Mark 3
BSASBJesus heals on the Sabbath and meets hardened hearts, while crowds and even demons recognize Him. He appoints the Twelve to be with Him and to be sent out. Then He faces charges of madness and of working for Satan, and He shows that His true family are those who do God’s will.
Mark 3:1
Jesus again enters a synagogue, probably on a Sabbath, and finds a man whose hand is withered. The man seems helpless and has no voice in the story. Jesus does not pass by him, even though the setting is tense.
BSA: withered (“dried up, shriveled”): The hand is shrunken and lifeless, unable to work or hold anything.
See also: Mark 1:21.
Mark 3:2
Some in the synagogue are not there to worship. They are watching Jesus, hoping to catch Him breaking the Sabbath so they can accuse Him. A man’s need is treated as a trap, and good hearts can still be used for bad ends.
BSA: watching (“observing closely, waiting to see”): This is a hostile, careful stare, like someone waiting to pounce.
Greek: παρετήρουν (paretēroun, G3906) — “were watching closely.” The word describes a sharp, sustained observation with a motive. They were spying on Him, not simply looking.
Mark 3:3
Jesus does not hide the healing or do it quietly. He calls the man out to the middle of the room. He brings the need into the open and makes the watchers face it.
BSA: Stand up (“arise, rise up”): It is a public command that puts the man in full view of everyone.
Mark 3:4
Jesus turns the question around. The issue is not rule-keeping but whether the Sabbath is a day for doing good or for doing harm. Refusing to help, when you can, is not neutral. Their silence shows they have no answer.
BSA: lawful (“permitted, allowed”): Jesus asks what God actually permits on His day of rest, not what human rules add.
See also: Matthew 12:12.
Mark 3:5
Jesus is truly angry, yet His anger is mixed with grief. He is hurt by hearts that care more about being right than about a suffering man. Then He commands the man to do the very thing he cannot do, and the hand is made whole.
BSA: sorrow (“being grieved, deeply distressed”): His anger is not cold or spiteful. It comes from real pain over their condition.
Greek: πωρώσει (pōrōsei, G4457) — “hardening, like a callus.” The word pictures skin or bone grown hard and without feeling. Their hearts had stopped responding to need and to God.
See also: Ephesians 4:18.
Mark 3:6
The result is bitter. Instead of rejoicing at the healing, the Pharisees leave and plot with the Herodians, supporters of Herod’s ruling family, who were normally their opponents. Already, early in Mark, the cross casts its shadow.
See also: Mark 12:13.
Mark 3:7-8
Jesus steps away from the conflict toward the lake, but the people follow. They come from every direction: from Jewish lands, from the south, from across the Jordan, and from the Gentile coast of Tyre and Sidon. News of His works drew them, so His reach is wider than His enemies’ hatred.
BSA: withdrew (“retreated, departed”): Jesus avoids needless confrontation and moves on while His hour has not yet come. great things (“mighty works, wonderful deeds”): What drew the crowds was power at work, deeds that could not be explained away.
See also: Matthew 4:24-25.
Mark 3:9-10
The crowd is so eager that Jesus asks for a small boat as a safe place to teach from. The sick push forward to touch Him, hoping for healing. Their hope is real, even though their pressing is rough.
BSA: touch (“attach themselves to”): They wanted to make contact, to be joined to the source of healing.
Greek: μάστιγας (mastigas, G3148) — “whips, lashes.” The word translated diseases literally means scourges. It pictures illness as a painful lash that strikes a person’s body.
Mark 3:11-12
The unclean spirits recognize Jesus for who He is and fall before Him, yet Jesus silences them. He does not want a testimony from them, and He does not want to be proclaimed as a mere wonder-worker before the time. Knowing who He is is not the same as following Him.
BSA: fell down (“prostrated themselves, worshiped”): The spirits are forced into submission before His authority, though not out of love. warned (“rebuked, charged”): Jesus commands them with firm authority, and they obey.
See also: James 2:19.
Mark 3:13-15
Jesus goes up a mountain and calls those He chose. From them He appoints twelve, and the order is important: first to be with Him, then to be sent out. They are to preach and to share His authority over demons.
BSA: appointed (“chose, selected”): The Twelve are chosen by Jesus’ own decision, not by their own ambition. authority (“spiritual power”): They are not given power of their own. It is His power, lent for the work He gives them.
Greek: ἀποστόλους (apostolous, G652) — “sent ones, messengers with a commission.” An apostle is someone sent with the authority of the one who sent him, like an ambassador.
See also: Luke 6:12-13.
Mark 3:16-17
Simon receives a new name, Peter, meaning rock. James and John are named Sons of Thunder, probably for their fiery temperament. Jesus sees what people are and what they may become, and He calls them as they are.
BSA: Boanerges (“Sons of Thunder, meaning sons of commotion”): The name suggests strong, stormy personalities that Jesus would shape for His work.
