The New and the Old Feb 5
Mark 2:21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
The times are changing. The season for the religion of the Temple has passed. Now is the season for a new way of being.
Jesus offers two parables explaining the impossibility of combining His teaching with the teaching of the Pharisees, or of the Sadducees, or of any other doctrine. Both stories show that the old will be destroyed and there will be no benefit from the new taking its place.
In the wine parable, “new” wine has not fermented, a process that causes the volume of the liquid to increase. An old bag has no stretch, no way to expand to hold the greater volume. The bag is burst and the new wine pours out onto the ground.
Attempting to incorporate the character of God into the old religion that has drifted so far from knowledge of Him is not possible. The old religion cannot accommodate the new faith. Rigid legalism cannot contain a grace based on love. The two are incompatible.
The old piece of cloth that has served its purpose but has become stained and torn no longer serves as the covering for which it was intended. Patches of the new cloth will not hold the old cloth together. The cloth is beyond repair, and its service has long since ended.
The new teachings of Jesus have the flexibility to encompass everyone while the old teachings of the Temple held but a self-selected few.
The doctrine that had become the covering of Israel in the time since the return of the captives from Babylon was a patchwork of laws. This tapestry of works was held together by threads which bound tightly all that it encompassed. The cloak of righteousness that Jesus offered fit easily and gently, more an embrace than a strait jacket.
Hearts that are solid stone allow no freedom of thought or emotion. Their hard borders allow only limited physical or spiritual freedom.
Jesus calls for a new heart, not patches on the old one. The new heart is to bear unrestrained love of the Father and all of the Father’s children.
Law and Necessity Feb 6
Mark 2:23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
The final story in chapter 2 and the first story of chapter 3 show Jesus twice being challenged by the guardians of the law for breaking the Sabbath. And Jesus gives a different reason as justification for each incident.
He also states an overarching principle involving the Commandment regarding the seventh day, a statement that casts new light on an old law: The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Jesus and His disciples are hungry as they walk through a field of grain on a Sabbath day. Travelers, they have no store of food, no barn filled with grain. They pick grains as they walk and eat them. The law classified this as work and therefore forbidden on the Sabbath.
Jesus cites necessity as God’s first allowance for breaking the Sabbath law.
When challenged for breaking the law by the Pharisees, Jesus reminded them of 1 Sam. 21:1-9. David and his followers are in need of food lest they perish. The priest at Nob allows them to eat the old showbread that has been replaced by new showbread in the Most Holy Place. Only priests were allowed to eat this bread, but necessity allows the bread to go to David.
The law was often a double standard with rulings in favor of the interpreters of the law and against those for whom they interpreted the law. After all, the Pharisees had made allowances for the necessity of the work of preparing sacrifices on the Sabbath. And they allowed the exchange of Roman coin for Temple coin in order to buy sacrifices on the Sabbath.
The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus speaks as a man for mankind, and as a part of the Trinity for God. God has created us and blessed us. A day of rest is a gift, not a sentence, an opportunity, not a punishment.
Law and Mercy Feb 7
Mark 3:1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
The story gives Jesus’ second justification for violation of the Sabbath laws: mercy. Jesus has been filled with the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is within Him.
Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
God and the Spirit are One with Jesus. The first fruit of the Spirit is love, the desire is what is best for the beloved. To love is to desire to remove suffering and pain, unnecessary discomfort and dis-ease.
The book of Job shows that disease and misfortune do not come from God. Given the opportunity, He would remove all that troubles us. Living in a world of free choice comes with the consequences of others’ decisions. And in a fallen world, the conditions for dis-ease are ever with us.
The complex issues of a fallen world continue to produce the sick and the poor. To remove all illness and poverty would be to bind Satan and to bind mankind so that no one had the ability to choose freely.
Jesus will not do this. He will model love of mankind and love and obedience toward God. The hardness of mankind’s hearts grieves Him, rouses Him to anger against the willful foolishness of it.
He will chastise heartlessness and shame it by His own actions. He will heal and set a man free from the bondage of a withered hand.
