The big picture
By Mark 3, disagreement has sharpened into a plan to kill. A healed hand stands next to a conspiracy, while growing crowds press so hard that Jesus needs a boat kept ready. He appoints twelve first to be with him and then to be sent with authority, but closeness does not guarantee understanding or loyalty. Concern from his own people and accusation from Jerusalem converge around a crowded house. Jesus answers the claim that he works by Satan with the image of a strong man's house being emptied, then ties the warning about blasphemy directly to the charge that his liberating work comes from an unclean spirit. The chapter ends with family language redrawn around doing God's will. Mark keeps physical nearness, accurate recognition, appointed status, and genuine belonging from collapsing into the same category.
Central truth
Mark 2:1–3:6 shows Jesus claiming authority to forgive sins, calling an unpopular tax collector, defending table fellowship and fasting practices, and asserting lordship over the Sabbath as opposition hardens into a plot to destroy him. Mark 3:7–35 moves from crushing crowds and unclean spirits to the deliberate appointment of twelve and then to sharp disputes over Jesus’ power and loyalties, ending with Jesus defining his family as those who do the will of God.
The study notes have a page of their own
The movement by movement analysis, the words to trace, the verse by verse notes and where readers differ are written for someone studying alone. They are on the Deep Personal Reflections page for this chapter. This page is the lesson.
A chapter-specific teaching brief
These anchors come from this chapter itself. They help a teacher use the Level 1 overview, the Level 2 study, and the Scripture text as one lesson.
Open with the chapter’s first image
Mark 3:1: “And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.”
Slow down at the turning point
Mark 3:23: “And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?”
Keep this word trail visible
house, mother, multitude, brethren, hand, stand
What to explain, in order
Teach the passage in this order. Each step names the verses it rests on, so every point can be shown in the text before it is applied.
Mark 2:1–3:6
Mark 2:1-12
The roof, the word, and the walking man
Begin with the crowded house and the four who will not be stopped. Explain that a roof of beams and packed earth could be dug through. Jesus sees their faith, and the first word is forgiveness. Then the scribes' silent objection, which Jesus answers aloud. Explain Son of man: Jesus' own favourite title for himself, drawn from Daniel 7:13-14, where one like a son of man receives authority from God. Teach this first because the whole section is about that authority and who will accept it.
Mark 2:13-17
A tax collector called and a table shared
Levi sits at the receipt of custom, collecting tolls for Herod's government, and was despised as a collaborator and cheat. Jesus calls him with the same two words given to the fishermen, Follow me. Then a dinner with “many publicans and sinners”. Explain sinners as people known to live outside the law, not simply everyone. The objection is about eating, because a shared table meant acceptance. Jesus' reply about the physician is the key; put it here because it explains why mercy causes conflict.
Mark 2:18-22
The bridegroom and the new wine
The question about fasting is fair, since John's disciples and the Pharisees fasted. Jesus answers with three images: a wedding, a patch, and wineskins. Explain that bottles here are skins, which stretch once and then become brittle; new wine bursts them. The point is that Jesus is not an add-on to existing religion; something new has come. Teach it as the centre of the section, because it explains why the leaders cannot simply absorb him into what they already do.
Mark 2:23-28
Grain fields and the Lord of the Sabbath
The disciples pluck grain as they walk, which the Pharisees count as harvesting. Jesus answers from Scripture, 1 Samuel 21, where David and his men ate the shewbread reserved for priests. Explain that the comparison is about need and about David's standing as the anointed one. Then the two great sentences of verses 27-28. Spend most of the time on verse 28, because the claim to be Lord of the Sabbath carries the section to its climax in the synagogue.
Mark 3:1-6
The withered hand and the decision to destroy
Another Sabbath, another synagogue, and now the opponents are watching to accuse. Jesus calls the man into the middle and asks, “Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?” Their silence is the answer. Note Jesus' anger and grief together at the hardness of their hearts. Explain the Herodians as supporters of Herod's rule, natural enemies of the Pharisees, now allied. End here, because the plan to destroy him is the result of the whole section.
