Mark 3

Read the chapter

¹Once again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man with a withered hand was there. ✦ ²In order to accuse Jesus, they were watching to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. ✦ ³Then Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, “Stand up among us.” ✦ ⁴And He asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy it?” But they were silent. ✦ ⁵Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored. ✦ ⁶At this, the Pharisees went out and began plotting with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus. ✦ ⁷So Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea, accompanied by a large crowd from Galilee, Judea, ✦ ⁸Jerusalem, Idumea, the region beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon. The large crowd came to Him when they heard what great things He was doing. ✦ ⁹Jesus asked His disciples to have a boat ready for Him so that the crowd would not crush Him. ✦ ¹⁰For He had healed so many that all who had diseases were pressing forward to touch Him. ✦ ¹¹And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” ✦ ¹²But He warned them sternly not to make Him known. ✦ ¹³Then Jesus went up on the mountain and called for those He wanted, and they came to Him. ✦ ¹⁴He appointed twelve of them, whom He designated as apostles, to accompany Him, to be sent out to preach, ✦ ¹⁵and to have authority to drive out demons. ¹⁶These are the twelve He appointed: Simon (whom He named Peter), ✦ ¹⁷James son of Zebedee and his brother John (whom He named Boanerges, meaning “Sons of Thunder”), ✦ ¹⁸Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot, ✦ ¹⁹and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus. ✦ ²⁰Then Jesus went home, and once again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples could not even eat. ✦ ²¹When His family heard about this, they went out to take custody of Him, saying, “He is out of His mind.” ✦ ²²And the scribes who had come down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons He drives out demons.” ✦ ²³So Jesus called them together and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ✦ ²⁴If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ✦ ²⁵If a house is divided against itself, it cannot stand. ✦ ²⁶And if Satan is divided and rises against himself, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷Indeed, no one can enter a strong man’s house to steal his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. ✦ ²⁸Truly I tell you, the sons of men will be forgiven all sins and blasphemies, as many as they utter. ✦ ²⁹But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of eternal sin.” ✦ ³⁰Jesus made this statement because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.” ✦ ³¹Then Jesus’ mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent someone in to summon Him, ✦ ³²and a crowd was sitting around Him. “Look,” He was told, “Your mother and brothers are outside, asking for You.” ³³But Jesus replied, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” ✦ ³⁴Looking at those seated in a circle around Him, He said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! ✦ ³⁵For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.” ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

Where this chapter connects

Matt 12 ·15 Luke 6 ·12 Mark 1 ·8 Mark 3 ·6 John 7 ·6 Luke 11 ·5 Matt 10 ·5 Acts 1 ·5

Christ at the center

Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'

How Mark 3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
VideoMike Winger — BibleThinkerMike Winger · Free · reformed
Free verse-by-verse studies through whole books plus careful apologetics — "learn to think biblically about everything." (Reformed-leaning, non-denominational.)

Pastoral

SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — Mark videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on Mark 3YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — Mark 3David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on MarkMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — Mark 3Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

← Mark 2 Mark 4 →