Mark 3
COMMENTARY:
: 5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he said unto the man, Stretch forth your hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. (4818 “grieved” [sullupeo] means feel sympathy, feel sorry for, be deeply distressed, share one’s grief, or sorrow on account of someone.)
DEVOTION: Jesus looked at HIS world while HE was living here on this earth. HE saw that the religious leaders were taking the people in the wrong direction. HE saw people who were searching for truth. HE found people who were willing to listen to HIS message as long as they received healing and food. It was a generation much like our own today. We have people who are looking to God to make them healthy and wealthy and answer all their prayer requests for more.
Here Jesus looked at the religious leaders who were just following HIM to find fault and they didn’t care if someone who was sick needed help. They only thought of how they could catch Jesus in a sin, so that, they could kill HIM.
What did this do to Jesus? It caused him to feel sorry for them that their heart was not right with God and they were going to spend eternity in the lake of fire. They were unwilling to learn or listen to the message HE was giving. They were unwilling to genuinely care for the people that were around them. They were just fault finders to make them look good.
Jesus worked in spite of the religious leaders and HIS works amazed the people. They were not used to finding a religious leader who cared about people.
We need to be a people like Jesus Christ who care for those who are dying and going to hell for eternity. We need to have a burden to help those who are in need. We need to be praying for those who need the LORD’S healing touch in their life.
CHALLENGE: Care about the people who are around you today. Help all those you can without finding fault in them. Encourage them where they can do things for themselves. Set the example in these areas for others.
: 6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against HIM, how they might destroy HIM. (622 “destroy” [apollumi] means to put out of the way entirely, abolish, render useless, kill, or ruin.)
DEVOTION: Here we have two groups of people getting together to look into ways that they can hurt Jesus. Who are these two groups?
One group we know a lot about because they followed Jesus throughout HIS ministry to find fault with HIM. They were called Pharisees who were part of the Sanhedrin that made up the ruling body of the Jews at the time period when Jesus was walking the earth. They made up rules for others to follow but they didn’t follow themselves. They were the ones who were self-righteous and looked down on everyone else. They thought they had a special place reserved for them in heaven because they were better than everyone else. They were WRONG!
The second group we meet only once in a while. They are the politically correct people who were ones who loved the Roman Government and did anything they could to please the government over pleasing the LORD. They were loyal to Herod who was the ruler of the area. They were more politically minded. They didn’t want to cause any conflict between their religion and their government. If there was a choice they would always side with whatever Herod said was right.
There two groups, religious and political, got together to harm Jesus. They didn’t like what HE doing to the common people. They were beginning to put their beliefs over the control that the religious and political leaders had in mind for them.
This can happen even today with many people who claim they are believers trying to please the government and fake Christian individual over what the LORD taught and what the Bible continues to give direction concerning. Don’t fall into their traps. Satan seems sometimes to be an angel of light but he is true darkness. He is a fake who likes to have believers mix their religious beliefs with current social standards in our world. They don’t mix!!!
CHALLENGE: Watch that you don’t join the group that likes to lower the standards in their actions and beliefs.
: 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation. (987 “blaspheme” [blasphemeo] means to speak reproachfully, rail at, revile, calumniate, to be evil spoken of, reviled, or railed at.)
DEVOTION: Have we ever had a difficult time in our lives? Has it seemed that nothing was going right? Do we think that Jesus had days when HE wondered what was going on? NO!! Remember HE knew the beginning from the end but this chapter gives us a time period in the life of Christ when it would frustrate us.
First, HE is in the synagogue and there is a man that needed healing on the Sabbath. HE asks, if it is right to do good on the Sabbath. The Pharisees would not answer HIM. HE was GRIEVED at the hardness of the hearts of the religious leaders. That wouldn’t happen today would it???
Next, HE was crowded out by a crowd that wanted HIM to heal them and cast out demons. The demons knew who HE was. Amazing!!
Thirdly, HE sets apart twelve disciples to do ministry. They are to preach, heal the sick and cast out demons.
The Scripture tells us that they are so busy that can’t even take time to eat. That is busy.
After doing so much good, it seems like they should not have to worry about people being negative. Wrong! Along come “friends” of Jesus who say HE is crazy. Almost as good as the friends of Job, right!
Of course, the next ones on the scene are the scribes. They accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan or the leader of the demons. Demons are fallen angels. Some of these fallen angels want to possess a human body for their own benefit. Some of these fallen angels are in chains. There are many demons because one third of the angels followed Satan out of heaven in their fall before the creation of the world. There is only one devil but many demons or evil angels. The KJV translators were emphasizing whom the demons were following by translating the word “devils.”
Now that Jesus has successfully cast out demons, the scribes had to give an answer to the people as to who gave HIM HIS power. Their answer was Satan.
Jesus tells them that if Satan is divided against Satan – his kingdom of demons would fall apart. HE then goes on to tell them that if they take the work of God and attribute it to Satan, they are in danger of eternal damnation. They are in danger of never being forgiven. What is this unpardonable sin? It is speaking evil of the work that Jesus did on this earth and on the cross. Jesus was doing the work of God on this earth. The scribes didn’t believe it. They were hard hearted. Those who remain hard hearted to the work of God will spend eternity with the Devil and his angels.
The place is real. It is a lake of fire for eternity for those who commit this unpardonable sin. We are here to warn our friends and family of this outcome to life. If they refuse to listen – their blood is on their own hands. If we don’t tell them – their blood is on our hands. The only unpardonable sin is not becoming a genuine follower of Jesus Christ. We need to be busy for the LORD.
CHALLENGE: After a long day, do we complain or give praise to the LORD? We should be giving praise to the LORD. Never give credit to anyone but the LORD for all the good you do in your world.
: 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is MY brother, and MY sister, and mother. (2307 “will” [thelema] means desire, pleasure, purpose, decree, active volition, good pleasure, delight, or favor.)
DEVOTION: Jesus redefines HIS family. HE was born to Mary and HE had a number of half-brothers who were the sons of Joseph and Mary. HE had sisters. We don’t have a number for all of HIS siblings. We know Mary had four more sons and at least two daughters besides Jesus (Matthew 13: 55, 56). So, HE was part of a family of at least seven children. Each of the children helped their parents while they were growing up.
Mary followed the ministry of her Son but didn’t fully understand what it was all about. HIS half-brothers didn’t become followers of HIM until after HIS resurrection. They thought HE just needed to come home and rest.
Jesus redefined HIS family as only those who did the will of God in their life. Part of doing the will of God was to be part of HIS ministry. They were not a part of it until after HIS death. Two of HIS half-brothers wrote books of the Bible: Jude and James.
Today we have many who might come to church and say the right things and even do some of the right things but they are not true followers of the LORD. HE wants us to be consistent servers of HIM. That means we have to do the will of God in our life.
If the Holy Spirit is given full reign in our hearts, HE will instruct us in what the LORD wants us to do with our life. This only happens when we yield to the Holy Spirit and ask for HIS anointing us with fresh oil each day.
CHALLENGE: We have to ask ourselves if we are yielding to the Holy Spirit or to our own selfish, lazy desires. We will know the difference with the help of the Word of God and our prayer life.
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