Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of Mark
Chapter 3: Whosoever Shall Do the Will of God
Mark 3 shows the sharpening conflict around Jesus and the gathering of His own. He heals a man's withered hand on the sabbath, grieved at the hardness of hearts that would rather accuse than rejoice, and the Pharisees plot with the Herodians to destroy Him. Great multitudes press upon Him, and even unclean spirits cry out, 'Thou art the Son of God.' He goes up a mountain and ordains twelve apostles, 'that they should be with him,' and sends them to preach. When His own family thinks Him mad and the scribes charge that He casts out devils by Beelzebub, He answers that a kingdom divided cannot stand, warns of the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and declares a new family, 'whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.' The chapter reveals the Servant surrounded by opposition yet building His church, and welcoming into His family all who do the Father's will.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of Mark chapter 3. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Greek words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Here Jesus heals on the sabbath, ordains the twelve, answers the charge of casting out devils by Satan, and names His true family. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
Setting the Stage
Is It Lawful to Do Good?
Jesus heals on the sabbath, grieved at hard hearts that plot His death.
That They Should Be with Him
He ordains twelve apostles to be with Him and to be sent to preach.
How Can Satan Cast Out Satan?
He answers the slander that He works by Beelzebub, and warns of blasphemy.
Who Is My Mother?
All who do the will of God are His brother, sister, and mother.
Grieved for the Hardness of Their Hearts (Mark 3:1-12)
Jesus heals a withered hand on the sabbath, exposing hearts more concerned to accuse than to see mercy done.
Stretch Forth Thine Hand
"And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth. And he saith 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. And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him. And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him. For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues. And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known."
Word Study
"hardness," Greek porosis (πώρωσις). The word means a hardening, a callousing, like a stone or a hardened growth. Mark alone records the emotion of Jesus here: He looked on the Pharisees "with anger, being grieved for the porosis of their hearts." Their hearts had grown hard as stone, so calloused that a man's healing meant nothing to them next to their chance to accuse. Notice that His anger and His grief are one: He is angry at sin because He grieves over the hardness that produces it. Holy anger and holy sorrow meet in the heart of Christ, who hates what hardness does to men.
Explanation
Jesus heals a man's withered hand on the Sabbath, first exposing the hardness of His critics with a question -- "is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days... or to do evil?" -- and grieving at their silence. Doing good cannot be unlawful on God's day, yet the Pharisees leave to plot His death, joining even with the Herodians. Meanwhile the unclean spirits shriek the truth His enemies deny: "Thou art the Son of God." Mark's irony is sharp -- demons confess what religious men refuse -- and Jesus silences them, for the confession must come from those who follow Him, not from the powers He has come to destroy.
Gospel Focus
In the synagogue a man with a "withered hand" becomes the occasion of a searching test. The Pharisees "watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him." Their concern was not the man's suffering but their case against Jesus. So Jesus brings the hidden conflict into the open: "Stand forth," He tells the man, and asks them plainly, "Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill?" The question exposes the absurdity of their position: to refuse to do good is to choose evil; a sabbath used to plot murder while forbidding mercy is a sabbath turned upside down. "But they held their peace", their silence itself was an accusation against them. Then comes one of the most striking glimpses of Jesus' heart in the Gospels: He "looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." Here is the sinless anger of God, never petty or selfish, but the holy grief of love over hearts turned to stone. He heals the man with a word, "Stretch forth thine hand," and the hand is restored, proving again His authority and His mercy. And how do the Pharisees respond to a miracle of pure goodness? They go out and plot with their political enemies, the Herodians, "how they might destroy him." Hardness of heart, unchecked, turns the sight of mercy into a motive for murder. Yet the chapter also shows the opposite response: "a great multitude" from every direction pressing to touch Him, and even "unclean spirits" falling down and crying, "Thou art the Son of God", the demons confessing what the religious leaders denied. Two responses to Christ stand side by side: hard hearts that hate His goodness, and needy people who run to His mercy. Beware the hardening that can grow even in the most religious heart; keep your heart tender before Him, and run to be healed.
