Mark 3 v1-4) The Pharisees here are cherishing the spirit of Satan which is characterized by an accusative and argumentative

attitude. Satan is considered to be the accuser of the brethren(Zechariah 3:1, Jude 1:9, Revelation 12:9-10) and the Pharisees here are watching Jesus so that they might accuse Him according to their own standards of righteousness. Is it possible that Christians are guilty of cherishing that same, satanic spirit? Are there Christians who eagerly watch the every action of their brethren so that they can point the finger of condemnation? Certainly yes. What did Jesus do in this situation? Did He stop doing good because people were going to accuse Him of doing what was wrong in their eyes? Nope. Jesus went ahead and did what was right anyway because Jesus came to earth to do the will of the Father(John 6:38), and not to please men(Ephesians 6:6-8). For Jesus, the need of the person and the Father's will were of more importance to Him than His reputation amongst religious leaders. If Christians follow Jesus, they will live the same way. In verse 4, Jesus makes it clear that it is lawful to do good deeds on the Sabbath, even though the Pharisees thought otherwise. By far, it is seen that works of necessity are permissible on the Sabbath(See Mark 2:23-25), as well as works for the physical healing of man. V5) The hardness of man's heart grieves the Son of God. Humans who claim to be God's followers make Him sad when they do not exercise sanctified common sense. God can look at you and be angry if you have a hardened heart. God will be angry, not because He hates deceived sinners, but because He is angry at how sin has so benumbed the sensibilities of His children that they are very slow at exercising common sense in religious doctrine. God detests sin, but adores the sinners. V6) This verse is proof of sins blinding power on the human mind. Jesus in verse 4 asked the question whether or not it was acceptable to do evil or kill on the Sabbath day. The answer ought to be obvious. Nevertheless, once Jesus breaks the man-made rules of the Pharisees, the Pharisees turn around and try to make a plot so that they can kill Jesus. V7-8) Once Jesus sees what is going on, He withdraws Himself. He does what is right even though the Pharisees saw Him, but He does not leave until they threaten Him. Jesus retreats to the sea with His disciples, and a huge host of people follow after Him from many different towns because they heard about the great things He did. One characteristic of what constitutes something being classified a great thing is your own personal testimony(See Mark 5:19). It may have been through the testimony of other people, whether it had been physical healing or spiritual healing, that people were lead to follow after Jesus. The power of a personal testimony should never be underestimated. V9-10) Jesus did not want to be crushed by the multitude. Even though He was aiming to do right, there are certain things that Jesus simply could not tolerate because it would endanger His life. V11-12) Though personal testimonies are great, Jesus did not want them to be told by evil demons. V13-19) The disciples of Jesus were ordained on a mountaintop. These men are said to be given power to preach, heal, and cast out demons. This is so encouraging. Jesus allowed these men, who were by no means perfect in character and had many faults(See Mark 9:31, 34), to participate with Him in ministry. The glory goes to Jesus and not to themselves because He is the One who made their ministry possible.

From this I glean two lessons. For one, there can be people in ministry who have defects of character. Jesus gave these men a chance to work for Him, and I believe that Christians ought to give people a chance to work for God, even though such people may not be right up to the Christian standard. Secondly, Christians have no right to judge who is genuine in ministry. Judas, Peter, and John all preached, cast out demons, and healed people. Judas ended up committing suicide(Matthew27:3-5), Peter denied Jesus three times and repented(Matthew 26:75), and John, along with his brother, desired to burn a town full of people and repented(Luke 9:51-55). This reveals that just because some people work for God does not mean they will end up faithful over the course of time. Stay faithful...saints. V20-21) As Jesus and His friends are getting ready to eat inside of the house, a big multitude comes. This multitude is so huge that there is no room for them to eat. Once the disciples, and/or friends of Jesus, realized that Jesus was dealing with the needs of the multitude instead of eating, they tried to get Him away from the multitude. These well meaning friends thought that Jesus was beside himself, or in other words, insane, because He was putting the needs of these people above His meal time. This is not the first time that Jesus skipped out on some food in order to minister to some people. This also occurred during the time when He met the woman at the well(See John 4:28-34). There were times in Jesus life where He considered ministry to be more important, or more satisfying, than eating food. The lesson I find here is that people may try to annoy or bother you to do something that they think is important for you to do while you are doing what is most important. They may be your well-meaning friends. Jesus did not snap at such people, and neither should we. *I remember the times when I would go for long periods without eating food because I was watching anime or playing video games. In my mind, my mission, which at the time was leveling up in the game or watching the next episode of the anime series, was more important than quieting my hunger pangs. Should I not then, have the same mindset when it comes to working for The Redeemer? His commission is my mission, and my prayer is that God will help all humans reach a point where we are so absorbed in His work for others that we make His mission the number one priority. v22) The scribes came all the way from Jerusalem so that they can accuse Christ's work of being satanic. This is interesting, because the scribes and Pharisees saw that Jesus was the One who healed many sick people(See Mark 3:1-2). In the mind of the Jews, sickness was a sign of Gods disfavor and healing(See John 9:2) while health was a sign of heavenly favor(See Exodus 15:26 and John 9:34). If Jesus is in fact empowered by the strength of Satan, then reason would lead to the conclusion that Satan is interested in the physical and spiritual restoration of humanity. V23) It seems as if Jesus question here was rhetorical. How can Satan cast out Satan? Wouldnt such an act be counterintuitive to Satans purpose(See 2 Corinthians 4:4, 1 Peter 5:8, and Revelation 12:9)? V24-26) Jesus here teaches by a parable, or an illustration. If an earthly kingdom has opposing goals and rules, then obviously the work of the kingdom cannot go forward. Strife over differing purposes would crowd out a systematic way of accomplishing anything. Thus, the importance of unity amongst Gods people can hardly be understated, for without unity, God's kingdom cannot stand. It was not until the disciples put aside their own ambitions and ideas for self-exaltation(See Luke 22:24-26, 31-32) that the Holy Spirit was poured out(Acts 2:1-4) and Christianity spread like wildfire(See Acts 2:41 and Acts 5:28). Jesus said such disunity cannot advance a kingdom, nor a house, nor Satans organization.