Against Jesus’ challenge they can present no argument. But such an act of mercy promotes hatred in hearts of stone, promotes the desire to curb the offense of unmerited love in any way possible.
The Pharisees align with the politicians, the Herodians, as tension builds.
A Multitude Follow Feb 8
Mark 3:7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. 9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
There are two Greek words used for heal in the Gospels. Mark uses only Strong’s G2323, therapeuo, as in verse 10. It comes from a word meaning to wait upon menially, and is defined as to cure, heal, worship. We get our English word, therapy, from this.
The other Greek word is G2390, iaomai, from a verb meaning to cure (literally or figuratively) and means heal or make whole. The other Gospels use this word frequently. When Mark writes of Jesus casting out demons, he may be using therapeuo to emphasize Jesus’ humble service on the Sabbath.
Making a person whole is to make them a single entity in body, mind, and spirit. Whether it is a literal evil spirit or demon, or perhaps a negative characteristic such as those listed in the fruit of the flesh in Galatians 5, is open to discussion. The point is that being whole means not being fractured, not afflicted with competing ideas or emotions, or competing spirits.
That a touch can bring a person into unity of spirit, into a wellness based on wholeness, is indeed miraculous. This is Jesus as a conduit for the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus brings right doing, thinking, and being into the heart through a simple touch. Who would not follow Him to receive this healing power?
Again, fame for doing works can inhibit the accomplishment of the best work, the reason He came. Jesus had and still has a message for each person: their identity as a child of God, and their home as heaven, also known as the kingdom of God. He has far to go before He is done.
The common people who recognize His power and identity flock to Him. The evil spirits know Him and cry out against Him. His human opponents join with the evil spirits and cry out against Him.
Calling the Twelve Feb 9
Mark 3:13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
Jesus had many followers in those days. He wants followers, but He also wants those who will also go out and preach the word that they have received. To listen and take heed is good; to follow and to grow in wisdom is better; to understand and take the message to others is best.
Jesus goes up to a mountain and calls out to those He wants to join Him. From those who respond to His call, Jesus appoints twelve, symbolic of the number of tribes of Israel
The word for appointed (Strong’s G4160) has a wide range of translations into English centered on the words make or do. Some translations have it as ordained.
Mark uses this word in Mark 10:6 - But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ We have a similar sense here in Mark 3 that Jesus made these twelve His disciples.
Mark 10:13 also brings to mind Matt. 22:14 - “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Many respond to Jesus’ call. He has limited time. He must choose those who will best be prepared and able to spread His teachings when He is gone.
Jesus’ prayer in John 17 tells us a great deal about these twelve. They were given to Jesus by God. They have kept God’s word, and they have recognized Jesus as sent from God. They are in the world but not of the world. And Jesus sees more than these things possible in them.
These are men who seem like other working men of Galilee at the time of Jesus. But they have the capacity to see the world in a new way, and then take that new vision out into an old world.
By beholding, they become changed. Then by shining the light they have received, they change the world.
His Own People Feb 10
Mark 3:20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
While Jesus and His followers were on the mountain, the crowd dispersed. And news went to Jerusalem (verse 22) and to Jesus’ own family (verses 21 and 31).
When Jesus, His newly designated disciples, and His other followers came down from the mountain, the multitude came together again pressing all around them. They had no opportunity to get away from the throng, even to eat.
During the interval, which must have been well over a week, scribes came from Jerusalem. Local religious leaders had no doubt sent word alerting them to the nature of events surrounding Jesus and His followers.
Jesus’ family, His mother and brothers (verse 31 clarifies vs. 21), also arrive about the same time. We are told in John 7:5 of his brothers’ disbelief, but we are never given reason to doubt His mother’s faith in Jesus. That she traveled with her other sons is not surprising, but the comment in verse 22 is attributed to the brothers.
Jesus’ brothers (some would say “half-brothers) do not seem to have reconciled themselves to the true nature of Jesus.
Prior to Jesus’ baptism by the Holy Spirit, they have probably never seen Him perform a miracle. No matter what He said or how wise or faithful He may have been, the stir that Jesus is causing among the people is baffling to them. He appears insane from their perspective.
