In Mark 3, Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. The pharisees reacted by trying to figure out how to destroy Him. It is the same in this day and age. When people have their hearts and minds set against believing in the Lord, even miracles such as those witnessed by the Pharisees will not convince them. He performed other miracles and cast out demons; and the crowds continued to grow. Bu verse 13 of the third chapter, He is naming His apostles. Notice verses 20-21. It is clear from these verses that many of Jesus’ family were not yet convinced that He was truly the Lord.

Then he went home, and the crowd gathered again, so that they could not even eat. And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, “He is out of his mind.”

Christ and The Pharisees (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Verses 28-29 speak of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. This is not a certain kind of sin that one commits that is just unforgivable. Many people have misinterpreted these verses to make themselves believe that they can have no forgiveness. Verse 28 sates that “ALL sins will be forgiven the children of man, AND whatever blasphemies they utter.” No sin is unforgivable if one repents. Verse 29 is not a contradiction of that. It simply means that one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has denied God. It is those whose hearts have turned against the Lord AND who do not repent that will perish. It is, as always, a matter of the heart.

Chapter 4 has several of the parables contained in Matthew. When Jesus explained in verses 10-12 about why He was speaking in parables, He quoted Isaiah 6:9-10. What is all means, is that those who hear and want to learn and understand will be able to do so. But those who do not thirst for this knowledge will not comprehend.

Chapter 5 begins with the man possessed by many demons, who Jesus healed in Gerasenes. When the people heard of what He had done, they became afraid, rather than being in awe of the Lord. When they begged Him to leave their land, He complied. It is the same with us. If we do not want the Lord in our lives, He will give us what we want in that respect.

The chapter ends with Jesus raising the daughter of Jairus from the dead. The girl was clearly dead, but Jesus said in verse 39 that she was only sleeping. This should be an encouragement to us. Paul also speaks of the dead in this way in 1 Thessalonians 4:13. It is an assurance to all of us that death is not the finality of our being.

Bible Reading Schedule for this month
Click here to read or listen to audio of this week’s chapters in Mark

/Bob’s boy

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All of my comments in this blog are solely my responsibility. When reading any commentary, you should always refer first to the scripture, which is God’s unchanging and unfailing word.