Mark 3:1-19
Healing on the Sabbath
1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, "Step forward." 4 Then 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 kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
A Great Multitude Follows Jesus
7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him. 9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him. 10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, "You are the Son of God." 12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
The Twelve Apostles
13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
Jesus continued to make men whole and this caused crowds to follow Him for relief from suffering under the weight of sin which takes its toll on body and soul. Then Jesus called out twelve specific men whom He had already prepared and chosen to be disciples, followers and learners of the Kingdom of God under and alongside Him for the next three years. This man He healed in a synagogue had a malformed hand and the religious community watched closely as they were ready to attack if Jesus dared to break a ceremonial law to do the greater good of restoring the man on the sacred Sabbath day. They still did not comprehend that the rest made for man was Christ Himself and that they were not Sabbath-ruled as a point of Law but given rest by the goodness of God for their sakes and ours. The Lord therefore asked them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” This only enraged their proud religious minds against Him even more, so much that they began making plans to destroy Him. For doing good. It is truly hard to kick against the goads (Acts 26:14-15). an iron goad stick used for urging on oxen, horses and other beasts of burden which resulted in the proverb, "to kick against the goad" as a way to describe offering vain and perilous or ruinous resistance. They were fighting a losing battle against the Lord of heaven Himself! In spite of this public ruin for those opposing the religious establishment and facing even banishment from the synagogue (John 9:22), a great crowd still followed and listened to Jesus as He healed both body and soul by the word of His power and authority for their deliverance from the ravages of sin after His fame and works spread everywhere. When possessed people came to Him, the evil spirits cried and identified Him as the Son of God but He commanded them to be quiet because it was not yet the time to reveal that He was the Messiah. He is Lord over the fallen angels and the works of the devil which bring people into this horrible bondage of sin and so released them. Finally, the Lord Jesus went on a mountain and called the ones chosen to follow and learn from Him to prepare them for continuing to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom after He had finished the work of salvation (John 19:28, 30) on the cross and rose from the grave as absolute proof of all He had said and done. They were chosen “that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach.” He also had given them His authority to set men free and whole in both body and soul as He was doing to demonstrate that they were His ambassadors of the kingdom of God brought to earth through proclamation of this good news.
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