Jesus speaks in Matthew 10 of the difficulties a convert to true faith will have, particularly within their own family.
These are the people who are most tied to the identity of their relative as like themselves, people in and of the world. The conversion of their relative means the old identity that is a part of their reality is gone, that they can no longer depend upon the person to fulfill their needs as before.
“…and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household’" (Matt. 10:36). Jesus’ brothers try to pull Him from the crowd, believing their brother mad. Their plan is to rescue Jesus from the crowd and Himself.
The charges of the scribes only add to the brothers’ concerns.
A Kingdom Divided Feb 11
Mark 3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
The scribes speaking among themselves acknowledge Jesus’ power to cast out demons. Since Jesus does not act according to their beliefs, He must be using the powers of the devil. They use the Hebrew word, Baalzebub, Baal (lord) of the flies, a Philistine god.
“By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” Rather than giving God the power through Jesus, they assign the power to one who opposes God.
Jesus does not get angry. He “called them to Himself” (as He calls all of us). Based on His knowledge of one Creator and one Creation, there is but one kingdom. And there are those who oppose His kingdom.
We assign a proper name to Strong’s Greek G457 or Hebrew H7854, satan. The word means adversary. In the Old Testament, an article such as “the” or “an” is often supplied when speaking of adversaries to men, but the article is dropped when speaking of an adversary to God and the name “Satan” is used.
The scribes, Pharisees, and others who stand before the people in opposition to the true nature of God are Satan, literal adversaries. God is love, goodness, and mercy. Those in opposition to Him stand against these attributes.
If those in opposition to God also oppose themselves, their whole movement must collapse. An adversary cannot cast out his own kind.
In verse 27, Jesus states that the scribes’ acknowledgment that He has cast out demons is proof that Jesus has bound the “strong man,” Satan. Jesus has plundered his goods, freed men from the adversary of God.
The Kingdom of God has indeed arrived. The house of those opposed will fall. This is a warning to those who stand against the trinity of love, light, and truth.
Next day
Mark 2:21 No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse. 22 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.”
The times are changing. The season for the religion of the Temple has passed. Now is the season for a new way of being.
Jesus offers two parables explaining the impossibility of combining His teaching with the teaching of the Pharisees, or of the Sadducees, or of any other doctrine. Both stories show that the old will be destroyed and there will be no benefit from the new taking its place.
In the wine parable, “new” wine has not fermented, a process that causes the volume of the liquid to increase. An old bag has no stretch, no way to expand to hold the greater volume. The bag is burst and the new wine pours out onto the ground.
Attempting to incorporate the character of God into the old religion that has drifted so far from knowledge of Him is not possible. The old religion cannot accommodate the new faith. Rigid legalism cannot contain a grace based on love. The two are incompatible.
The old piece of cloth that has served its purpose but has become stained and torn no longer serves as the covering for which it was intended. Patches of the new cloth will not hold the old cloth together. The cloth is beyond repair, and its service has long since ended.
The new teachings of Jesus have the flexibility to encompass everyone while the old teachings of the Temple held but a self-selected few.
The doctrine that had become the covering of Israel in the time since the return of the captives from Babylon was a patchwork of laws. This tapestry of works was held together by threads which bound tightly all that it encompassed. The cloak of righteousness that Jesus offered fit easily and gently, more an embrace than a strait jacket.
Hearts that are solid stone allow no freedom of thought or emotion. Their hard borders allow only limited physical or spiritual freedom.
Jesus calls for a new heart, not patches on the old one. The new heart is to bear unrestrained love of the Father and all of the Father’s children.
Law and Necessity Feb 6
Mark 2:23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
The final story in chapter 2 and the first story of chapter 3 show Jesus twice being challenged by the guardians of the law for breaking the Sabbath. And Jesus gives a different reason as justification for each incident.
He also states an overarching principle involving the Commandment regarding the seventh day, a statement that casts new light on an old law: The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
Jesus and His disciples are hungry as they walk through a field of grain on a Sabbath day. Travelers, they have no store of food, no barn filled with grain. They pick grains as they walk and eat them. The law classified this as work and therefore forbidden on the Sabbath.
