Mark 3 explained: Healing, Opposition and a New Family

A healing on the rest day (vv. 1-6)

Some religious teachers counted healing as work, which was not allowed on the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest. Jesus asks whether that day is for doing good or harm, heals the man's hand, and his critics begin plotting his death with the Herodians, backers of King Herod's family and normally not their allies.

Crowds and the Twelve (vv. 7-19)

People come from all over, even the non-Jewish cities of Tyre and Sidon, and Jesus silences evil spirits who call him the Son of God, perhaps to keep them from announcing him before his time. He then chooses twelve to stay with him and share his work, a number that likely echoes Israel's twelve tribes, and the list already names Judas as the one who would betray him.

Doubted near and far (vv. 20-22)

Those close to him (the NIV says his family, the ASV his friends) set out to take charge of him, saying he is out of his mind. Meanwhile experts in religious law from Jerusalem claim he drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul, a name for the ruler of demons.

A house divided (vv. 23-27)

Jesus answers that evil would not fight against itself, since a kingdom or household at war with itself falls apart. The saying about tying up a strong man before raiding his house is usually read as Jesus overpowering Satan, though the text itself only gives the picture.

The sin not forgiven (vv. 28-30)

Jesus says people can be forgiven every sin and insult except speaking against the Holy Spirit, meaning God's own Spirit. Mark explains he said this because they claimed he had an impure spirit, calling God's power at work in him evil; exactly what else it covers has been debated for centuries.

His true family (vv. 31-35)

When his mother and brothers send for him, Jesus points to the people sitting around him and says whoever does God's will is his brother, sister and mother. In a culture where loyalty to family came first, this was a striking claim that a new kind of family was forming around him.

Key verse: Mark 3:35

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on what exactly the unforgivable sin against the Holy Spirit is, and whether someone today can commit it or only those who saw Jesus and called his work evil.

Something to think about

Have you ever been misunderstood or doubted by people close to you for doing something you believed was right, and what did that feel like?