Knowing Jesus through Mark Chapter 3

This week in Sunday school and worship we are seeking to know Jesus through Mark Chapter 3. As with each chapter there are sub-sections here. However we have to be careful not to read them in isolation from each other. Even as I break these sections down, try to look for the places of continuity between stories and points of connection between themes that emerge from story to story and chapter to chapter. For each section I'll offer tidbits that I hope will wet your appetite for study and for worship this Sunday.
Verses 1-6: Jesus heals a man with the "withered" hand. It takes place in the temple on the sabbath day in front of people, including the Pharisees.
- The ministry of Jesus clashes again with the religious authorities over the meaning of the Sabbath. We saw this in chapter 2.
- On Sunday we'll dive deeper into the meaning of "Sabbath" for Jesus era Jews and the ways Christians have "converted" as well as distorted it.
- Jesus "restores" the man with the withered hand. The original Greek word here is apokathistemi, which simply means for something to be returned to its original intent and purpose. Mark's use of "restoration" foreshadows for later in chapter 3 as well as the rest of the gospel, where restoration themes abound (verses 7-19 - see notes below)
Verses 7-19: Large Crowds are following Jesus
- Word is surely spreading that Jesus is healing people so one can imagine the abundant demand for Jesus' power. Jesus retreats in order, it seems, to call, recruit and empower disciples who he calls apostles also (apostolos, meaning messenger) to do three things:
1- to be with him
2- to proclaim the message
3- to cast out demons
Jesus authorizes and commissions trusted apostles to go in his name and do ministry. The authorizing of persons for ministries of various kinds in the life of the church is rooted well Biblically and this is a prime example. Jesus clearly wants to meet the needs of the people and perhaps? he is physically limited in doing that. After-all, he can only be in one place at one time.
- Restoration. In choosing the twelve disciples Jesus makes what must have been an obvious connection to his hearers. He is signaling the restoration of the people Israel rooted in the historical lineage of the twelve tribes of Jacob. Because 10 of those tribes had been conquered and carried away by the Assyrians 700 years before, the Israelites were waiting for a restoration of everything. Through this commissioning of the 12 apostles, Tom Wright notes that Jesus was signaling that "this was more than a great healing mission."
Verses 20-30: Jesus and Beelzebul
- Jesus' family is wondering about Jesus' sanity (verse 21) because of his healing work and what he is saying.
- The authorities, not even his family understand what Jesus is about. Because they don't understand, they revert to a caustic label. Beelzebul was an "arch-demon" as Wright describes it. We'll talk more Sunday about the reasons we label and the dangers of doing it
- Jesus is angry. We are used to thinking that the temple cleansing episode is the only place where Jesus gets angry in the Gospels...not true, we see that he gets angry here. Jesus is serious about the work of the Holy Spirit.
- We have to be extremely careful not to discount work that we may not understand but might be the work of the Holy Spirit.
Verses 31-35: Jesus' Family
- Again, Jesus' family tries to get Jesus to come outside.
- Wright wants us to understand how shocking the words are that Jesus speaks about his relatives. In the modern West, we are used to distance between family members. Even if we don't like it, we know that jobs, school and relationships take people far away from home sometimes. In Jesus' day there was rarely such mobility and the interdependence on one's family was strong. To ask, "who is my mother and who are my brothers?" would have been shocking to the hearers.
- Jesus calls for first loyalty among those who "do God's will." These are family.
Therefore our loyalty and devotion to our biological families becomes an outgrowth of our first loyalty to God and the family of faith.

*Wright says and I agree that Mark calls his readers to "stick with Jesus, whatever the cost."