Mark 3
3
Chapter 3
Jesus makes a man well
1Another time, Jesus went into the Jewish meeting place. A man was there. His hand was very small and weak, so he could not use it. 2Some Pharisees were watching Jesus carefully. They wanted to find a reason to say that Jesus was doing wrong things. It was the Jewish day of rest. So the Pharisees watched Jesus to see if he would make the man well on this day. 3Jesus said to the man, ‘Stand here in front of everyone.’
4Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, ‘Is it right for us to do good things on our day of rest? Or should we do bad things? Should we save a person's life? Or should we kill people?’
Nobody said anything.
5Jesus looked round at everybody. He felt angry with them. He also felt sad because they did not want to learn. Then he said to the man, ‘Lift up your hand.’ The man lifted his hand and it became well. He could use it again. 6The Pharisees left the meeting place immediately. They went to meet with some other people who were friends with the ruler, Herod. #3:6 The people who were friends with Herod were important Jews. Herod ruled part of Israel on behalf of the Romans. His friends were happy because the Romans had authority in Israel. They did not like Jesus. They thought that he would cause problems for Herod. The Pharisees talked with them about how they could kill Jesus.
Crowds follow Jesus
7Jesus left that place and he went away to Lake Galilee with his disciples. A large crowd of people from Galilee followed them. 8Many people also came to him from Judea, from Jerusalem and from a region of Israel called Idumea. They also came from places on the other side of the Jordan River, and from the towns called Tyre and Sidon. Many people had heard about the things that Jesus was doing. That is why all these people came to him. 9The crowd was very large. So Jesus asked his disciples to prepare a small boat for him. They did this so that the people would not push against him. 10Sick people were pushing to the front, because they were trying to touch him. They knew that he had made many people well. 11Often, a person with a bad spirit saw Jesus. Then, the spirit caused the person to fall down on the ground in front of Jesus. The spirit caused that person to shout out, ‘You are the Son of God.’ 12Jesus often had to say to the bad spirits, ‘You must not tell anyone who I am.’
Jesus chooses 12 apostles
13Jesus went up a mountain. He chose some men and he asked them to go there with him. So they met together with him there. 14He chose a group of 12 men. He called them his apostles. #3:14 Jesus had many disciples. He chose 12 of them to be with him, so that he could teach them. He also called these 12 men apostles. The word apostle means that someone has sent the person out to do a job. Their job was to tell other people about Jesus. He wanted them to be with him. And he would send them to teach people about God. 15He gave these men authority to cause bad spirits to leave people. 16These are the names of the 12 apostles:
Simon, (Jesus called him Peter).
17James and John who were the sons of Zebedee. Jesus called them ‘Boanerges’. It means ‘men who are like thunder’.
18Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew, #3:18 Matthew is another name for Levi.
Thomas,
James, who was the son of Alphaeus,
Thaddaeus, #3:18 In Luke 6:16, Thaddaeus is called Judas, the son of James.
Simon the Zealot
19and Judas Iscariot, who later gave Jesus to his enemies.
Jesus talks about Satan
20Then Jesus went into a house. A crowd of people came together there again. There were so many people that Jesus and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21People told his family what was happening. So they went to take him away with them. They thought that Jesus was crazy. #3:21 Jesus' family lived in Nazareth, which was 40 kilometres away from Capernaum.
22Some teachers of God's Law came from Jerusalem. They said, ‘Jesus has a bad spirit called Beelzebul in him. That is Satan, the one who rules all the bad spirits. This man can send bad spirits out of people because Satan gives him authority.’ #3:22 Beelzebul is another name for Satan. They are both names for God's greatest enemy.
23So Jesus spoke to the teachers of God's Law. He said, ‘Come here and listen to me.’ He used stories to explain to them, ‘Satan would not fight against himself! 24If armies in the same country start to fight each other, then they will destroy their own country. 25And if the people in one family start to fight against each other, they will destroy their own family. 26So Satan would not attack himself. If he did that, he would destroy his own power. That would be the end of him. 27Nobody can easily go into the house of a strong man to rob him. To do that, he must first tie up the strong man. Then he can take away all that man's valuable things. 28I tell you this: God can forgive all the wrong things that people do. He can also forgive people who say bad things against him. 29But God will never forgive people who say bad things against the Holy Spirit. Those people will always be guilty of a terrible sin.’
30Jesus said that to the teachers of God's Law, because they had said, ‘Jesus has a bad spirit in him.’
Jesus' mother and his brothers come to look for him
31Then, Jesus' mother and his brothers arrived and they stood outside the house. They sent someone into the house with a message. They wanted Jesus to come out to speak to them. 32A crowd of people was sitting around Jesus. Somebody said to him, ‘Look! Your mother and brothers are outside. They are looking for you.’
33Jesus replied, ‘I will tell you who my mother and brothers really are.’
34Then he looked at the people who were sitting around him. He said, ‘Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! 35My brothers and sisters and my mother are the people who do what God wants.’ #3:35 People who believe in Jesus become part of the family of God.
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Mark 3: EASY
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