The big picture
Conflict grows around Jesus, the teacher who heals and drives out evil spirits. Some religious leaders watch for grounds to accuse him. Crowds press close for help, while people near him fear he has lost his mind. Jesus chooses twelve men to stay with him and share his work. He also answers a claim that his healing comes from evil. At the chapter's end, he describes family in terms of doing God's will, widening belonging past the ties of birth.
In this chapter
- Healing Exposes the Leaders’ Hardness Mark 3:1-6
Jesus enters a synagogue, a place of worship and Scripture, where a man's hand is disabled.
- Crowds Press Toward the Lake Mark 3:7-12
Jesus withdraws with his followers to the sea of Galilee, a northern lake.
- Twelve Are Chosen to Share His Work Mark 3:13-19
On a mountain Jesus calls those he wants, and they come.
- Jesus Answers a Charge of Evil Mark 3:20-30
Crowds leave Jesus and his companions no time to eat.
- God’s Will Defines a Wider Family Mark 3:31-35
Jesus' mother and brothers arrive and send for him from outside.
Central truth
Jesus forms a group to share his work while exposing resistance that calls God's freeing work evil.
Scripture beside the summary
Mark · King James Version · 35Mark 3:1-6
Healing Exposes the Leaders’ Hardness
Jesus enters a synagogue, a place of worship and Scripture, where a man's hand is disabled. His opponents watch to see whether he will heal on the sabbath, the weekly holy rest day. He brings the man forward and asks whether this day permits good or evil, saving life or killing. They stay silent. Angry and grieved at their hard hearts, Jesus tells the man to stretch out his hand. It becomes sound. The Pharisees, a group strict about religious law, then join the Herodians, supporters of Herod's ruling family, to plan Jesus' destruction. Their response to restored life is a plot to kill.
In everyday life
A swimming-pool attendant unlocks the first-aid room for a visitor with a bad cut. A supervisor watches only for a breach of the posted closure time and begins writing a complaint. The injured person's need receives less attention than a chance to accuse. Jesus restores a disabled hand by command, not through routine first aid.
Notice
Mark 3:5 Jesus feels both anger and grief at their hardness. The account joins his strong opposition to their conduct with sorrow over what their hearts have become.
Mark 3:1-6
King James Version1And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4And 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.
5And 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.
6And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
Mark 3:7-12
Crowds Press Toward the Lake
Jesus withdraws with his followers to the sea of Galilee, a northern lake. People travel from the surrounding region, the south, across Jordan, the river to the east, and the northern coast. Word of his deeds has carried far. Sick people push close because they want to touch him. Jesus asks for a small boat to be ready so the crowd does not crush him. Unclean spirits fall before him and call him God's Son, but he firmly orders them not to make him known. Their knowledge does not give them the right to direct how his identity is announced.
In everyday life
A hearing-aid fitter sets a rope line outside a mobile service van as people crowd forward for help. Each has a real need, but the pressure threatens to block all access. She asks an assistant to keep an exit clear. Jesus' healing draws the crowd, and he also commands spirits; the fitter manages a limited service.
Notice
Mark 3:9 The waiting boat is a practical response to crowd pressure. Jesus' healing work takes place among physical needs and risks, not in a scene free of strain.
Mark 3:7-12
King James Version7But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judæa,
8And 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.
9And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
10For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.
11And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
12And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.
Mark 3:13-19
Twelve Are Chosen to Share His Work
On a mountain Jesus calls those he wants, and they come. He appoints twelve to be with him and to go out preaching. They also receive authority to heal and drive out devils. Simon receives the name Peter. Brothers James and John, sons of Zebedee, receive a name meaning sons of thunder. Mark lists the others as members of this chosen circle, ending with Judas Iscariot, who will betray Jesus. The group has a shared task but not a flawless future. Being with Jesus comes before being sent, joining close learning with work that reaches other people.
In everyday life
A theatre director gathers a small cast around a rehearsal table before sending them to perform in village halls. They first work beside her, learn the play, and receive responsibility for taking it elsewhere. One person's later failure will not erase that original trust. Jesus gives authority over illness and evil, not only a part to perform.
Notice
Mark 3:14 The twelve are appointed first to be with Jesus, then to be sent. Their public work grows from a close relationship with him.
Mark 3:13-19
King James Version13And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
14And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
15And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
16And Simon he surnamed Peter;
17And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
18And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
19And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
Mark 3:20-30
Jesus Answers a Charge of Evil
Crowds leave Jesus and his companions no time to eat. His friends try to take hold of him, saying he is out of his mind. Scribes from Jerusalem, the temple city, make a darker claim. They say Beelzebub, the ruler of devils, gives him power. Jesus asks how Satan, God's enemy, can survive by fighting himself. A divided household falls. Freeing someone from evil is like binding a strong man before taking his goods. Jesus warns that sins can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, God's Spirit, has no forgiveness. Mark ties that grave warning to calling Jesus' work the work of an unclean spirit.
In everyday life
A domestic-abuse advocate helps a resident reach a safe room, then hears a bystander call the rescue another form of abuse. She points to the locked door now standing open and the resident's regained choice. Naming rescue as harm reverses what occurred. Jesus warns about calling the Holy Spirit evil, not only misjudging a human helper.
Notice
Mark 3:30 Mark states why Jesus gives the warning: they say he has an unclean spirit. The issue is a deliberate charge against the source of his freeing work.
Mark 3:20-30
King James Version20And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
21And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
22And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
23And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
24And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
27No 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.
28Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
30Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
Mark 3:31-35
God’s Will Defines a Wider Family
Jesus' mother and brothers arrive and send for him from outside. The crowd tells him that his family is looking for him. Jesus asks who his mother and brothers are, then looks at those seated around him. He calls people who do God's will his brother, sister, and mother. He does not make family belonging depend only on birth. Listening that leads to doing God's will creates a deeper bond around him. Christians differ on the precise family relationship meant by his brothers, but the force of his answer is shared: obedience opens this family circle to others.
In everyday life
A refugee cook sets a long table with neighbours who have shared meals and daily work through years of separation from home. She calls them family as she hands out bowls. The bond has grown through a life held in common. Jesus defines belonging through God's will, not only through mutual care among neighbours.
Notice
Mark 3:35 Jesus names a sister as well as a brother and mother in the wider circle. This belonging reaches past the male followers named earlier.
Mark 3:31-35
King James Version31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
32And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
34And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
35For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
Mark 3:1 begins with “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.”
Where the chapter turns
Mark 3:23 forms a natural hinge: “And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?”
The final note
Mark 3:35 leaves the reader with “For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.”
A word trail through the chapter
The words house, mother, multitude, brethren, hand, stand help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
KJV words made clear
- withered
- Shrunken or weakened so that it cannot work normally.
- ordained
- Appointed people for a particular role or task.
- spoil
- Take away another person’s goods by overcoming their hold on them.
Music and video connected to the passage
Related media appears when its Scripture reference overlaps this study. Music and video can illuminate a theme while the biblical text remains the foundation.