Mark 3:7–35
Mark 3:7-12
Crowds from every direction
Open with a map. Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea in the far south, beyond Jordan, and Tyre and Sidon to the north: people come from Jewish and Gentile lands alike. Explain the boat as a practical answer to a dangerous press. Then the unclean spirits fall down and cry, “Thou art the Son of God”, and he again silences them. Teach this first to show how wide the response to Jesus has become, which sets up why he now forms a smaller circle.
Mark 3:13-19
The twelve called to be with him
He goes up a mountain and calls “whom he would”, so the choice is his. Explain why twelve: the number of Israel's tribes, signalling a renewed people of God. Walk through the three purposes and stress being with him first. Then the names: Simon renamed Peter, the sons of thunder, Matthew, Simon the Canaanite, a word meaning zealous rather than a place. End on Judas, “which also betrayed him”. Teach it here because the true family of verse 35 begins with this circle.
Mark 3:20-21
His own say he is out of his mind
They cannot even eat because of the crowd, and his own people come to seize him because they think he is “beside himself”. Explain that Mark often places one scene inside another like a sandwich, and this is the first: the family in verses 20-21, the scribes in 22-30, and the family again in 31-35. Point this out now so the class reads the middle in light of the edges. Both family and scribes misjudge him, in different ways.
Mark 3:22-27
The strong man bound
The scribes come down from Jerusalem with the most serious charge yet: he has Beelzebub. Explain the name as a title for the prince of demons. Jesus replies with short parables. Draw a house with a strong man inside and a stronger one binding him at the door. Explain that every exorcism in Mark is a raid on Satan's house. Teach it before the warning because the warning only makes sense once the class sees that the scribes are calling this liberation the work of the devil.
Mark 3:28-30
The warning, read with its reason
Read verse 28 first and slowly: all sins and blasphemies can be forgiven. That is the larger promise. Then verse 29, the one sin that has never forgiveness, and then verse 30 at once. Explain that the warning is aimed at those who see the Spirit's work and deliberately call it unclean. Say plainly that a person who is troubled and fearful that they may have committed it is showing the very tenderness to God that the scribes lacked. Do not leave verse 29 standing alone.
Mark 3:31-35
The new family around him
Close the sandwich. His mother and brothers stand outside; the crowd sits inside around him. Jesus asks, “Who is my mother, or my brethren?” and looks round at those sitting with him. Explain that he is not disowning Mary but declaring a new family made by doing the will of God. Teach this last because it is the passage's answer to everything before: neither crowds nor blood nor religious authority make a person near to him, but hearing and doing God's will.
Where learners get stuck
The misreadings this passage tends to produce, and how to answer each from the text.
Mark 2:1–3:6
“The paralyzed man was sick because of his sins.”
Jesus speaks forgiveness first, and some conclude his sin caused his paralysis. The text does not say so. Jesus addresses the deepest need before the visible one, but he never links this man's illness to a particular sin. John 9:2-3 shows Jesus rejecting that assumption directly. Be careful in the room: no one with a disability or illness should leave thinking it is a punishment.
“Jesus ate with sinners, so it does not matter how we live.”
Read 2:17 to the end: “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. A physician comes close to the sick in order to heal them, not to leave them as they are. Levi's response was to rise and follow. The table is open, and the invitation at the table is to turning. Keep both, and do not let the welcome be heard as approval of everything.
“The Sabbath does not matter any more because Jesus broke it.”
Jesus does not say the Sabbath was abolished; he says it “was made for man” (2:27), which honours it as God's gift. He attends synagogue on the Sabbath (3:1). What he rejects is a use of the day that forbids doing good and saving life (3:4). Traditions differ on how Christians keep the Sabbath or the Lord's day; teach what the passage says about its purpose and its Lord.
“Jesus got angry, so he must have sinned.”
Verse 5 says he looked round “with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts”. His anger is joined to grief and directed at hearts that would rather a man stay crippled than see their rules crossed. It does not lead him to harm anyone; it leads him to heal. Scripture distinguishes anger from sin (Ephesians 4:26). Let learners see that anger at cruelty can be holy.
Mark 3:7–35
“I am afraid I have committed the unforgivable sin.”
Read 3:28 aloud to this person first: “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men”. Then show verse 30: the warning concerns those who said Jesus had an unclean spirit, calling God's saving work demonic. A person who fears they have sinned beyond forgiveness and wants God's mercy is not in that condition. Speak this gently and personally, and follow up afterwards if someone is distressed.
