b7_18 | Spiritual Food

MARK 3
5. Caring for the Relief
of the Suffering One
Rather than for the Ritual of Religion

And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there who had a withered hand.
And they were watching Him closely to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.
And He said to the man who had the withered hand, Rise and stand in the midst.
And He said to them, Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill? But they remained silent.
And looking around at them with anger and being greatly grieved with the hardness of their heart, He said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.
And the Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel with the Herodians against Him as to how they might destroy Him.

C. Auxiliary Acts of the Gospel Service
1. Avoiding the Crowd

And Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and from Judea
And from Jerusalem and from Idumea and beyond the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, hearing what things He did, came to Him.
And He told His disciples to have a little boat ready near Him because of the crowd, so that they would not throng Him;
For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed toward Him to touch Him.
And the unclean spirits, when they beheld Him, fell before Him and cried out, saying, You are the Son of God!
And He charged them many times not to make Him known.

2. Appointing the Apostles

And He went up to the mountain and called to Him those whom He Himself wanted, and they went to Him.
And He appointed twelve, whom He also named apostles, so that they might be with Him and that He might send them to preach
And to have the authority to cast out the demons.
And He appointed the twelve: and to Simon He gave the name Peter;
And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James, and He gave them the name, Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder;
And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean,
And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

3. Not Eating because of the Need

And He came into a house, and again a crowd came together, so that they could not even eat bread.
And when His relatives heard about it, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, He is beside Himself.

4. Binding Satan
and Plundering His House

And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons He casts out the demons.
And He called them to Himself and said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom is not able to stand;
And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand;
And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he is not able to stand but has come to an end.
But no one can enter into the house of the strong man and thoroughly plunder his goods unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will thoroughly plunder his house.
Truly I say to you that all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they blaspheme,
But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit has no forgiveness forever, but is guilty of an everlasting sin.
He said this because they said, He has an unclean spirit.

5. Denying His Relatives and Acknowledging Only Those Who
Do the Will of God

And His mother and His brothers came, and standing outside, they sent word to Him and called Him.
And a crowd sat around Him, and they said to Him, Behold, Your mother and Your brothers and Your sisters are outside seeking You.
And He answered them and said, Who is My mother and My brothers?
And looking around at those sitting in a circle around Him, He said, Behold, My mother and My brothers!
For whoever does the will of God, this one is My brother and sister and mother.