Mark 3:1-6. The Man with the Withered Hand 1. _And he entered_ The narrative of St Mark here is peculiarly vivid and pictorial. He places the scene actually before us and relates it very much in the present tense. The incident occurred at Capernaum, and probably on the next Sabbath. See Luke 6:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_they watched him_ The same company of Scribes and Pharisees had gathered together from Judæa, Jerusalem, and Galilee itself (Luke 5:17), to find matter of accusation against Him. They watched Him with no friendly purpose. The word itself signifies stratagem and hostility: comp. Luke 20:20, "And the... [ Continue Reading ]
_he saith_ It would seem that the Pharisees first asked Him, "_Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?_" (Matthew 12:10). This question He answered, as was His wont (Matthew 21:24), by a counter-question, "_I will ask you one thing. Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good or to do evil? to save... [ Continue Reading ]
_But they held their peace_ St Mark alone mentions this striking circumstance, as also what we read in the next verse, that "_He looked round about on them with anger_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_with anger_ Not merely did He look upon them, He "_looked round_" upon them, surveyed each face with "an all-embracing gaze of grief and anger." Feelings of "grief" and "anger" are here ascribed to Him, who was "very God and very Man," just as in another place we read that "He wept" before the rais... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Pharisees went forth_ The effect of this miracle was very great. The Scribes and Pharisees were "_filled with madness_." the Saviour had not merely broken their traditions, but He had put them to silence before all the people. In their blind hate they did not shrink even from joining the He... [ Continue Reading ]
Withdrawal of Jesus to the Lake of Gennesaret 7. _a great multitude_ Observe the wide area from which the multitude were now gathered together; the region (1) of Tyre and Sidon and Galilee in the North of Palestine; (2) of Judæa and Jerusalem in the centre, (3) of Peræa "beyond the Jordan" on the E... [ Continue Reading ]
_a small ship_ The life on the sea, in the ship which was now His chief place of instruction in opposition to the synagogue, henceforth had its commencement.... [ Continue Reading ]
_plagues_ The word thus rendered denotes (1) _a whip or scourge_, and is used in this sense in Acts 22:24; Hebrews 11:36; (2) _a plague or disease of the body_. Comp. Mark 5:29; Mark 5:34; Luke 7:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thou art the Son of God_ In the Synagogue of Capernaum they had called Him the "Holy One of God" (Mark 1:24), they now acknowledge Him as the "Son of God" (comp. Luke 4:41). The force of the imperfect tense in the original here is very striking, " WHENEVER THE DEMONS SAW HIM, THEY KEPT FALLING DOWN... [ Continue Reading ]
The Calling of the Twelve Apostles 13. _And he goeth_ We have now reached an important turning-point in the Gospel History, (i) The fame of the Saviour had spread abroad in every direction throughout the land, and the current of popular feeling had set strongly in His favour. But (ii) the animosity... [ Continue Reading ]
_ordained twelve_ Hitherto they had been His friends and disciples in a wider sense, now He formally called them, and joined them in a united band, that (i) they "might be with Him" (comp. Acts 1:21), (ii) that He might "send them forth" as heralds to preach, and (iii) that they "might have power to... [ Continue Reading ]
_and Simon_ We have in the New Testament _four_lists of the Apostles: (_a_) Matthew 10:2; (_b_) Mark 3:16; (_c_) Luke 6:14; (_d_) Acts 1:13. The position of some of the names varies in the lists, but in all four the leaders of _the three groups_are the same, Peter, Philip, and James, the son of Alph... [ Continue Reading ]
ii. _James the son of Zebedee_and Salome (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40), a native of Bethsaida, commonly known as James "the Great," the first of the Apostolic body to suffer martyrdom, and the only one of the Twelve whose death is actually recorded in the New Testament. iii. _John_ the brother of Jam... [ Continue Reading ]
iv. _Andrew_ a brother of St Peter (Matthew 4:18), and like him a native of Bethsaida, and a former disciple of the Baptist (John 1:40). By his means his brother Simon was brought to Jesus (John 1:41). In the lists of the Apostles given by St Matthew and St Luke he appears second; but in St Mark and... [ Continue Reading ]
xii. _Judas Iscariot_ sometimes called _the son of Simon_(John 6:71; John 13:2; John 13:26), more generally _Iscariot_, i. e. probably "_a native of Kerioth_" a little village in the tribe of Judah (Joshua 15:25; Jeremiah 48:24). For the probable motives that led him to become the traitor, see note... [ Continue Reading ]
How can Satan cast out Satan? 20. _the multitude cometh together again_ i. e. at Capernaum, which, had now become our Lord's temporary home.... [ Continue Reading ]
_when his friends_ not the Apostles, but His relatives, including "His brethren and His mother," who are noticed here as going forth, and a few verses later on as having arrived at the house where our Lord was (Mark 3:31), or the place where the crowds were thronging Him. _He is beside himself_ The... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the scribes_ The hostile party from Jerusalem, noticed above, consisting of Scribes and Pharisees, still lingered at Capernaum. _He hath Beelzebub_ St Matthew tells us of the miracle, which was the occasion of this blasphemy, the cure of a man not only possessed with a demon, but also blind and... [ Continue Reading ]
_How can Satan cast out Satan?_ Using an irresistible _argumentum ad hominem_He shews them the absurdity of supposing that Satan could be his own enemy. If neither kingdom, nor city (Matthew 12:25), nor house could stand, when divided against itself, much less could the empire of the Evil One.... [ Continue Reading ]
_a strong man's house_ The "strong man" is Satan; his House or Palace is this Lower world; the Stronger than the Strong is Christ, who first bound the Evil One, when He triumphed over his temptations. Comp. Luke 11:21-22.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Verily I say unto you_ a favourite formula of our Lord's, which we often find in St John, when He would draw special attention to any of His Divine utterances.... [ Continue Reading ]
_but he that shall blaspheme_ The sin, against which these words are a terrible but merciful warning, is not so much an _act_, as a _state_of sin, on the part of one, who in defiance of light and knowledge, _of set purpose_rejects, and not only rejects but _perseveres_in rejecting, the warnings of c... [ Continue Reading ]
His Mother and His Brethren come to Him 31. _his brethren_ Their names, James, Joses, Simon, Judas, are given in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. Some understand them to have been His literal "brethren," others think they were the sons of Cleophas and Mary, the sister and namesake of the Virgin.... [ Continue Reading ]
_seek for thee_ They had already left the place where they abode, and gone forth in quest of Him; see above, Mark 3:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Who is_ It is thought that the "brethren" wished to share in His fame, and to prove to the people their connection with Him and their influence over Him. But the tenderness of His love for His earthly mother, which He displayed so clearly upon the Cross, only brings out in stronger relief the devot... [ Continue Reading ]
_looked round_ Another graphic touch peculiar to the second Evangelist. See Introduction, p. 18. Our Lord repeated the saying here recorded on another occasion, Luke 8:21.... [ Continue Reading ]