“Jesus rejected his mother and brothers.”
Verse 34 does not say they are excluded; it says those who do God's will are also his family. Mark does not record his reply to them, and later traditions honour Mary in different ways. The point is the widening of the family. Jesus elsewhere upholds honouring father and mother (7:10). Let the text make its claim without turning it into a lesson about rejecting relatives.
“The demons said he is the Son of God, so they must be on his side.”
James 2:19 says the devils also believe, and tremble. In 3:11 the spirits fall down before him because they recognise power they cannot resist, not because they love him. Jesus “straitly charged them that they should not make him known” (3:12). Knowledge about Jesus is not the same as belonging to him, which is exactly the point of verse 35.
“Judas was chosen to be a betrayer, so he had no choice.”
Mark says only that Jesus chose the twelve “whom he would” and that Judas “also betrayed him” (3:19). The passage does not discuss Judas' freedom or destiny, and Christians have explained the matter differently. Notice instead that Judas received the same calling, the same nearness and the same authority as the others. That makes the betrayal more serious, not less.
Learning objectives
- Reconstruct the sequence of the paralytic’s arrival, Jesus’ declaration of forgiveness, the scribes’ objection, and the healing sign in Mark 2:1–12.
- Explain why Jesus’ call of Levi and meal with publicans and sinners provoke a different kind of controversy from the healing scenes.
- Distinguish the bridegroom saying from the cloth and wineskin illustrations in Mark 2:18–22.
- Identify the Old Testament precedent Jesus invokes when defending the disciples’ Sabbath action in Mark 2:23–28.
- Compare the Sabbath controversy in the grainfields with the synagogue healing in Mark 3:1–6.
- Trace the opponents’ movement from internal reasoning in Mark 2:6 to watching for an accusation in Mark 3:2 and planning destruction in Mark 3:6.
- Describe why Jesus has a small ship prepared in Mark 3:9 and what that detail reveals about the pressure of the crowd.
- Identify the three purposes attached to the appointment of the twelve in verses 14–15.
- Explain the charge made by the scribes from Jerusalem and summarize Jesus’ answer using the divided kingdom, divided house, and strong man images.
- Distinguish what Mark says about Jesus’ relatives in verses 20–21 from what the scribes say in verse 22.
- Explain the warning about blasphemy against the Holy Ghost in its immediate setting rather than as an isolated fear text.
- Show how verses 31–35 redefine kinship around response to God’s will without denying that Jesus’ mother and brothers are physically related to him.
Teacher preparation
- Read the roof-lowering scene carefully enough to avoid inventing architecture. Mark says the roof was uncovered and broken up where Jesus was, then the bed was lowered. Keep visual explanation modest.
- Review the King James word 'publicans' so the class understands tax collectors rather than owners of drinking establishments.
- Read 1 Samuel 21:1–6 before class, since Jesus refers to David eating the showbread in Mark 2:25–26. Be ready to note the historical question surrounding the name Abiathar without letting it swallow the lesson.
- Prepare a brief explanation of first-century fasting expectations and Sabbath controversy, but do not imply that the Pharisees object to every act of mercy. Keep the objections tied to the scenes Mark records.
- Mark each controversy scene on a single sheet: forgiveness, table fellowship, fasting, grain on the Sabbath, and healing on the Sabbath. The accumulating pattern matters.
- Map the regions named in verses 7–8. The list stretches from Galilee and Judea to Jerusalem, Idumaea, beyond Jordan, Tyre, and Sidon, showing why the crowd is more than a local Capernaum gathering.
- Review the twelve names in verses 16–19 and note Mark’s added identifications, including Boanerges and the final reference to Judas Iscariot as the betrayer.
- Prepare to distinguish 'friends' in the King James wording of verse 21 from a casual circle of companions. Many translations and interpreters understand the phrase as referring to Jesus’ family or those close to him.
- Read the Beelzebub accusation and Jesus’ reply as one unit. Do not teach the unforgivable-sin warning without first identifying the scribes’ claim that his works are empowered by the prince of devils.
- Plan to handle the family scene without cheap humor about relatives. The tension has weight because Mark places concern from those close to Jesus beside hostile interpretation from Jerusalem scribes.
