Chapter Three

1–6. Healing of a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. – 7–12. General description of the activity of Jesus Christ. – 13–19. Choosing of the 12 apostles. – 20–30. Jesus Christ’s answer to the accusation that He casts out demons by the power of Satan. – 31–35. The true relatives of Jesus Christ.

Mark 3:1. And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. (On the healing of the man with the withered hand see commentaries to Matt 12:9-14.) The evangelist Mark notes that the sick man had a withered hand, not a dried hand (Matt 12:10). He, therefore, was not born with such a hand, but it had withered, probably from some wound.

Mark 3:2. And they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. According to Mark’s testimony, the Pharisees—it is they that are spoken of here—watched with special attention (παρετήρουν) whether Christ would heal (θεραπεύσει) him on the Sabbath. Of course, after such a healing they intended to accuse Christ of violating the law about the Sabbath rest.

Mark 3:3. And He said to the man who had the withered hand: “Step forward. “Step forward”—more accurately: “Come forward to the middle!” The Lord was in the middle of the people—He was surrounded, chiefly by Pharisees (cf. verse 5: “having looked around” or, more accurately, having looked about at those sitting around Him). The Lord in this way passes to open attack on His enemies, requiring that they clearly express their thoughts about Him.

Mark 3:4. Then He said to them: “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. “To do good”—to do generally good and praiseworthy deeds (ἀγαθόν ποιῆσαι). In what “good deed” Jesus had in mind, He immediately explains. If not to help the unfortunate when you can, this means to leave him a victim to certain death. Evidently, the man with the withered hand had a serious dangerous illness, a so-called muscular atrophy, which must have progressed, and the Lord not only healed his hand but also destroyed the disease at its root. The Pharisees had no answer to Christ’s question: they did not want to agree with Christ, and they found no basis for contradicting the view He expressed in this question, since the sixth commandment directly said: “You shall not kill.”

Mark 3:5. 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 whole like the other. Having looked around at His enemies and seeing no attempt from anyone to answer directly the question He had posed, the Lord cast an angry look at them as hypocrites, grieved at their hardness or stubbornness (see Exod 4:21; Deut 9:27).

Mark 3:6. And the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. (On the Herodians see commentaries to Matt 22:16).

Mark 3:7. But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea, The depiction of Christ’s activity at this time occupies five verses in Mark, but only one in Matthew (Matt 4:25). The Lord withdrew to the sea not out of fear of His enemies, the Pharisees and Herodians (Christ’s enemies, of course, did not dare to undertake anything against Him, since an enormous crowd of people rushed after Him), but simply because He saw how fruitless it would be to continue the conversation with the Pharisees further.

Mark 3:8. From Jerusalem and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how much He was doing, came to Him. The evangelist Mark counts seven regions or places from which people came to Christ. This number, evidently, has symbolic significance here. It means the fullness of the lands or regions of Palestine. Even the distant Idumea and Phoenicia sent their representatives to Christ. But while the Galileans and inhabitants of Judea are said to have “followed” Christ (verse 7), the evangelist says of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the further mentioned dwellers of Palestine only that they “came” and perhaps only looked on at what Christ would do.

Mark 3:9. So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. Mark 3:10. For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. Here, obviously, are meant the four disciples already known (Mark 1:16-20). The people pressed toward Christ chiefly, of course, in order to receive healing from Him—this can be said of those Galileans and Judeans who “followed” Christ. Others simply wanted to assure themselves with their own eyes that Christ truly healed the sick.

Mark 3:11. And whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, saying: “You are the Son of God. Mark 3:12. But He warned them many times that they should not make Him known. “Unclean spirits,” that is, people in whom were unclean spirits. “Son of God”—an expression more important (see Matt 4:3) than “Holy One of God” (Mark 1:24). But whether those people understood the true meaning of this name—is not clear. The Lord did not reject this name, but only forbade the demon-possessed to shout it out (see commentaries to Mark 1:25). How strange it was that Christ, the great Miracle-worker, was persecuted by the representatives of Judaism, while only demons called Him great!

Mark 3:13. Then He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself chose. And they came to Him. (On the calling of the 12 apostles cf. Matt 10:2-4). “On the mountain.” The seashore was, so to speak, a place of constant public gatherings. On the other hand, in the mountains, which are located to the north of the Sea of Tiberias, one could find a place quite secluded. The Lord goes there to withdraw from the crowd. The disciples are called to follow Him—namely, only those upon whom Christ’s choice fell in this instance, not all. The evangelist Mark does not even call the invited “disciples,” and it is quite possible that among the disciples already called by Christ were even completely new persons. “And they came to Him” (ἀπῆλθον), that is, having gone after Him, they at the same time left their former occupations.

