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| Chapter 3 |
| Bible Text | Notes and Thoughts |
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1 ¶ And He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had a withered hand. 2 And they watched Him to see whether He would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said unto the man who had the withered hand, "Stand forth." 4 And He said 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 by the hardness of their hearts, He said 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. 7 But Jesus withdrew Himself with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, and from beyond the Jordan. And those from around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things He did, came unto Him. 9 And He spoke to His disciples that a small boat should await Him because of the multitude, lest they should throng Him. 10 For He had healed many, insomuch that they pressed upon Him 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 strictly charged them that they should not make Him known. 13 ¶ And He went up onto a mountain, and called unto Him whom He would have, 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 Simon (He surnamed Peter); 17 and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James (and He surnamed them Boanerges, which means The Sons of Thunder); 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thadaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, 19 and Judas Iscariot who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house; 20 and the multitude came 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 who came down from Jerusalem said, "He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of devils he casteth 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 despoil his goods, unless he will first bind the strong man; and then he will despoil his house. 28 "Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men and blasphemies, however they shall blaspheme; 29 but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation"; 30 because they said, "He hath an unclean spirit." 31 ¶ There came then His brethren and His mother, and standing outside they sent unto Him, calling Him. 32 And the multitude sat about Him, and they said unto Him, "Behold, thy mother and thy brethren outside seek for thee." 33 And He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brethren?" 34 And He looked round about on those who 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." |
v1-5 Jesus heals on the Sabbath. Matt 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11. Jesus enters into the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Luke 6:7 The Pharisees are now on the watch trying to catch Jesus out at every point. Jesus knows this and deliberately challenges them by healing a disabled man. Having called the man to Him Jesus then asks the Pharisees "should good be done on the sabbath seeing that evil, including death, is happening every day including the Sabbath." There is no record of them replying to that question, so Jesus goes ahead and heals the arm of the man. v6-12 Healing and a challenge Matt 12:15,16; Luke 6:17-19. Jesus had challenged the Pharisees teaching, He is angry with their attitude, but the Pharisees, instead of thinking through the question they instead meet with the Herodians and plan to arrest and destroy this man. The Herodians were Jews who supported King Herod so would be against anyone who caused a threat to the king, most Jews hated king Herod, so it is a surprise that the Pharisees joined with them. v7-12 Jesus was now being followed by large crowds, but in most cases they were not interested in His teaching and seeking God. He has healed many, released people from demonic control, but this is not what He came for. Jesus needs to move away from the crowds, He was about to call the twelve apostles to Him and needs time with His Father. v13-19 The Twelve Chosen Matt 10:1-4; Luke 6:12-16; Acts 1:13. Jesus chooses twelve disciples who are to eventually take the message of salvation to the world after He returned to the Father. They were to be trained and taught by Him personally, to spread the message of the Gospel, to be given power to heal and cast out the demons. Between v10 and v20 Matthew records that Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5 to 7. v20-21, 31-35 The family and friends of Jesus felt that He was in need of help as He was very confused on who He was. But they were unable to get near Him because of the crowds. Jesus also introduces the idea of His chosen people, "The person who obeys God’s will is my brother and sister and mother." v22-30 The sin which cannot be forgiven. Matt 12:24-29; Luke 11:14-20. Jesus has just healed a man who had a demon Matt 12:22-24. The Scribes, without thinking, accused Jesus that His power comes from the Devil. The name Beelzebub is a name for Satan, it means "head or master of the house." Jesus responds with a parable. If Satan was the source of His power then Satan is fighting against himself. The fact that Jesus removed the demon shows that He has greater power than Satan. v28 Jesus now points out how serious their accusation was, they were in danger of making the unforgivable sin. Matt 12:32. Jesus makes it clear that God will forgive any sin and blasphemy against the Son Of God but not against the Holy Spirit. Acts 5:1-11. Today God will not forgive us rejecting the Son of God John 3:16-21,31 When the Holy Spirit reveals the truth about Jesus and the sinner rejects the witness of God’s Word then they could be about to commit the unforgivable sin. The Holy Spirit may make further contacts but eventually God will decide "that’s enough chances." |
Easy English Translation
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