Evidence and interpretation checks
Explicit
Mark 2:5 records Jesus pronouncing the paralytic’s sins forgiven; verse 10 states the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins; Mark 2:17 identifies Jesus’ mission toward sinners; Mark 2:28 names the Son of man as Lord of the Sabbath. Mark 3:14–15 says Jesus appoints twelve to be with him, to send them to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses and cast out devils. Verses 22–30 record the Beelzebub accusation and reply. Verses 31–35 define Jesus’ family around doing God’s will.
Scripture-supported
Mark 2:25–26 explicitly appeals to David’s action with the showbread, which can be checked in 1 Samuel 21:1–6. Jesus grounds the Sabbath dispute in Scripture rather than answering only at the level of custom. Mark’s choice of twelve is not explained in the passage, but the Old Testament’s twelve-tribe structure makes an Israel-shaped significance strongly supported when the wider canon is considered.
Strong inference
The healing of the paralytic functions as a visible confirmation attached to Jesus’ invisible claim about forgiveness because Jesus explicitly asks which saying is easier and then heals so that they may know the Son of man has authority to forgive. The sequence 'that they should be with him' before being sent to preach and exercise authority suggests that proximity to Jesus is foundational to the role of the twelve. Mark states the order even if he does not stop to explain it.
Possible or traditional reading
Interpreters disagree over how to explain Mark 2:26, which says 'in the days of Abiathar the high priest,' alongside 1 Samuel 21, where Ahimelech is the priest David meets. Acknowledge the textual and historical discussion without pretending this unit resolves it. The identity of those translated 'his friends' in Mark 3:21 has been discussed because the Greek expression can denote those associated with him, often understood as his family. Note the issue, then let verses 31–35 supply the clearer family scene.
Limit
The passage does not identify the paralytic’s sin, say that his paralysis was caused by a particular sin, or give a universal rule connecting illness and personal wrongdoing. Do not manufacture that connection. Mark 3 does not give a psychological diagnosis of Jesus’ relatives, nor does it define every possible case related to blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. The warning is spoken in response to scribes who attribute his Spirit-associated work to Satan.
Discussion with answer guidance
1. What does Jesus say first to the paralytic, and why do the scribes object before the man is healed?
What a good answer contains
Jesus sees the faith of the four friends and says, “Son, thy sins be forgiven thee” (2:5). The man came for his legs and is given forgiveness first. The scribes object before any healing because of what the words claim: “who can forgive sins but God only?” (2:7). A strong answer sees that they have understood the claim correctly and drawn the wrong conclusion. A weak answer says Jesus was only being kind, which misses why the scribes call it blasphemy.
Show teacher guidance
Use Mark 2:5–7. Jesus first speaks forgiveness, and the scribes reason that such forgiveness is blasphemous because God alone can forgive sins. The controversy precedes the physical healing.
2. How does Jesus connect the command to rise with his claim to forgive sins?
What a good answer contains
Jesus asks which is easier to say, forgiveness or “Arise, and take up thy bed, and walk” (2:9). Forgiveness cannot be seen; walking can. So he does the visible thing “that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins” (2:10). A good answer reads verses 9-12 as one argument: the healing is the public evidence for the unseen authority. The crowd's “We never saw it on this fashion” shows they took the point.
Show teacher guidance
Read verses 9–12 as one argument. The visible healing is performed so that the hearers may know the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins.
3. What criticism follows Levi’s call, and how does Jesus answer it?
What a good answer contains
When Jesus eats in Levi's house with “many publicans and sinners”, the scribes and Pharisees ask the disciples why he eats with them (2:16). Jesus answers with a doctor's logic: “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick” (2:17), and he came to call “sinners to repentance”. A strong answer keeps both halves: welcome and repentance. A weak answer drops one, making Jesus either merely tolerant or merely stern.
Show teacher guidance
Verses 15–17 focus on eating with publicans and sinners. Jesus answers with the physician image and says he came to call sinners, not the righteous, to repentance.
