Skip to main content

Mark 3

Image
By

Verses 2-4, "So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, 'Step forward.'  Then He said to them, 'Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?' But they kept silent."  The Pharisees are so bent on finding fault in Jesus and discrediting His work and ministry. It is crazy to think that they would  rather leave a man in a bad physical state to honor their traditions, than to see the man healed from an infirmity. Verses 3:5, "And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.' And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other."  Jesus doesn't change who He is in order to please man. Even knowing that this would upset the Pharisees and cause them to plot evil against Him. He does what is right regardless, and sets the example for us to follow.

Jesus not only faced rejection from the Jewish leaders of the day, but even His own family thought He was out if His mind. Verses 20-21, "Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. But when His own people heard about  this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, 'He is out of His mind.' ”  The scribes then falsely accuse Jesus of having Beelzebub, Satan himself. Verses 22-27, "And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, 'He has Beelzebub,' and, 'By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.' So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: 'How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.' "

Verses 28-30, “ 'Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;  but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation'— because they said, 'He has an unclean spirit.' ”  Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is an unforgivable sin. People often wonder exactly what this sin consists of. From this context, it seems that it involves attributing a miraculous work of God to Satan. Luke 12:10, “And anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but to him who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven."  Jesus was clearly accused of having an unclean spirit, rather than accepting the work as from God.

When told that His family was outside, Jesus' response was probably unexpected. Verses 33-35, "But He answered them, saying, 'Who is My mother, or My brothers?'  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, 'Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.' ” It doesn't matter to God who you are or where you came from, only that you fear Him and obey His words. Acts 10:34-35, "Then Peter opened his mouth and said: 'In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.' "  When you think about the famous pastors of the day, it makes you wonder if they too would be offended if Jesus didn't pay attention to their standing. If the first shall be last and the last shall be first, why do they want their prominence now? Mark 9:35, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” Pastors who serve others and not self, are truly a rare find.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1 Corinthians 9

By
Paul feels the need to defend his calling and his position of authority among the Corinthians, due to the fact that he is being examined. Ironically, his decision to not take support from the church, which should have earned him even more respect, has done the opposite causing his legitimacy as an apostle to be called into question. He makes the point that those who labor spiritually for the Corinthians have the right to eat and drink at their expense, and should expect the same support for their believing wife if they choose to bring one along as part of their ministry.  Certainly if others have been supported by them, Paul has even more right, being their spiritual father so to speak. I Corinthians 9:12, "If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more? Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things lest we hinder the gospel of Christ." Paul does not want to be accused of fulfilling his duty out of financial obligation, and so to demon...
7 comments
Read more

1 Timothy 6

By
Those of us who are under authority should be respectful so that outsiders will not witness our behavior and blaspheme God or His word. Although slavery has been abolished in America, we still have employers, and our jobs should be done unto the Lord so that our hard work will be to the glory of God. Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Some Christians believe that they can relax on these standards if they work for a Christian boss, but actually the opposite is true. We should serve them even harder knowing that a brother or sister will be benefiting from our labors. Having been employed in ministry I was able to witness firsthand how others served their Christian bosses. Many would show up late, leave early, miss meetings, and produce mediocre to poor quality work as though it were acceptable to do so. If we bear the name of Jesus, we should stand out for our quality of performance and our et...
5 comments
Read more

2 Corinthians 2

By
The letter Paul has written was out of love for the Corinthians, but was anguishing for him to write.  Choosing to send a letter rather than return to visit them on his way back through from Macedonia, was to avoid another occurrence of the first visit.  We can assume that the first visit was troubling for Paul, being their spiritual father so to speak, to see the church in the state it was in, requiring him to rebuke them harshly for their errors.  Much the same as when we are grieved when someone close to us goes astray (like our children), causing the need for strong words and discipline. Paul had sorrow over those whom he wanted to have joy.  Verse 4, “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote to you, with many tears,  not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you.” The intention of the letter was not to bring them grief, but to correct them in love and bring about a change of heart and...
5 comments
Read more