Mark 3

1 And he went again into the Synagogue; and there was a man there whose hand was dead.

2 And they were watching him to see if he would make him well on the Sabbath day, so that they might have something against him.

3 And he said to the man, Get up and come forward.

4 And he said to them, Is it right to do good on the Sabbath or to do evil? to give life or to put to death? But they said nothing.

5 And looking round on them he was angry, being sad because of their hard hearts; and he said to the man, Put out your hand. And he put it out, and his hand was made well.

6 And the Pharisees went out, and straight away made designs with the Herodians about how they might put him to death.

7 And Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea, and a great number from Galilee came after him: and from Judaea,

8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and the other side of Jordan, and the country about Tyre and Sidon, a great number, hearing what great things he did, came to him.

9 And he made a request to his disciples to have a little boat ready for him, so that he might not be crushed by the people;

10 For he had made such a great number well that all those who were diseased were falling down before him for the purpose of touching him.

11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, went down before him, crying out, and saying, You are the Son of God.

12 And he gave them special orders not to say who he was.

13 And he went up into the mountain, and sent for those whom it was his pleasure to have with him: and they went to him.

14 And he took twelve to be with him, so that he might send them out as preachers,

15 And give them the power of driving out evil spirits:

16 To Simon he gave the second name of Peter;

17 And to James, the son of Zebedee, and John, the brother of James, he gave the second name of Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder:

18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot;

19 And Judas Iscariot, who was false to him.

20 And he went into a house. And the people came together again, so that they were not even able to take bread.

21 And when his friends had news of it, they went out to get him, saying, He is off his head.

22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, said, He has Beelzebub, and, By the ruler of evil spirits he sends evil spirits out of men.

23 And turning to them, he said to them in the form of a story, How is it possible for Satan to put out Satan?

24 If there is division in a kingdom, that kingdom will come to destruction;

25 And if there is division in a house, that house will come to destruction;

26 And if Satan is at war with himself, and there is division in him, he will not keep his place but will come to an end.

27 But no one is able to go into the house of the strong man and take his goods, without first putting cords round the strong man, and then he will take his goods.

28 Truly, I say to you, The sons of men will have forgiveness for all their sins and for all the evil words they say:

29 But whoever says evil things against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but the evil he has done will be with him for ever:

30 Because they said, He has an unclean spirit.

31 And his mother and brothers came and were outside, and sent for him, requesting to see him.

32 And a great number were seated round him; and they said to him, See, your mother and your brothers are outside looking for you.

33 And he said in answer, Who are my mother and my brothers?

34 And looking round at those who were seated about him, he said, See, my mother and my brothers!

35 Whoever does God's pleasure, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.

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Mark 3 Commentary

Chapter 3

The withered hand healed. (1-5) The people resort to Christ. (6-12) The apostles called. (13-21) The blasphemy of the scribes. (22-30) Christ's relatives. (31-35)

Verses 1-5 This man's case was piteous; he had a withered hand, which disabled him from working for his living; and those that are so, are the most proper objects of charity. Let those be helped that cannot help themselves. But stubborn infidels, when they can say nothing against the truth, yet will not yield. We hear what is said amiss, and see what is done amiss; but Christ looks at the root of bitterness in the heart, the blindness and hardness of that, and is grieved. Let hard-hearted sinners tremble to think of the anger with which he will look upon them shortly, when the day of his wrath comes. The great healing day now is the sabbath, and the healing place the house of prayer; but the healing power is of Christ. The gospel command is like that recorded here: though our hands are withered, yet, if we will not stretch them out, it is our own fault that we are not healed. But if we are healed, Christ, his power and grace, must have all the glory.

Verses 6-12 All our sicknesses and calamities spring from the anger of God against our sins. Their removal, or the making them blessings to us, was purchased to us by the blood of Christ. But the plagues and diseases of our souls, of our hearts, are chiefly to be dreaded; and He can heal them also by a word. May more and more press to Christ to be healed of these plagues, and to be delivered from the enemies of their souls.

Verses 13-21 Christ calls whom he will; for his grace is his own. He had called the apostles to separate themselves from the crowd, and they came unto him. He now gave them power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils. May the Lord send forth more and more of those who have been with him, and have learned of him to preach his gospel, to be instruments in his blessed work. Those whose hearts are enlarged in the work of God, can easily bear with what is inconvenient to themselves, and will rather lose a meal than an opportunity of doing good. Those who go on with zeal in the work of God, must expect hinderances, both from the hatred of enemies, and mistaken affections of friends, and need to guard against both.

Verses 22-30 It was plain that the doctrine of Christ had a direct tendency to break the devil's power; and it was as plain, that casting of him out of the bodies of people, confirmed that doctrine; therefore Satan could not support such a design. Christ gave an awful warning against speaking such dangerous words. It is true the gospel promises, because Christ has purchased, forgiveness for the greatest sins and sinners; but by this sin, they would oppose the gifts of the Holy Ghost after Christ's ascension. Such is the enmity of the heart, that unconverted men pretend believers are doing Satan's work, when sinners are brought to repentance and newness of life.

Verses 31-35 It is a great comfort to all true Christians, that they are dearer to Christ than mother, brother, or sister as such, merely as relations in the flesh would have been, even had they been holy. Blessed be God, this great and gracious privilege is ours even now; for though Christ's bodily presence cannot be enjoyed by us, his spiritual presence is not denied us.

Taken from Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Concise)