4. What changes in Jesus’ explanation of fasting when he calls himself the bridegroom?
What a good answer contains
Jesus calls his disciples “the children of the bridechamber”, the wedding guests, and says they cannot fast “while the bridegroom is with them” (2:19). His presence makes the present a feast. Then comes a darker line: “the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast” (2:20). A good answer notices that Jesus speaks of himself as the bridegroom, an image Israel's prophets used of God, and that this is the first hint in Mark of his removal by force.
Show teacher guidance
Keep attention on verses 19–20. His presence makes the present moment unlike the time when the bridegroom is taken away, at which point fasting will have its place.
5. What two claims about the Sabbath appear at the end of chapter 2?
What a good answer contains
Verse 27: “The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath”. Verse 28: “Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath”. The first is about the purpose of the day, a gift for human good. The second is about who has authority over it. A strong answer gives both and sees that the second is the bigger claim, because the Sabbath was God's institution. An answer that keeps only verse 27 turns Jesus into a reformer of rules.
Show teacher guidance
Require both verses 27 and 28: the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, and the Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.
6. What changes in the opponents between Mark 2:6 and Mark 3:6?
What a good answer contains
In 2:6-7 the scribes are “reasoning in their hearts”, silent and inward. In 2:16 they question the disciples. In 2:18 and 2:24 they confront Jesus directly. In 3:2 they watch him “that they might accuse him”. In 3:6 the Pharisees “took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him”. A good answer traces this hardening step by step and sees that each act of mercy makes the opposition harder, not softer.
Show teacher guidance
Trace the verbs and actions. They begin by reasoning in their hearts, proceed through questions and observation, and end with Pharisees and Herodians taking counsel how they might destroy Jesus.
7. Why does Jesus ask for a small ship in verse 9?
What a good answer contains
Verse 9 gives the reason in plain words: “because of the multitude, lest they should throng him”. Verse 10 explains the pressure: he had healed many, so “they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues”. A good answer connects the boat to the crush of need, and sees it as a practical step that lets him keep teaching and healing without being crushed. A weak answer turns the boat into a symbol before the class has seen the simple reason given.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 9 gives the reason directly: because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. Connect the detail to verses 7–10, where people press on him in order to touch him.
8. What three purposes does Mark attach to the appointment of the twelve?
What a good answer contains
Verses 14-15 give three purposes in order: “that they should be with him”, “that he might send them forth to preach”, and “to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils”. Being with him comes first, and the sending grows out of it. A strong answer keeps the order and notices that the twelve are called to presence before activity. A weak answer lists only the tasks, as if the twelve were hired staff rather than companions.
Show teacher guidance
Use verses 14–15 and keep the order: be with Jesus, be sent to preach, and have power to heal sicknesses and cast out devils.
9. How does Jesus answer the claim that he casts out devils by the prince of devils?
What a good answer contains
Jesus answers “in parables” (3:23). A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand; a house divided cannot stand; if Satan rises against himself, “he cannot stand, but hath an end” (3:26). Then the strong man: “No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man” (3:27). A good answer sees both steps: the charge is illogical, and the exorcisms show a stronger one binding Satan. Jesus is the robber of the strong man's house.
Show teacher guidance
Follow verses 23–27. A kingdom divided cannot stand, a house divided cannot stand, Satan cannot successfully oppose himself, and the strong man must be bound before his house can be spoiled.
10. Why must the warning in verses 28–30 be read with verse 30?
What a good answer contains
Verse 30 is the Book of Mark's own explanation: “Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit”. The warning is spoken to scribes who look at the Spirit's work of setting people free and call it the devil's. A strong answer ties the warning to that settled refusal, in which the very power that forgives is called evil. It also notes verse 28 first: “All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men”. A weak answer lifts verse 29 out alone and frightens people with it.
Show teacher guidance
Verse 30 explicitly supplies the reason for the warning: 'Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.' A good answer must connect the warning to that attribution.
11. What does the passage say Jesus’ mother and brothers do in verses 31–32?
What a good answer contains
His mother and brothers come, stand “without”, outside, and send to him “calling him” (3:31). The crowd sits around him and passes the message on (3:32). That is all the scene says. But verse 21 has already said that “his friends” went out to lay hold on him, saying, “He is beside himself”. A good answer lets the two scenes interpret each other cautiously, and does not invent feelings or motives Mark does not give for Mary.
