MARK: AN OVERVIEW

Chapter 3

JIM LAWS

As one begins to read chapter three, he immediately sees a very revealing statement, both about Jesus and his enemies, "And they watched him," (vs. 2). The specific context concerns the Pharisees, who wanted to find fault with Jesus and accuse him of wrongdoing. They watched carefully to see if Jesus would heal the man, who had the crippled hand. Jesus' miraculous power was objective proof that he was who he claimed to be: the only begotten Son of God. John 20:30-31 states, "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." The miracles, which he performed by divine power, should have silenced his opposition and caused them to accept Jesus, but due to the hardness of their hearts they refused. Instead of seeing the miracles of Jesus and being convinced by them, they wanted to find fault with him and, once again, they failed. Jesus tells the man to "Stand forth" (vs. 3). Remember, the opposition is watching, wanting to accuse Jesus. Then we have this critical question formed by the Lord, "Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath days, or to do evil? To save life, or to kill?" His reasoning here was unanswerable. The text says, "They held their peace." The passage states that the afflicted man was told to stretch out his hand, and as he did, his afflicted hand was healed (v. 5). Notice that there were not any tricks involved in this miracle, no slight of hand, no manipulations, nor any concealment. This miracle was witnessed by all, even the enemies of Jesus, and can not be denied. Notice, also, that this miracle is far different from the false claims of the so-called "faith healers" of our day. The miracles, performed by the Son of God, were genuine and could be accomplished only by divine power. When the Pharisees saw this they left, but as they did, they made plans with Herod's followers (the Herodians) to kill Jesus (v. 6).

In verse 7 - 12 Mark tells us that large crowds followed Jesus. They came from Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem. People came from Idumea, as well, as other places east of the Jordan River (v. 7, 8). They came from the area around the cities of Tyre and Sidon. Jesus wanted his disciples to get a boat ready, lest the crowd should "throng" him (v. 9). Verses 10 and 11 explain that Jesus healed them, and even the unclean spirits, when they saw him, would fall to the ground and shout, "Thou art the Son of God." Notice that Jesus did not want, nor accept, the devils as preachers of righteousness, nor did He want them as his disciples. Therefore, he tells them not to tell others who he was (v. 12).

In verses 13 through 19 Mark records the work of Jesus and his selection of twelve to be his apostles. (You will want to read carefully Matthew 10:1-4, as well as, Luke 6:12-16. Their names are also given in Acts 1:13, 14).

It is in this paragraph (vv. 20-30) that we find a very challenging passage of scripture. The Pharisees came from Jerusalem and made the claim that Jesus was actually working under the power of Beelzebub (a name the Jews had taken and had applied it to Satan). Jesus responded with the truth, that he cast out demons, not by the power of Beelzebub, but by the power of the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit had actually performed the miracle through Christ (study this matter carefully in Matt. 12:22-30). He skillfully reasoned with them that their conclusions about the matter are actually absurd. A house divided against itself cannot stand (v. 25). Satan is not going to fight against himself (26, 27). Yet by their observing the demons cast out by Jesus and the power of God, the obvious conclusion is: "then is the kingdom of God come upon you" (Matt. 12:28). The sin that Jesus referred to in this context has to do with the Pharisees, who accused Jesus of performing a miracle by the power of Satan, when in reality he had performed the miracle by the "power of the Spirit." Sometimes questions will arise inquiring about this "unpardonable sin" (See Matt. 12:31-32). Can this everlasting condemnation, which the Pharisees received from the Lord regarding their blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, be committed in the same way by someone today? No! Our day is not a day of the miraculous. Our sins will condemn us for sure, if we fail to repent and fail to obey the gospel of Christ. However, all sins and transgressions can be forgiven, due to the cross of Christ and the benefits to be received from the shed blood of Jesus. Notice that Jesus in this text says that, "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men (Matt. 12:31). He goes on to say that even if one were to speak against the Son of Man, it may be forgiven (Matt. 12:32). However, it is when the Jewish leaders spoke against the work of the Holy Spirit, as they attributed the Spirits work to Satan, that they would receive no forgiveness for such blasphemy. Obviously, there can and will be unpardoned sins due to man's unwillingness to repent and to obey the gospel, but there is not an unpardonable sin, whereby sinful man can not receive forgiveness.

 MARK continued

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