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FEBRUARY 21
5 He who gathers in summer
is a wise son;
He who sleeps in harvest is a son who
causes shame. 3:13 called…those He Himself wanted. The
Greek verb “called”stresses that Jesus acted in
Mark 3:1–19
His own sovereign interest when He chose the
And He entered the synagogue again, and 12 disciples (see John 15:16).
3 a man was there who had a withered hand.
2 So they watched Him closely, whether He 3:14 appointed twelve. Christ, by an explicit
would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they act of His will, formed a distinct group of 12
might accuse Him. And He said to the man men who were among His followers.This new
3
who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” group constituted the foundation of His
4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the church (see Eph. 2:20).
Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or
to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He 3:15 have power.This word is sometimes ren-
5
dered “authority.” Along with the main task of
had looked around at them with anger, being preaching,Jesus gave the 12 the right to expel
grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He demons (see Luke 9:1).
said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And
he stretched it out, and his hand was restored
as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees
6
went out and immediately plotted with the 12 But He sternly warned them that they should
Herodians against Him, how they might not make Him known.
destroy Him. 13 And He went up on the mountain and
7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to called to Him those He Himself wanted. And
the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee fol- they came to Him. Then He appointed
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lowed Him, and from Judea and Jerusalem twelve, that they might be with Him and that
8
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and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those He might send them out to preach, and to
from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out
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they heard how many things He was doing, demons: Simon, to whom He gave the name
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came to Him. So He told His disciples that a Peter; James the son of Zebedee and John the
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small boat should be kept ready for Him brother of James, to whom He gave the name
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because of the multitude, lest they should Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; An-
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crush Him. For He healed many, so that as drew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
many as had afflictions pressed about Him to Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thad-
touch Him. And the unclean spirits, whenev- daeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas
11
er they saw Him, fell down before Him and Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they
cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.” went into a house.
DAY 21: How does Jesus display the proper use of anger?
In Mark 3:1-6, Jesus was in a synagogue, where there was a man with a withered hand. This
describes a condition of paralysis or deformity from an accident,a disease,or a congenital defect.It
became another situation for the Pharisees to “accuse”Him (v. 2) of a violation of the Sabbath—an
accusation they could bring before the Sanhedrin.
Jesus countered the Pharisees with a question that elevated the issue at hand from a legal to
a moral problem.“Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good…evil, to save…kill?” Jesus asks (v. 4). He
was forcing the Pharisees to examine their tradition regarding the Sabbath to see if it was consis-
tent with God’s Old Testament law. Christ used a device common in the Middle East—He framed
the issue in terms of clear-cut extremes.The obvious implication is that failure to do good or save
a life was wrong and not in keeping with God’s original intention for the Sabbath.But the Pharisees
kept silent, and by so doing implied that their Sabbath views and practices were false.
Jesus’“anger”(v.5) with human sin reveals a healthy,moral nature.His reaction was consistent
with His divine nature and proved that He is the righteous Son of God.This kind of holy indignation
with sinful attitudes and practices was to be more fully demonstrated when Jesus cleansed the
temple (see 11:15–18; Matt. 21:12,13; Luke 19:45–48). The “hardness of their hearts” refers to an
inability to understand because of a rebellious attitude (Ps. 95:8; Heb. 3:8,15).The Pharisees’ hearts
were becoming more and more obstinate and unresponsive to the truth (see 16:14; Rom. 9:18).

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