerogative of the flesh may be set aside and disacknowledged." (Trapp)
This is from the easy English site.
Mark made it clear that Jesus was angry. Many people are angry for selfish reasons. They are angry when other people have not been kind to them. Jesus was angry because the Pharisees were going to use the man as a way to oppose Jesus. They were showing no love towards a man who needed their sympathy. Jesus cured the man with a brief order.
The Herodians were friends of Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee. Usually the Pharisees hated the Herodians because Herod’s disciples were friends with the Romans. But both the Pharisees and the Herodians were afraid of Jesus. The Pharisees thought that they might lose their religious authority. The Herodians thought that trouble with the Romans would spoil their political ambitions. So the Pharisees and the Herodians joined together in order to oppose Jesus.
There were 12 tribes of the Jews. Jesus chose 12 men to become the beginning of the new people of God, the church. They would be with Jesus. They would learn more about him and they would follow his example. They would learn his message so that they could tell other people. Then he would send them out with his authority. Jesus would give them the power to cure people that evil spirits controlled.
None of those whom he chose was a rich person or an important person. Jesus chose ordinary people. But those people would become extraordinary because they had been with him.
Kerioth was a village in Judea. ‘Iscariot’ may mean ‘man from Kerioth’. If so, Judas was the only man of the 12 disciples who did not come from Galilee.
Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters (Mark 6:3). The brothers were probably the sons of Joseph and Mary that were born after Jesus, her ‘first son’ (Luke 2:7). Some Christians believe that Mary did not have any more children after Jesus. Some of them believe that the word ‘brothers’ may mean cousins or close relatives. And some of them believe that the word ‘brothers’ may mean the sons and daughters of Joseph by a former wife. If so, this wife died before Joseph married Mary.
This tidbit is from bibletrack.org.Of the three accounts, Mark does not directly mention the healing miracle that brought about this discussion as do Matthew and Luke. As a matter of fact, Mark begins his account by mentioning the crowd-control problem that existed - so much so, they were not even able to sit down for a meal. Mark reports in verse 21 that Jesus' friends went out to pull Jesus from the crowd. It is not clear from the text who said "He is beside himself." It is also not clear what is meant by that phrase. The phrase "beside himself" comes from the Greek verb "existemi," which can refer to actions reflecting insanity, or it can mean to be astonished or amazed. If it was the reckless crowd witnessing the casting out of demons (verse 22) who made the statement, the conversation of demon possession that follows would indicate that they might have tried to portray Jesus as insane. If, on the other hand, it was Jesus' friends who made the statement, they could have been using the term in the context that Jesus was overwhelmed by the crowd.
Jesus casts out a demon and the people are amazed. Not the Jewish leaders though - they remain unimpressed and even accuse Jesus of casting out demons by calling upon the chief demon (Beelzebub, derived from II Kings 1:2, see notes), Satan himself. Jesus shows the fallacy of such an outrageous accusation, but did they go too far this time with their verbal attacks on Jesus? Yes, they did go too far! Impugning Jesus (which the Jewish leaders habitually did) was one thing, but to see the demonstration of the power of the Holy Spirit manifested through Jesus and call it the work of Satan went way over the line. We see this sin clearly identified in Mark 3:30 "Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit."
It is vital that we understand what brought on this condemnation. Specifically, they rejected the deity of Jesus and ascribed his source of power to Satan himself. You simply don't get a stronger rejection of Jesus as Savior than that. I'm convinced that this situation is unique in that these leaders viewed face to face the manifestations of the Spirit through Jesus, and yet accused him of being motivated by Satan. I make that point because of the misuse of this passage by many today. Specifically, some have incorrectly been told that they cannot be saved because of having blasphemed the Holy Spirit in their past i.e. laughing at those who spoke in tongues or otherwise proclaimed themselves to be demonstrating the manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. THIS IS AN OUTRAGEOUS ASSERTION! Again, let me say that this scenario cannot be duplicated in this age; no one is prevented from being saved because of such an act.
It must have been hard for Franklin Graham.... growing up with a father as significant as Billy Graham. I bet Franklin hated the crowds sometimes. I bet Franklin wished, at times, that he could be part of a normal everyday family rather than being the son of the very famous Billy Graham. Poor Franklin is only a tiny shadow of the man his father was. He'll never measure up to his dad.
Jesus only had a short time on earth. He had to get the word out quickly because the Cross and the Tomb were waiting to be conquered. He gathered twelve good men. Eleven of those twelve were from around Galilee where Jesus grew up... only one.... the traitor was from another village in Judea. Those men had to absorb all of the gospel, handle crowd control and walk miles and miles and miles and miles and miles......
It's interesting that Jesus didn't choose anyone from His earthly family. It seems that it would have caused some controversy if His brothers had been preaching the same message..... coming from the same earthly mother.... I think it would have switched the message all together.... Nope the message had to come from Jesus alone....not the sons or daughters of His virgin mom. She was a virgin when she had Him... but then.....
It's obvious that the crew Jesus took on.... they were not professionals at all. They allowed the crowd to get too close. The crowds were making people in high places jealous. The crowds were making odd companions like the Pharisees and the Herodians to strike up agreements. Jesus was pulling in crowds that would fill stadiums before there were stadiums to fill.
On top of that... the crowds that Jesus was gathering were not demure wonderful people who were worshiping outside instead of inside the stuffy Temple..... the crowds were not nice people. The crowds that Jesus was attracting were made up of sick people.... contagious people.... The crowds that Jesus was attracting were made up of depraved, demon possessed [addicted?] people.... dangerous people..... The crowds that Jesus was attracting were made up of whores, thieves, drunks, eunuchs, and tax collectors.... low class people.
Sure... there were a few rich people in the crowd. Sure... there were good people in the crowd. Sure... there were kids in the crowd. The Pharisees and the Herodians didn't notice those individuals. They only saw the numbers.... they only saw the depravity.... they only saw class..... they were jealous and afraid.
Jesus had a crowd control problem.... crowd control had a different meaning back then.... but there were people with that highly contagious leprosy back then.... and no doubt there were people suffering with leprosy among the individuals in the crowd.
There was no social distancing in the days Jesus was completing His ministry. There were sick, demon possessed victims who just need a glimpse or a touch to make their lives better. I wonder.... if Jesus were to walk into a hospital in New York City.... and healed everyone..... would there be a crowd around Him before He left the hospital? I would bet He would make on to the evening news...... yep... Jesus had a crowd control problem.