Mark 3:14. And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, “And He appointed”—ἐποίησεν. The verb ποιέω is used in this sense in 1 Sam 12:6—that is, He chose twelve (without the addition “Apostles,” which is in Matt 10:2). “That they might be with Him.” This is the first purpose of the choosing: the apostles were to be constantly with Christ, so that they might prepare themselves for their ministry. “And that He might send them out to preach.” This is the second purpose of the calling of the apostles. By “preaching” the evangelist Mark here, of course, means the proclamation of the coming of the Kingdom of God, which was also the subject of Christ’s own preaching.

Mark 3:15. and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons; “And to heal sicknesses.” This expression is absent from the Sinaitic and Vatican codices, for which reason Tischendorf and other modern critics omit it. But it is present in the Syriac, Alexandrian, and Western Latin codices (cf. Matt 10:1).

Mark 3:16. And He appointed Simon to be Peter; According to the earliest codices, Tischendorf begins this verse thus: “and He appointed twelve” (καὶ ἐποίησεν τοὺς δώδεκα). “And He appointed Simon to be Peter.” More accurately, according to Tischendorf: “and He gave Simon the name Peter.” The addition to the name Simon was made at the time of his first calling to follow Christ (see John 1:42). The evangelist Mark, however, found it necessary to mention this only here, just as Matthew found it necessary to speak of the same thing in the description of another later event (cf. Matt 16:18). Peter is not a proper name, but a nickname—“rock,” so that the apostle bore both a name and a surname.

Mark 3:17. And James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; Neither the evangelist Matthew nor Luke separate Andrew from his brother Simon, probably intending thereby that both brothers were called to follow Christ at the same time. But Mark places the sons of Zebedee in the second and third positions, evidently because of their recognized significance in the circle of apostles (Peter, as the “mouth of the apostles,” always speaking on behalf of all the apostles, Mark places, like Matthew, in the first position). “Boanerges, that is, ‘Sons of Thunder’.” The word “Boanerges” comes, obviously, from two words: “boan”—an Aramaic word corresponding to the Hebrew “bnei” (from “banim”)—“sons,” and the verb “ragash.” The latter verb in biblical Hebrew does not have the meaning “to thunder,” but could have had such a meaning in popular Hebrew at the time of Christ. At any rate, in Arabic there is a verb close to this, namely “rajasa,” meaning “to thunder.” Why the Lord called James and John by this name—the evangelist Mark does not say, so we must turn to Luke’s Gospel for clarification. In Luke’s Gospel it is reported of one occasion when both brothers showed great impetuosity and wrathful temper, which could have served as the reason for giving them such a nickname—“sons of thunder” (Luke 9:54). Some interpreters saw in this nickname a hint of the powerful impression that both brothers made on their listeners through their preaching (Euthymius Zigabenus). Origen called John the Theologian a “mental thunder.”

Mark 3:18. Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean; Mark 3:19. and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. See the explanation of apostle names in the commentaries to Matt 10:2-4. By setting apart these twelve, Christ thereby laid the foundation of the Church as a visible society having its own hierarchy.

Mark 3:20. Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. Mark 3:21. When His family heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said: “He is out of His mind. Only the evangelist Mark mentions the crowding of the masses at the house where Christ was in Capernaum and the going out of Christ’s relatives to Capernaum to take Him. On the other hand, he omits the story of the healing of the demon-possessed, which in Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels serves as an introduction to the description of the Pharisees’ attacks on Christ: he already spoke of such miracles accomplished by Christ earlier. Evidently, the evangelist Mark, having just described the choosing of the twelve, who formed the tightest circle around Christ, as the cell of the New Testament Church, hastens to show his readers how the people reacted to this new step of Christ, in the first place; in the second place, how Christ’s relatives reacted; and, in the third place, how His enemies—the Pharisees reacted, and then shows how Christ responded to the Pharisees and His relatives. “They came to the house.” Here the evangelist Mark does not use his favorite expression “immediately” (εὐθύς), and thus gives the possibility to suppose that there was some interval of time after the choosing of the twelve, which can be attributed to the Sermon on the Mount, present in Luke’s Gospel immediately after the story of the choosing of the twelve (Luke 6:17 and following). “Again” (cf. Mark 2:2). “So that they could not even eat bread,” that is, to have a meal. The people evidently filled both the yard, where meals were ordinarily arranged for guests.... “His family.” Interpreters understand this expression in different ways. According to Schanz and Knabenbauer, by “family” (οἱ παρ´ αὐτοῦ) is meant here the supporters of Christ in Capernaum. These scholars find the basis for such an assertion in: a) the fact that in the book of Maccabees this expression does mean supporters (1 Macc 9:44 and others), b) Christ’s relatives lived in Nazareth and could not so quickly learn what was happening in Capernaum, c) when His Mother and brothers arrive, Mark calls them differently (verse 31). But against these proofs the following speaks: a) the expression “family” can also mean relatives (Prov 31:21, where the Hebrew word translated in Russian as “her family” is designated in the Greek Bible by the expression οἱ παρ´ αὐτῆς); b) what is spoken of in verse 20 could have continued for quite some time, so that Christ’s relatives could also learn of what was happening; c) Mark has in mind in verses 21 and 31 the same persons, but designates them more precisely after their arrival. Therefore, the majority of interpreters see in “family” Christ’s relatives. (Concerning these relatives of Christ, the evangelist now pauses in his narrative, giving them, so to speak, time to arrive in Capernaum, but meanwhile describes the clash with the scribes). “For they said.” Who said? Weiss sees here an impersonal expression: “they were saying generally in the people, saying here and there... and these conversations reached Christ’s relatives, who out of love for Him went to take Him and lead Him home.” But it is more natural to see here an indication of the impression made on Christ’s relatives by the accounts of people who came to Nazareth from Capernaum about the state in which Christ was at that time in Capernaum. They, probably, began to deliberate among themselves about what to do with respect to Christ. “He is out of His mind” (ὅτι ἐξέστη), that is, He is in such an excited state that He can be called “a man beside himself.” Such a person ordinarily neglects the usual rules of life, being wholly absorbed in the idea that possesses him. But he is not crazy, as the Apostle Paul did not consider himself crazy when he said: “If we are beside ourselves, it is for God” (εἴτε γὰρ ἐξέστημεν, 2 Cor 5:13). Christ’s relatives did not think Him insane, but only thought that He needed to rest from the terrible mental strain in which He then found Himself and in which He even forgot the need to sustain His strength with food. And Christ Himself did not rebuke His relatives for wanting to take Him away, and considered it necessary to prove that He was in good health; He only rejected their claim to care for Him.

