Mark Chapter 3
Here in scripture is one of the few places that we find it recorded that Jesus was angry. He was angry at the hardness of their hearts. The religious leaders by their own omission knew that Jesus had power to perform miracles and heal people, but they couldn’t see past the fact that He was doing so on the Sabbath. Jesus could have waited to heal the man with a withered hand until the next day when He could have done it out of the sight of the religious leaders, but He took the opportunity to show that He had authority and power to do so. He is God.
Let's Reflect
1. After witnessing the healing that Jesus performed in the synagogue on the Sabbath, what did the Pharisees do?
2. Mark describes the crowd that followed after Jesus as one that in a sense became a dangerous mob with everyone most likely pushing and shoving to get to Jesus for healing. What did Jesus instruct the disciples to have ready for Him to kind of get away from the people?
3. We learn that demons who were there cried out, and that Jesus commanded them to be silent. Their crying out was an attempt to call out His name, His very powerful name, and thereby render Him less powerful and less authoritative since demons were addressing Him. What name did they attribute to Jesus?
4. Jesus called a group of men that He wanted to be a specially designated group of men to be called His apostles. To be an apostle one must have spent time with Jesus, been an eyewitness of His time on earth. How many men did Jesus call to be His apostles? And what did He want them to do?
5. Jesus own family saw the crowd that followed after Him, how He couldn’t get a moment of peace from the crowds to even eat a meal, and He had left a business of being a carpenter for all of this. What did His own family think of what He was doing?
6. The scribes (people who wrote the scriptures out) were saying what about Jesus?
7. Verses 31-35 describe His family standing outside calling to Him. Perhaps Jesus knew that their heart was to tell Him something like, “what are you doing, come away from all this craziness and come home with us.” Jesus was on a mission to bring the news of His kingdom to the people. And because He was the Christ of the kingdom of God, what did He say about the will of God?
Devotionals