Jesus cites necessity as God’s first allowance for breaking the Sabbath law.
When challenged for breaking the law by the Pharisees, Jesus reminded them of 1 Sam. 21:1-9. David and his followers are in need of food lest they perish. The priest at Nob allows them to eat the old showbread that has been replaced by new showbread in the Most Holy Place. Only priests were allowed to eat this bread, but necessity allows the bread to go to David.
The law was often a double standard with rulings in favor of the interpreters of the law and against those for whom they interpreted the law. After all, the Pharisees had made allowances for the necessity of the work of preparing sacrifices on the Sabbath. And they allowed the exchange of Roman coin for Temple coin in order to buy sacrifices on the Sabbath.
The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus speaks as a man for mankind, and as a part of the Trinity for God. God has created us and blessed us. A day of rest is a gift, not a sentence, an opportunity, not a punishment.
Law and Mercy Feb 7
Mark 3:1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
The story gives Jesus’ second justification for violation of the Sabbath laws: mercy. Jesus has been filled with the Holy Spirit, and the fruit of the Spirit is within Him.
Gal. 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
God and the Spirit are One with Jesus. The first fruit of the Spirit is love, the desire is what is best for the beloved. To love is to desire to remove suffering and pain, unnecessary discomfort and dis-ease.
The book of Job shows that disease and misfortune do not come from God. Given the opportunity, He would remove all that troubles us. Living in a world of free choice comes with the consequences of others’ decisions. And in a fallen world, the conditions for dis-ease are ever with us.
The complex issues of a fallen world continue to produce the sick and the poor. To remove all illness and poverty would be to bind Satan and to bind mankind so that no one had the ability to choose freely.
Jesus will not do this. He will model love of mankind and love and obedience toward God. The hardness of mankind’s hearts grieves Him, rouses Him to anger against the willful foolishness of it.
He will chastise heartlessness and shame it by His own actions. He will heal and set a man free from the bondage of a withered hand.
Against Jesus’ challenge they can present no argument. But such an act of mercy promotes hatred in hearts of stone, promotes the desire to curb the offense of unmerited love in any way possible.
The Pharisees align with the politicians, the Herodians, as tension builds.
A Multitude Follow Feb 8
Mark 3:7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. 9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
There are two Greek words used for heal in the Gospels. Mark uses only Strong’s G2323, therapeuo, as in verse 10. It comes from a word meaning to wait upon menially, and is defined as to cure, heal, worship. We get our English word, therapy, from this.
The other Greek word is G2390, iaomai, from a verb meaning to cure (literally or figuratively) and means heal or make whole. The other Gospels use this word frequently. When Mark writes of Jesus casting out demons, he may be using therapeuo to emphasize Jesus’ humble service on the Sabbath.
Making a person whole is to make them a single entity in body, mind, and spirit. Whether it is a literal evil spirit or demon, or perhaps a negative characteristic such as those listed in the fruit of the flesh in Galatians 5, is open to discussion. The point is that being whole means not being fractured, not afflicted with competing ideas or emotions, or competing spirits.
That a touch can bring a person into unity of spirit, into a wellness based on wholeness, is indeed miraculous. This is Jesus as a conduit for the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus brings right doing, thinking, and being into the heart through a simple touch. Who would not follow Him to receive this healing power?
Again, fame for doing works can inhibit the accomplishment of the best work, the reason He came. Jesus had and still has a message for each person: their identity as a child of God, and their home as heaven, also known as the kingdom of God. He has far to go before He is done.
The common people who recognize His power and identity flock to Him. The evil spirits know Him and cry out against Him. His human opponents join with the evil spirits and cry out against Him.
Calling the Twelve Feb 9
Mark 3:13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
Jesus had many followers in those days. He wants followers, but He also wants those who will also go out and preach the word that they have received. To listen and take heed is good; to follow and to grow in wisdom is better; to understand and take the message to others is best.
Jesus goes up to a mountain and calls out to those He wants to join Him. From those who respond to His call, Jesus appoints twelve, symbolic of the number of tribes of Israel
The word for appointed (Strong’s G4160) has a wide range of translations into English centered on the words make or do. Some translations have it as ordained.
