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Mark 3

Jesus restores life and gathers a family around God’s will while facing murderous opposition and accusations of demonic power.

Jesus heals a man’s withered hand in a synagogue on the Sabbath while opponents watch for grounds to accuse him. The Pharisees and Herodians begin plotting his death. Crowds gather for healing, and Jesus appoints twelve to be with him and to preach with his authority. At a house, his friends try to seize him, while scribes attribute his work to demons. Jesus answers their charge, warns against blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and identifies those who do God’s will as his family.

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1He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there whose hand was withered.
2They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him.
3He said to the man whose hand was withered, “Stand up.”
4He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm? To save a life or to kill?” But they were silent.
5When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other.
6The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
7Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples; and a great multitude followed him from Galilee, from Judea,
8from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him.
9He spoke to his disciples that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they wouldn’t press on him.
10For he had healed many, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him that they might touch him.
11The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him and cried, “You are the Son of God!”
12He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.
13He went up into the mountain and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him.
14He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach
16Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter);
17James the son of Zebedee; and John, the brother of James, (whom he called Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder);
18Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot;
19and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him. Then he came into a house.
20The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
21When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him; for they said, “He is insane.”
22The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons.”
23He summoned them and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan?
24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
27But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder unless he first binds the strong man; then he will plunder his house.
28“Most certainly I tell you, all sins of the descendants of man will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme;
29but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”
30—because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
31His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him.
33He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”
34Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers!
35For whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and mother.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Mark 3:5Jesus’ anger and grief expose his opponents’ hardened hearts, while the restored hand displays the good they refuse to welcome.
Mark 3:35Jesus identifies obedience to God’s will as the defining bond of his family, extending kinship beyond blood relations.
Mark 3:13Jesus takes the initiative in calling those he wants, beginning the appointment of twelve companions who will share his work.
Where this chapter reaches

Matthew and Luke share accounts of the Sabbath healing, the accusation that Jesus casts out demons through demonic power, and his teaching about family. Acts shares the named apostles who appear here among the Twelve and continues the account of their preaching mission.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

What do Jesus’ anger and grief over hardened hearts help you understand about the Sabbath healing?

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How does Jesus’ description of his family shape your understanding of belonging and doing God’s will?

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Questions people ask about Mark 3

What is the unforgivable sin in Mark 3?

Jesus warns that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness. Mark ties this warning to the scribes’ claim that Jesus has an unclean spirit: they attribute his work against demons to demonic power. The passage concerns that accusation; it does not describe an unwanted thought or a question asked in doubt.

Why was Jesus angry in Mark 3:5?

Mark says Jesus was angry and grieved at the hardening of their hearts. His watchers wanted grounds to accuse him, and they stayed silent when he asked whether doing good on the Sabbath was lawful. Jesus then restored the man’s hand, and his opponents went out to plot his destruction.

Did Jesus reject his family in Mark 3?

When his mother and brothers call from outside, Jesus looks at those seated around him and identifies those who do God’s will as his family. The scene broadens the meaning of kinship around obedience to God. It does not state that he disowns his relatives or ends his responsibilities toward them.

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What the Bible says about doubt →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).