Mark 3 - Summary

Historical setting

Mark writes in the middle of the first century, probably in the 60s. Jesus moves through Galilee in the north, a region under the rule of Herod Antipas, a son of Herod the Great. Jerusalem, the center of Jewish religious authority, lies south in Judaea, ruled directly by the Roman prefect. The Pharisees mentioned here were a Jewish lay movement devoted to observance of the law and its interpretation; the Herodians were politically aligned with Herod's family. Both groups are portrayed as hostile to Jesus. The sea referred to is the Sea of Galilee, a fishing lake surrounded by towns and villages where Jesus draws crowds from across the region and beyond.

Life and customs

Sabbath observance was one of the most stringent Jewish laws, forbidding all work from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Healing was classified by Jewish interpreters as work and therefore prohibited on the Sabbath, even to save life, though debate existed on this point. A synagogue was a local gathering place for prayer and Torah reading, open to the community. Demons or "unclean spirits" were understood as supernatural beings hostile to God and allied with Satan; Jewish thought held that they could possess people and cause illness. A withered hand was a visible disability that would mark someone as excluded from full participation in religious life.

What the text says

In verses 1-5, Jesus enters a synagogue where a man with a withered hand is present. The Pharisees watch to see if he will heal on the Sabbath, hoping to accuse him. Jesus invites the man to stand and poses a question: is it lawful to do good or evil on the Sabbath, to save life or kill? When they do not answer, he looks at them "with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts" and commands the man to stretch out his hand. The hand is restored. In verses 6-12, the Pharisees and Herodians immediately plot his destruction. Jesus withdraws to the sea with his disciples; large crowds from Galilee, Judaea, Jerusalem, Idumaea, and beyond Jordan come seeking healing. He sits in a small ship because of the press of multitude. Many unclean spirits see him, fall down, and cry out that he is "the Son of God," but he charges them not to make him known. In verses 13-19, Jesus goes up a mountain and calls twelve men to be with him, to preach, and to have power to heal and cast out demons. The twelve are named: Simon (renamed Peter), James and John the sons of Zebedee (surnamed Boanerges, "sons of thunder"), Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who would betray him. In verses 20-30, the multitude gathers so thickly that the apostles cannot eat. When his mother and brothers arrive, the crowd tells him; he does not go to them. Scribes from Jerusalem accuse him of having Beelzebub and casting out demons by Satan's power. Jesus responds in parables: if Satan casts out Satan, his kingdom is divided and cannot stand. He adds that no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder it unless he first binds the strong man. Jesus then states that all sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven to the sons of men, but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Ghost has no forgiveness and is in danger of eternal damnation, "because they said, He hath an unclean spirit." In verses 31-35, his mother and brothers stand outside calling him. When told of this, Jesus asks "Who is my mother, or my brethren?" and looks round at those sitting about him, saying "Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."

Takeaways

• Jesus regards Sabbath law as subordinate to healing and compassion, and he acts on that conviction despite hostile observers.
• The accusation that Jesus serves Satan prompts him to teach that a kingdom at war with itself cannot endure, and to warn against a sin against the Holy Spirit that cannot be forgiven.
• Jesus redefines family and kinship around obedience to God's will rather than blood relation.