Mark uses this word in Mark 10:6 - But from the beginning of the creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ We have a similar sense here in Mark 3 that Jesus made these twelve His disciples.
Mark 10:13 also brings to mind Matt. 22:14 - “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Many respond to Jesus’ call. He has limited time. He must choose those who will best be prepared and able to spread His teachings when He is gone.
Jesus’ prayer in John 17 tells us a great deal about these twelve. They were given to Jesus by God. They have kept God’s word, and they have recognized Jesus as sent from God. They are in the world but not of the world. And Jesus sees more than these things possible in them.
These are men who seem like other working men of Galilee at the time of Jesus. But they have the capacity to see the world in a new way, and then take that new vision out into an old world.
By beholding, they become changed. Then by shining the light they have received, they change the world.
His Own People Feb 10
Mark 3:20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
While Jesus and His followers were on the mountain, the crowd dispersed. And news went to Jerusalem (verse 22) and to Jesus’ own family (verses 21 and 31).
When Jesus, His newly designated disciples, and His other followers came down from the mountain, the multitude came together again pressing all around them. They had no opportunity to get away from the throng, even to eat.
During the interval, which must have been well over a week, scribes came from Jerusalem. Local religious leaders had no doubt sent word alerting them to the nature of events surrounding Jesus and His followers.
Jesus’ family, His mother and brothers (verse 31 clarifies vs. 21), also arrive about the same time. We are told in John 7:5 of his brothers’ disbelief, but we are never given reason to doubt His mother’s faith in Jesus. That she traveled with her other sons is not surprising, but the comment in verse 22 is attributed to the brothers.
Jesus’ brothers (some would say “half-brothers) do not seem to have reconciled themselves to the true nature of Jesus.
Prior to Jesus’ baptism by the Holy Spirit, they have probably never seen Him perform a miracle. No matter what He said or how wise or faithful He may have been, the stir that Jesus is causing among the people is baffling to them. He appears insane from their perspective.
Jesus speaks in Matthew 10 of the difficulties a convert to true faith will have, particularly within their own family.
These are the people who are most tied to the identity of their relative as like themselves, people in and of the world. The conversion of their relative means the old identity that is a part of their reality is gone, that they can no longer depend upon the person to fulfill their needs as before.
“…and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household’" (Matt. 10:36). Jesus’ brothers try to pull Him from the crowd, believing their brother mad. Their plan is to rescue Jesus from the crowd and Himself.
The charges of the scribes only add to the brothers’ concerns.
A Kingdom Divided Feb 11
Mark 3:22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. 27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
The scribes speaking among themselves acknowledge Jesus’ power to cast out demons. Since Jesus does not act according to their beliefs, He must be using the powers of the devil. They use the Hebrew word, Baalzebub, Baal (lord) of the flies, a Philistine god.
“By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” Rather than giving God the power through Jesus, they assign the power to one who opposes God.
Jesus does not get angry. He “called them to Himself” (as He calls all of us). Based on His knowledge of one Creator and one Creation, there is but one kingdom. And there are those who oppose His kingdom.
We assign a proper name to Strong’s Greek G457 or Hebrew H7854, satan. The word means adversary. In the Old Testament, an article such as “the” or “an” is often supplied when speaking of adversaries to men, but the article is dropped when speaking of an adversary to God and the name “Satan” is used.
The scribes, Pharisees, and others who stand before the people in opposition to the true nature of God are Satan, literal adversaries. God is love, goodness, and mercy. Those in opposition to Him stand against these attributes.
If those in opposition to God also oppose themselves, their whole movement must collapse. An adversary cannot cast out his own kind.
In verse 27, Jesus states that the scribes’ acknowledgment that He has cast out demons is proof that Jesus has bound the “strong man,” Satan. Jesus has plundered his goods, freed men from the adversary of God.
The Kingdom of God has indeed arrived. The house of those opposed will fall. This is a warning to those who stand against the trinity of love, light, and truth.
Next day