See also: John 1:42.
Mark 3:18-19
The list holds very different men, such as Matthew the tax collector and Simon the Zealot, who burned with nationalist zeal. Judas is named last, and Mark says plainly that he betrayed Jesus. Jesus called him as well, and His grace was offered to all of them.
BSA: betrayed (“surrendered, handed over”): The word means giving Jesus over into the hands of others.
See also: Matthew 10:2-4; Psalm 41:9.
Mark 3:20
Back in a house, the crowd presses in again, and there is no time even for a meal. This shows how much the people needed Him and how fully He gave Himself, without thought for His own comfort.
BSA: eat (“take bread, have a meal”): Even the ordinary rhythm of eating was set aside for those in need.
Mark 3:21
Jesus’ own family hear the reports and set out to take hold of Him. They think He has lost His senses, through overwork or zeal. Misunderstanding can come from those closest to us, and Jesus bore that too.
BSA: family (“relatives, those who knew Him”): These were people from home who had known Him long before His public work. out of His mind (“beside Himself, insane, lost His senses”): They judged His intensity by their own ordinary standards and took it for madness.
Greek: ἐξέστη (exestē, G1839) — “he is beside himself.” The word means standing outside oneself, out of one’s normal state of mind. Their view was that He had gone too far.
See also: John 7:5.
Mark 3:22
Teachers of the law come from Jerusalem with a harsher charge. They cannot deny His power, so they say it comes from Satan. When people refuse the light, they will often call the good evil.
BSA: prince (“ruler, leader”): They claim He is in league with the chief of the evil spirits.
Greek: Βεελζεβούλ (Beelzeboul, G954) — “Beelzebul, a name for the ruler of demons.” It was a title used for Satan, and here the scribes say Jesus’ power comes from him.
See also: Matthew 12:24.
Mark 3:23-26
Jesus answers with a simple argument. A kingdom or household that fights itself will fall, so if Satan were driving out his own servants, his rule would end. The charge makes no sense, and it points to something else going on.
BSA: divided (“split apart, fragmented”): A kingdom torn in two cannot hold together and will collapse. end (“goal, conclusion”): If Satan fought himself, his rule would come to its finish.
Mark 3:27
Jesus explains what is really happening. Someone strong holds a house, and only a stronger person who first binds him can take his goods. In casting out demons, Jesus is showing that Satan’s hold on people is being broken.
BSA: ties up (“binds, restrains”): Jesus’ victory over the evil one comes first, and the release of captives follows.
Greek: δήσῃ (dēsē, G1210) — “binds, ties up.” It is the ordinary word for tying someone with cords or chains, picturing the enemy as held fast by a stronger hand.
See also: Isaiah 49:24-25; Colossians 2:15.
Mark 3:28-29
Jesus gives a great promise: every sin and every slander can be forgiven. Then He gives a grave warning about speaking against the Holy Spirit, which here means calling the Spirit’s work in Jesus the work of the devil. Those who stubbornly reject that light cut themselves off from the only way of pardon.
BSA: forgiven (“released, let go”): Forgiveness means sin is let go and no longer held against the person. blasphemes (“speaks evil, shows disrespect”): It is more than a careless word. It is deliberate contempt for what is holy.
See also: Matthew 12:31-32; 1 John 1:9.
Mark 3:30
Mark gives the reason for the warning. The scribes had said Jesus has an unclean spirit, which is a direct attack on the Spirit’s work in Him. The warning is aimed at their hardened accusation.
BSA: unclean spirit (“the vital principle or mental disposition”): They claimed that the very power moving in Jesus was evil, not holy.
Mark 3:31-32
Jesus’ mother and brothers arrive, but they must send word in, because the crowd is packed around Him. They stand outside, and there is both a physical and a spiritual picture in that: those who have not yet come in to hear Him.
BSA: outside (“outwardly, in a physical sense”): They are literally outside the house, and the word prepares us for a lesson about who is truly close to Him.
Mark 3:33-34
Jesus asks a surprising question and then looks at the people sitting around Him. He does not reject His family. He shows that those who listen to Him and gather close are bound to Him in a new and deeper way.
BSA: circle (“surrounding, all around”): The listeners form a ring around Jesus, a picture of closeness to Him.
Mark 3:35
Jesus names what makes a person truly His family: doing the will of God. Nearness to Him is not a matter of blood or background but of obedience. Anyone who follows God’s will belongs to His household.
BSA: will (“desire, intention”): God’s will is not only a rule but what God wants and intends. whoever (“habitually obeys”): The doing is steady and ongoing, not a single moment of obedience.
Greek: θέλημα (thelēma, G2307) — “will, what someone wants.” It points to God’s desire and purpose, and not just a list of commands.
See also: Matthew 12:50; John 15:14.