Sermon Notes; a Daily Devotional

Mark 3:31-35 "31 There came then His brethren and His mother, and, standing without, sent unto Him, calling Him. 32 And the multitude sat about Him, and they said unto Him, Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren without seek for Thee. 33 And He answered them, saying, Who is My mother, or My brethren? 34 And He looked round about on them which sat about Him, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother." Yesterday we saw the warning of the unforgivable sin; attributing the Holy Spirit’s work to Satan, which rejects God’s will. Today’s verses give the positive counterpart: the family of God is formed by embracing the Holy Spirit’s work through Jesus, that is, by doing God’s will. Those who reject the Spirit remain outside with the skeptical scribes and relatives; those who accept Him are brought inside as brothers and sisters in Christ. Mark 3:31-35 resolves the tension begun in verses 20-2...

Mark 3:20-30 "20 And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21 And when His friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself. 22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth He out devils. 23 And He called them unto Him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. 28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: 29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy...

Mark 3:13-19 "13 And He goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto Him whom He would: and they came unto Him. 14 And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, 15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: 16 And Simon he surnamed Peter; 17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: 18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, 19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him: and they went into an house." These verses mark a pivotal shift in Jesus’s ministry; from attracting crowds to forming a structured community that will carry on His work. Jesus ascends a mountain (a place of divine revelation, echoing Moses at Sinai) and summons “those whom He wanted.” Discipleship begins with His sovereign choice, not human initiative. The men re...

Mark 3:7-12 7 But Jesus withdrew Himself with His disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judaea, 8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things He did, came unto Him. 9 And He spake to His disciples, that a small ship should wait on Him because of the multitude, lest they should throng Him. 10 For He had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon Him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. 11 And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. 12 And He straitly charged them that they should not make Him known." Today’s Devotional: Following the Pharisees’ plot to destroy Him, Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the Sea of Galilee. Yet this strategic retreat did not diminish His ministry. Instead, it revealed the explosive growth of His popularity and His sovereign authority over...

Mark 3:1-6 "1 And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. 2 And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. 3 And He saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. 4 And He saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace. 5 And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, He saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. 6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him." We are studying the Gospel of Mark all summer. In our series Jesus On The Move, things escalate quickly in Chapter 3. The Pharisees are already plotting to kill Jesus. In the synagogue, Jesus encounters a man with a withered han...

Mark 2:23-28 23 And it came to pass, that He went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and His disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. 24 And the Pharisees said unto Him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful? 25 And He said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him? 26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him? 27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: 28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath." Today we finish chapter 2 with another conflict between Jesus and the Pharisees over Sabbath observance. Jesus defends His disciples for plucking grain on the Sabbath. The Purpose of the Sabbath Jesus declares, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the S...