Mark 3:22. Then the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said: “He has Beelzebul,” and “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons. According to the evangelist Matthew, the Pharisees accused Christ of communion with Beelzebul and accused Him before the people, not directly expressing this to Christ (Matt 12:24). According to the evangelist Mark, those who came forward with such accusations are the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, evidently as spies on behalf of the Sanhedrin, who were supposed to observe all the deeds of Christ and point out to the people in what Christ violated generally accepted rules of conduct. “Beelzebul” (see commentaries to Matt 10:25). The scribes put forward two propositions: a) that Beelzebul is in Christ, that is, Christ is possessed by a demon, and b) that Christ casts out demons by the power of the ruler of demons.

Mark 3:23. So He called them to Him and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? Mark 3:24. “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. Mark 3:25. “And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. Mark 3:26. “And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. Mark 3:27. “But 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. Mark 3:28. Truly I say to you: all sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven the sons of men, however much they may blaspheme; Mark 3:29. but whoever shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit shall not have forgiveness ever, but is liable to eternal judgment. Mark 3:30. He said this because they were saying: an unclean spirit is in Him. Evangelist Mark does not say, as Matthew does, that Christ perceived the thoughts of His opponents; according to his presentation, the scribes expressed their accusations openly. But he alone notes that the Lord called the scribes aside from the crowd and spoke to them in parables, that is, in comparisons (up to verse 30). See the commentaries to Matt 12:25-32. “But is liable to eternal judgment” (verse 29). According to Tischendorf: “shall be guilty of eternal sin” (ἁμαρτήματος, ῥ not κρίσεως, as in our Textus Receptus). This means that the guilty person is forever bound to sin, cannot break free from it (the same meaning is borne by the preceding expression: “shall not have forgiveness ever”). From this one cannot yet draw a direct conclusion as to what will be in the life beyond. It is said clearly only that the sin will always weigh upon the person – there will not be such a period when he would feel himself relieved... But our reading in the Textus Receptus has considerable grounds (see Tischendorf, p. 245). If we accept it, then here the discourse is doubtless of eternal judgment of the sinner.

Mark 3:31. And came His mother and His brothers, and standing outside the house, sent to call Him to them. Mark 3:32. A crowd was sitting around Him. And they said to Him: behold, Your mother and Your brothers and Your sisters are outside, asking for You. Mark 3:33. And He answered them: Who is My mother and My brothers? Mark 3:34. And looking round at those sitting around Him, He says: behold, My mother and My brothers; Mark 3:35. for whoever shall do the will of God, he is My brother, and sister, and mother. Regarding Christ’s relatives, see Matt 12:46-50. Evangelist Mark places this account in its proper place; with him it is completely understandable also why his relatives sought Christ (according to Matthew and Luke, they simply wished to see Him or speak with Him) – they wish to turn Him away from His preaching activity, and what Christ says in response to this. “A crowd was sitting around Him.” From the way Christ speaks next (verse 34) of the crowd, some interpreters justly conclude that the scribes had by this time already left the house where Christ was. * * * Bede, Theophylact, Zigabin, Weiss, Holtzmann, Loisy, and others.