Mark 3

Controversy Over Sabbath-Healing

Matt 12:9–13; Luke 6:6–10

3And ^aHe entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. ²So they ^bwatched Him closely, whether He would ^cheal him on the Sabbath, so that they might ¹accuse Him. ³And He said to the man who had the withered hand, ² “Step forward.” ⁴Then 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. ⁵And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the ^dhardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored ³as whole as the other.

Pharisees Counsel to Destroy Jesus

Matt. 12:14–16; Luke 6:11

^6eThen the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with ^fthe Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.

⁷But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, ^gand from Judea ⁸and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how ^hmany things He was doing, came to Him. ⁹So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. ¹⁰For He healed ⁱmany, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to ^jtouch Him. ^11kAnd the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, ^l“You are the Son of God.” ¹²But ^mHe sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.

Selection of the Twelve

Luke 6:12–16

¹³ⁿAnd He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. ¹⁴Then He appointed twelve, ⁴that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, ¹⁵and to have ⁵power ⁶to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: ¹⁶⁷Simon, ^oto whom He gave the name Peter; ¹⁷James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; ¹⁸Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.

Opposition of His Friends

²⁰Then the multitude came together again, ^pso that they could not so much as eat bread. ²¹But when His ^qown people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, ^rfor they said, “He is out of His mind.”

Scribes Commit the Unpardonable Sin

Matt. 12:24–32; Luke 11:17–23

²²And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ^s“He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ^truler of the demons He casts out demons.”

^23uSo He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. ^27vNo 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.

^28w“Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; ²⁹but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”—³⁰because they ^xsaid, “He has an unclean spirit.”

New Relationships are Defined

Matt. 12:46–50; Luke 8:19–21

^31yThen His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him. ³²And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers ⁸are outside seeking You.”

³³But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?” ³⁴And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ³⁵For whoever does the ^zwill of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”