V27) A weak man cannot stand against a strong man. The weak man needs the help of someone else. That someone else cannot be another weak man because both of them would most likely fail in their attempt to spoil the strong man's house. The weak man needs the help of someone who is both stronger than the weak man and his foe. The Christian is unable to gain the victory over Satan in his own strength. He needs the help of someone stronger than Satan. The only person that can help the Christian conquer his adversary is Jesus(Jeremiah 31:11). V28) This verse is so encouraging. Jesus Himself said that all sins and blasphemies will be forgiven of the sons of men. This is so precious. If your sins are forgiven, then you are not guilty of the death penalty. Let this sink in. You are faultless if Jesus upholds His promise to forgive all of your sins and blasphemies(See 1 John 1:7 and Jude 24). So then, how is it that people will end up in hell? The answer is in the next verse. V29) Jesus declares that those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit are in danger of eternal damnation. Jesus did not say that people who blaspheme the Holy Spirit will automatically go to hell. That is something to think about. Those who end up being lost(See Matthew 25:41) have to be the same class as those who grieve the Spirit of God. What is interesting is that such people who end up this way may carry the title as God's people(See Matthew 7:21-23 Hebrews 3:17-19). A heart that is not willing to submit to the words of God through obedient faith is a hardened heart. If such a person never submits to the truth of God's ten commandments by faith, that individual will eventually commit the unpardonable sin(See Mark 3:5 and Hebrews 4:1-2). Therefore, the unpardonable sin is not a one-time act. It is a continual lifestyle of refusing to obey God's law. V30) This statement shows that the reason why Jesus said what He said in Mark 3:23-29. It is because the scribes said that Jesus has an unclean Spirit. If you believe that the only person who can help you against someone stronger than yourself and anyone else, then you will never win that battle against the strong man. Therefore, those who attribute the work of God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit to satanic agencies are in danger of eternal damnation... because they believe that the only One who can help them gain the victory is an evil adversary. V31-35) These verses show how it is possible to be related to Jesus by blood and yet be considered by Jesus to not be part of the family. The people who are said to have no relationship to Jesus are found and characterized in Matthew 7:21-23 and Matthew 25:41-46. It is possible to do miracles and be involved in what looks like the work of God while the works are in fact of a satanic origin. After all, look at the works of Pharaoh's magicians(See Exodus 8:5-7), the witch of Endor(1 Samuel 28:8-11), and the works of the scribes(Matthew 23:2-5; 23-24). These may look like good works, but they were accomplishing the work of Satan. Sadly, Christians are capable of doing the very same thing according to Matthew 7:21-23. Only those who do the will of God are considered to be part of Jesus family. So what then, is the will of God? The will of God is a topic that can be long, but I will make it short. According to Mark 3:35, those who do the will of God are Jesus' brothers, sisters, and mother. Looking at Luke 8:21, it is seen that Jesus considers people who listen to God's words and obey them. Going over to 1 Thessalonians 4:3, God's will is making people holy. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says that it is God's will for humans to be thankful in all situations. Finally, Galatians 1:4 indicates the will of God as God's desire to save humanity. So simply put, those who will be saved and counted a part of Jesus' family are those who cooperate with God's will by doing God's will, which is being obedient. *The paragraph with the asterisk explains my typical life before becoming a Christan.