Show teacher guidance
They stand outside, send to him, and call him while the multitude sits around him. Do not add motives to this scene beyond what the verses state.
12. Who does Jesus identify as his brother, sister, and mother in verse 35?
What a good answer contains
“For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother” (3:35). Jesus looks round at those sitting around him and names them family. A strong answer sees that he widens his family rather than rejecting his own, and that the condition is doing God's will, not birth or being physically close. Note that he adds “sister”, though only brothers and mother were mentioned; the circle includes the women listening to him.
Show teacher guidance
Require the phrase 'whosoever shall do the will of God.' Then ask how this answer shifts the category from physical proximity or blood relation to obedient response to God.
Responsible application
Heart and habits
Ask the class to identify where the passage forces a reader to revise a too-small category for Jesus: healer only, teacher only, or religious reformer only.
Relationships and community
Examine the meals and Sabbath scenes for who is welcomed, watched, criticized, healed, and excluded by assumption. Keep the discussion on the communities described in the text.
Earned by this passage
Create a five-row controversy chart and place beside each scene the question being disputed, Jesus’ answer, and the opponents’ response. Use the chart to make the escalation visible.
Session plans
Two timings of the same lesson. The shorter keeps the reading, the central discussion and one response; the longer gives the confusions and the application their own time.
Mark 2:1–3:6
45 minutes
Read the five scenes
Read 2:1-3:6 aloud. Give each fifth of the room one scene to watch, and ask them to note who objects and how.
Forgiveness and walking
Discuss 2:1-12 with questions one and two. Handle confusion one, that sickness means sin, gently.
The physician
Read 2:13-17 and take question three. Address confusion two in a few sentences.
Bridegroom and Sabbath
Read 2:18-28. Take questions four and five together, briefly explaining wineskins.
The hand and the plot
Read 3:1-6 and take question six. Trace the hardening on the board, scene by scene.
Handout
Give out the sheet, read the key verse aloud together, and pray.
90 minutes
Friends who carry
Ask the group who has carried them when they could not get to Jesus alone. Take a few answers, then read 2:1-4.
Authority to forgive
Read 2:1-12. Take questions one and two and confusion one. Read Daniel 7:13-14 to explain Son of man.
Levi's table
Read 2:13-17. Take question three and confusion two. Ask who today would be the guests at Levi's dinner.
New wine
Read 2:18-22 with Hosea 2:19-20. Take question four and explain the three images.
Grain fields
Read 2:23-28 and 1 Samuel 21:1-6. Take question five and confusion three.
The withered hand
Read 3:1-6. Take question six and confusion four. Chart the opponents' hardening scene by scene.
Application
Use the second application in groups: who are we tempted to keep from the table, and why.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, give out the sheet and close in prayer.
Mark 3:7–35
45 minutes
Read and map
Read 3:7-35 aloud. On a sketch map mark where the crowds come from (3:7-8).
The crowds and the twelve
Take questions one and two. Write the three purposes of 3:14-15 on the board in order.
The strong man
Explain the sandwich structure of 3:20-35. Take question three and draw the strong man's house.
The warning
Read 3:28-30 together and take question four. Address confusion one gently and directly.
The family
Take questions five and six. Handle confusion two about Mary and the brothers briefly.
Handout
Read the key verse together, give out the sheet, and pray.
90 minutes
Who are your people
Ask the group who they count as family and why. Keep the answers for the end.
The crowds
Read 3:7-12. Take question one and confusion three about the demons' confession.
The twelve
Read 3:13-19. Take question two and confusion four. Go through the names and what is known of each.
The sandwich
Read 3:20-35 in one pass. Show the three layers on the board and ask what the family and the scribes have in common.
The strong man and the warning
Take questions three and four. Read Isaiah 49:24-25. Give unhurried time to confusion one.
The new family
Take questions five and six with confusion two. Return to the opening answers about family.
Application
Use the second application in pairs: how does a church live as the family of verse 35.
Handout and prayer
Read the key verse together, hand out the sheet, and pray for anyone carrying fear about forgiveness.
