3
Another time Jesus went into the synagogue. A man with a weak and twisted hand was there. 2 Some Pharisees were trying to find fault with Jesus. They watched him closely. They wanted to see if he would heal the man on the Sabbath day. 3 Jesus spoke to the man with the weak and twisted hand. ‘Stand up in front of everyone,’ he said. 4 Then Jesus asked them, ‘What does the Law say we should do on the Sabbath day? Should we do good? Or should we do evil? Should we save life? Or should we kill?’ But no one answered.
5 Jesus looked around at them in anger. He was very upset because their hearts were stubborn. Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand had become as good as new. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to make plans with the Herodians. They wanted to kill Jesus.
2:23–3:6 Jesus and the Pharisees disagreed a lot about the Sabbath day. God had given his people laws about respecting the Sabbath as a holy day. Jesus showed the Pharisees that they had forgotten what the Sabbath day was really for. It was meant to be a day of rest for God's people. Eating when they were hungry and doing good didn't dishonour God or the Sabbath day. Neither did healing people and saving lives. But Jewish leaders had made many extra rules about keeping the Sabbath day holy. Jesus was doing things that broke those Jewish laws. He was upset that the religious leaders cared so much about their rules. They cared more about the rules than about people or what God wanted. The leaders didn't like the new ideas that Jesus was teaching.
7 Jesus went off to the Sea of Galilee with his disciples. A large crowd from Galilee followed. 8 People heard about all that Jesus was doing. And many came to him. They came from Judea, Jerusalem and Idumea. They came from the lands east of the River Jordan. And they came from the area around Tyre and Sidon. 9 Because of the crowd, Jesus told his disciples to get a small boat ready for him. This would keep the people from crowding him. 10 Jesus had healed many people. So those who were ill were pushing forward to touch him. 11 When people controlled by evil spirits saw him, they fell down in front of him. The spirits shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ 12 But Jesus ordered them not to tell people about him.
13 Jesus went up on a mountainside. He called for certain people to come to him, and they came. 14 He appointed 12 of them so that they would be with him. He would also send them out to preach. 15 And he gave them authority to drive out demons.
16 So Jesus appointed the 12 disciples.
Simon was one of them. Jesus gave him the name Peter.
17 There were James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. Jesus gave them the name Boanerges. Boanerges means Sons of Thunder.
18 There were also Andrew,
Philip,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
Thomas,
and James, son of Alphaeus.
And there were Thaddaeus
and Simon the Zealot.
19 Judas Iscariot was one of them too. He was the one who was later going to hand Jesus over to his enemies.
3:7–19 All kinds of people were amazed by Jesus and followed him around. They came from the north in Galilee and the south in Judea. They came from east of the River Jordan and west from Tyre and Sidon. The demons shouted out loud who Jesus was. Jesus told them to be quiet. The Israelites thought that they knew what the Messiah would be like. But Jesus wanted people to understand what the Messiah was really going to do. So he chose 12 disciples to be his closest followers. He focused on them and taught them.
20 Jesus entered a house. Again a crowd gathered. It was so large that Jesus and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21 His family heard about this. So they went to take charge of him. They said, ‘He is out of his mind.’
22 Some teachers of the law were there. They had come down from Jerusalem. They said, ‘He is controlled by Beelzebul! He is driving out demons by the power of the prince of demons.’
23 So Jesus called them over to him. He began to speak to them using stories. He said, ‘How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom fights against itself, it can't stand. 25 If a family is divided, it can't stand. 26 And if Satan fights against himself, and his helpers are divided, he can't stand. That is the end of him. 27 In fact, none of you can enter a strong man's house unless you tie him up first. Then you can steal things from his house. 28 What I'm about to tell you is true. Everyone's sins and evil words against God will be forgiven. 29 But whoever speaks evil things against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. Their guilt will last for ever.’
30 Jesus said this because the teachers of the law were saying, ‘He has an evil spirit.’
31 Jesus' mother and brothers came and stood outside. They sent someone in to get him. 32 A crowd was sitting around Jesus. They told him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside. They are looking for you.’
33 ‘Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?’ he asked.
34 Then Jesus looked at the people sitting in a circle around him. He said, ‘Here is my mother! Here are my brothers! 35 Anyone who does what God wants is my brother or sister or mother.’
3:20–35 Jesus talked about families and houses to explain where his power came from. Jesus wasn't part of Satan's family or kingdom. Satan is another name for the devil. Jesus' power didn't come from Satan. Satan was the strong man Jesus described. Jesus talked about tying up the strong man and stealing from his house. Jesus was talking about how he came to free people from sin and evil. Jesus said that God forgives all sin except when people speak evil against the Holy Spirit. This is the sin of claiming that Jesus' power doesn't come from God's Holy Spirit. This can't be done by mistake. A person must make a choice to do it. When someone makes this choice, they choose not to believe in Jesus. They choose not to love God. Someone who believes in Jesus and loves God can't speak evil against the Holy Spirit. They know that Jesus' power comes from God's Holy Spirit. They obey God and follow Jesus. Everyone who does what God wants is part of his family.