That They Should Be with Him (Mark 3:13-19)
Jesus chooses twelve to be with Him and to be sent, forming the foundation of His church.
He Ordained Twelve
"And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils: And Simon he surnamed Peter; And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house."
Word Study
"ordained," Greek epoiesen (ἐποίησεν). The word simply means "he made", "he made twelve." It is the same word used in Genesis of God making the world, and here Jesus "makes" a new thing: the apostolic band, the seed of the church. The order of purpose is beautiful and instructive: first "that they should be with him," and then "that he might send them forth to preach." Before service comes fellowship; before being sent out, they must be with Him. All fruitful ministry is born of first being with Jesus. He made them apostles by making them His companions.
Explanation
Jesus climbs a mountain and appoints twelve, and Mark states their purpose in two clauses: "that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." Before mission comes communion -- they are called first to be with Him, and only out of that fellowship are they sent. The number twelve deliberately echoes the twelve tribes: Jesus is reconstituting Israel around Himself. The list runs from Peter to "Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him" -- a sober reminder that nearness to Christ is no guarantee of a faithful heart.
Gospel Focus
Amid rising hostility, Jesus builds. He goes up "into a mountain" and calls "whom he would," and "ordained twelve." In a world plotting His death, He is quietly laying the foundation of His church, choosing the men through whom the gospel would go to the ends of the earth. Mark states their calling in a memorable order. First, "that they should be with him." This is the primary calling of every disciple, to be with Jesus, to know Him, to be shaped by His presence. Second, "that he might send them forth to preach," with authority "to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils." Being with Him comes first; being sent flows out of it. We cannot give what we have not received, nor represent a Christ we do not know. Notice the men He chose: ordinary and unlikely, fishermen, a tax collector, a zealot, brothers James and John so fiery He nicknamed them "Boanerges... The sons of thunder." And most soberingly, the list ends, "And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him." Jesus chose the twelve knowing one would betray Him; the presence of a false disciple even among the apostles is a warning that nearness to Christ in outward things is not the same as a true heart. Yet the wonder of the passage is grace: the risen church would be built on such men as these, transformed by being with Jesus and filled with His Spirit. The same pattern holds for us. Christ still calls ordinary people, first to be with Him, then to be sent. Before you go out for Him, sit at His feet; ministry that is not born of communion will wither, but the disciple who is truly with Jesus will bear lasting fruit.
Whosoever Shall Do the Will of God (Mark 3:20-35)
Charged with working by Satan, Jesus warns of the unforgivable sin, and names as His family all who do the will of God.
Behold My Mother and My Brethren
"And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself. And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils. And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house. Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme: But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation: Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit. There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."
Word Study
"blaspheme," Greek blasphemeo (βλασφημέω). The word means to slander, to speak injuriously against. The scribes did not merely doubt Jesus; they attributed the work of the Holy Spirit through Him to "an unclean spirit," calling the Spirit of God the devil. This "blasphemy against the Holy Ghost" is the settled, hardened refusal to acknowledge the Spirit's testimony to Christ, calling light darkness and good evil. It is not a single hasty word but a persistent, final hardness that rejects the only One who can bring a sinner to repentance. Those who fear they have committed it show, by their very concern, a tender heart the Spirit is still working on.
Explanation
Accused of casting out demons by Beelzebub, Jesus answers that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand -- Satan does not war on Satan -- and that He has instead "bound the strong man" in order to plunder his house. Here He warns of the one unforgivable sin: the settled blasphemy that calls the Holy Spirit's work the devil's, hardening the heart against the only power that can save it. When told His family waits outside, He redraws kinship around obedience: "whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." The bond that unites us to Christ is not blood but the doing of the Father's will.