Adapting the lesson
Mark 2:1–3:6
Children
Make a roof from a sheet held up by four volunteers and lower a doll on a towel through it. Let the children say what the friends did. Keep forgiveness simple: Jesus said the man's wrongs were forgiven, and then he made him walk to show he could. Avoid any suggestion that people are sick because they were naughty. For the grain fields, let them rub real wheat or rice in their hands.
Youth
Ask who they would carry to Jesus if they had to dig through a roof. Then look at Levi's party and ask who would be the publicans and sinners at their school. Let them notice that the religious people got angrier with every kind act. Talk about rules that help and rules that hurt, using 3:4, without letting the discussion turn into complaints about their own church.
Adults
Trace the five controversies as one unit and let adults see the rising hostility. Discuss the Son of man background in Daniel 7 and the bridegroom imagery in Hosea 2. Ask where religious habits might stand in the way of mercy today, and let them examine their own practice rather than other people's. Handle the Sabbath question with respect for differing traditions in the room.
One to one
Read 2:1-12 together and ask whether they have ever been carried by friends, or carried someone. If guilt is a burden for them, sit with 2:5 and Jesus' first word. If they feel judged by religious people, read 2:17. Let the person choose which scene to stay with, and do not rush through all five.
Mark 3:7–35
Children
Play a short game of strong man: one child guards a box of toys, and another can only take them by first tying a ribbon round the guard's wrist. Then explain Jesus is stronger than the devil. Leave out the warning of verses 28-30 completely. End with a circle where you read verse 35 and say that everyone who loves and obeys God is in Jesus' family.
Youth
Start with the line “He is beside himself”: his own family thought he had lost it. Ask whether following Jesus has ever made them look strange to people close to them. Explain the strong man clearly. Expect questions about the unforgivable sin, and answer from verse 30 so no one leaves frightened. Let verse 35 speak to anyone whose home is hard.
Adults
Give time to Mark's sandwich structure and what it does to the reading. Discuss the background of Isaiah 49:24-25 for the strong man. Treat verses 28-30 carefully; adults may carry old fears about it. Talk about the church as family, including for those estranged from their own, without criticising anyone's relatives.
One to one
Ask which part of the passage troubles or comforts them. If they fear verse 29, read verses 28 and 30 with them and speak of God's mercy plainly. If family conflict is part of their life, read verses 21 and 35 and let them talk. Pray for them by name as part of God's family.
Song and video learning lab
A song or video may interpret, compress, or dramatize the text. Its value becomes clearer when its choices are compared with Scripture.
- Before the media: the exact passage and its central movement.
- During the media: the words, people, events, and emotions the artist emphasizes.
- After the media: what it clarifies, what it leaves out, and what belongs back in the biblical text.
Handout
One page for learners to take home. The print button prints this section alone.
Mark 2:1–3:6
The passage in brief
In Capernaum, four friends dig through a roof to lower a paralyzed man to Jesus. Jesus forgives his sins, and when religious leaders object that only God can forgive, he heals the man to show his authority. He calls Levi the tax collector and eats with sinners, saying he came to call sinners to turn back to God. He calls himself the bridegroom and the Lord of the Sabbath. When he heals a man's withered hand on the Sabbath, the Pharisees begin to plot his death.
A verse to keep
When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Mark 2:17 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What did the four friends do to get the man to Jesus (2:3-4)?
Why did the religious leaders object to Jesus eating with sinners (2:16)?
What does Jesus' question in 3:4 show about what the Sabbath is for?
This week
Think of one person who cannot get to Jesus alone, and ask God how you might help carry them this week.
Mark 3:7–35
The passage in brief
Huge crowds come to Jesus from many regions, pressing to touch him for healing. He chooses twelve men to be with him, to preach and to drive out demons. His own family think he has lost his mind, and teachers from Jerusalem claim he works by the power of Satan. Jesus answers that Satan cannot drive out Satan, and that he is the stronger one who binds the strong man. He warns them about calling the Holy Spirit's work evil, and says that whoever does God's will is his brother, sister and mother.
A verse to keep
For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Mark 3:35 · King James Version
Questions to take home
What were the twelve chosen to do first, according to 3:14?
How does the picture of the strong man in 3:27 explain what Jesus was doing?
Who does Jesus call his family in 3:35, and what does that mean for you?
This week
Thank God this week for one person in your church who has been family to you, and tell them so.
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.