Gospel Focus
Two painful misunderstandings surround Jesus here. His own "friends" (His family, v. 31) think Him "beside himself," out of His mind, and come to take Him home. And the scribes from Jerusalem accuse Him of something far darker: "He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils." Jesus answers the slander with plain logic: "How can Satan cast out Satan?" A kingdom or house "divided against itself... cannot stand"; if Satan were fighting Satan, his kingdom would be collapsing. The truth is the opposite: Jesus has entered "a strong man's house", the domain of Satan, and is plundering it, freeing captives, because He has first bound the strong man. His power over demons proves not that He is allied with Satan but that He is Satan's conqueror. Then comes the solemn warning about "the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost." This is not any single sin or careless word, for "all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men"; it is the hardened, willful rejection that calls the Spirit's work devilish, as the scribes did, "because they said, He hath an unclean spirit." It is unforgivable not because God's grace runs out, but because the one who finally refuses the Spirit's witness to Christ cuts himself off from the only path to repentance and pardon. The very fact that a troubled soul fears this sin is evidence the Spirit is still striving with them. Finally, when told His mother and brethren wait outside, Jesus redefines family: "Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother." He does not despise His natural family; He opens a wider one. Kinship with Christ is not by blood or heritage but by doing the will of God. All who come to Him and follow the Father's will are made His family, bound to Him closer than kin. What a welcome: the Son of God calls those who do the Father's will His brothers, sisters, and mother. Come, do the will of God, and belong to Him.
Chapter 3 in Review
Mark 3 sets the hostility against Jesus beside the family He is gathering. He heals a withered hand on the sabbath, "grieved for the hardness of their hearts," and the Pharisees respond to His mercy by plotting with the Herodians to destroy Him, while multitudes press to touch Him and demons confess, "Thou art the Son of God." He ordains twelve apostles, "that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." When His family thinks Him mad and the scribes charge that He casts out devils by Beelzebub, He shows that "a house divided against itself... cannot stand," warns of the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and declares, "whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."
For the Apostolic reader this chapter shows the Servant-King building His kingdom in the teeth of opposition. His healing love meets hardened hearts, and the sight of His holy anger-in-grief warns us to keep our own hearts tender. He lays the foundation of the church by choosing twelve ordinary men, first to be with Him, then to be sent, teaching us that all true ministry flows from communion with Christ. He is revealed as the stronger One who binds Satan and plunders his house, the conqueror, not the ally, of the powers of darkness. And He opens His family wide: not by blood or religion, but to all who do the will of God. The one thing that shuts a person out is the hardened, final rejection of the Spirit's witness to Christ, and the very fear of that sin proves a heart the Spirit still touches. So the chapter calls us to a tender heart, a place with Jesus, and a life that does the Father's will, and promises that all who so come are made His own family, brother and sister and mother to the Son of God.
- Jesus is grieved and angered by hardness of heart that prefers accusing to mercy (3:5).
- He builds His church amid opposition, choosing twelve first "to be with him" (3:14).
- Fruitful sending flows out of first being with Jesus (3:14).
- His power over demons proves He is the conqueror of Satan, not his ally (3:23-27).
- The blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is the settled, final rejection of His witness to Christ (3:29).
- All who do the will of God are made Christ's family (3:35).
Questions for Reflection
- Is your heart tender before Christ, or growing hard through familiarity with religion?
- Are you first "with him" before you try to serve Him?
- Do you rest in Christ as the One who has bound the strong man and sets captives free?
- Are you doing the will of God, and so counted among the family of Jesus?
References & Sources
Scripture is quoted from the King James Version (KJV). Supporting passages are listed so every claim can be verified in its own setting. Doing good on the sabbath: Matthew 12:9-14; Luke 6:6-11. Christ binding the strong man: Isaiah 49:24-25; Colossians 2:15; 1 John 3:8. The unpardonable sin: Matthew 12:31-32; Luke 12:10; Hebrews 6:4-6. The family of God: John 1:12-13; Hebrews 2:11-12; 1 John 3:1. If anything here does not look right, a verse, a reference, or a wording, please tell us at info@FruitBearers.net. Thank you for helping us keep Bible Learning error free.
- The withered hand and the multitudes: Mark 3:1-12; Matthew 12:9-21; Luke 6:6-11.
- The ordaining of the twelve apostles: Mark 3:13-19; Matthew 10:1-4; Luke 6:12-16.
- The Beelzebub charge, the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and the true family: Mark 3:20-35; Matthew 12:22-50; Luke 8:19-21; 11:14-23.