Mark 3:13

Mark 3:13 says, And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.  Jesus once again went up to the mountain to escape the crowd, and He called to go with Him those that He would.  Fortunately, Jesus calls everyone to come apart from the world with Him, though not all respond, and unfortunately some who claim to do so are not sincere in accepting Jesus's invitation.  Verse fourteen adds, And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,  Verse fifteen continues, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:  There on the mountain, Jesus ordained the twelve disciples, who were to both be with Him during His ministry and to go out and preach the gospel and heal the sick, especially those who were spiritually sick, and to cast out devils.  We as Christians are called apart from the world to be in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, but we are also called for a purpose, and that is to spread the gospel to everyone that God gives us an opportunity to witness to.  We may too often want to be called apart from the world instead of going out into the world to share the gospel.  The world is never going to be improved by accepting the gospel if Christians withdraw from it more and more.  Even if the world is full of devils, we as Christians should not be afraid to go out into the world.  Verse sixteen states, And Simon he surnamed Peter;  Verse seventeen adds, And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: Verse eighteen continues, And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,  Veres nineteen concludes, And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.  The disciples are then named, with a little more information given about some of them.  We are told Simon was surnamed Peter, though Mark didn’t give us the reason why.  We know of the later works of some more than others, but they were all equally called and commissioned, even Judas Iscariot.  Some people would say that Judas had no choice but to betray Jesus, but I believe that he was called just as sincerely as the other disciples, but he allowed his own desires to keep him from fully committing to Jesus, just as many people today profess to following Jesus, but never totally put Him above their own selfish desires.  Jesus still calls those whom He would to Himself, and that is everyone, though not all accept His call.

Mark 3:1

 

Mark 3:1 says, And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand. Jesus was in the synagogue when He met a man with a withered hand.  Jesus met many people with physical problems, and even though He healed many, He came to restore people to a right relationship with God spiritually.  Verse two adds, And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him. Since it was the Sabbath, the religious leaders were watching to see what Jesus would do.  They really weren't concerned about the man with the withered hand but were concerned about what Jesus would do for Him on the Sabbath, when there were restrictions on what could be done.  We need to make sure that we are more concerned about people in need than we are about religious rules. Verse three continues, And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.  Jesus told the man with the withered hand to stand forth, Verse four concludes, And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.  He then asked the religious leaders if it was lawful to do good on Sabbath days or to do evil, or to save a life or kill.  Those watching Jesus held their peace or were unable to make their accusations against Him without saying doing evil or allowing someone to die was better than healing someone.  We should never allow religious rules or rituals to come between us and helping those in need.  As already stated, Jesus came to restore people to a right relationship with God, and that should be our priority today.  Verse five states, And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. Jesus looked on the religious leaders with anger at their attitude and actions toward Him.  It is possible to be angry at the attitude and actions of people because of their attitude and actions toward Jesus Christ without sinning.  If it were not, then Jesus would have been guilty of sin at this time, and we know that He lived without sin.  Jesus was grieved because of the hardness of their hearts, since they were more concerned with following the law than they were with helping people.  We need to make sure that we don't become so caught up in religious practices that we forget about the needs of people.  Jesus told the man to stretch forth his hand, and when he did, he was healed.  The man had to believe in and obey Jesus to be healed, and so must everyone believe in Jesus Christ to be healed of their sins. Verse six adds, And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.  The Pharisees took counsel with the Herodians, those who didn't even worship God, to figure out how they might destroy Jesus.  As Christians, we should never be guilty of looking to non-Christians to justify anything, especially if it means counteracting something being done for God.  Verse seven says, But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judaea, With the religious leaders looking for a way to destroy Jesus, he withdrew with the disciples to the sea.  It was not yet time for Him to fulfill the task that His Father had sent Him to do.  We may sometimes need to withdraw from a situation if it is not God's timing for us to stay in it.  Verse eight adds, And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.  The religious leaders may have been looking to destroy Jesus, but the ordinary people were looking to Him for healing, though they were mostly looking for physical healing instead of spiritual healing, so they followed Him from many different places.  Sometimes today people may come to Jesus for the wrong reasons, but if they truly meet Him and put their faith in Him as their personal Savior and Lord, then nothing else is of importance.  Verse nine continues, And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.  Jesus told the disciples to get a small ship ready, because the crowds were nearly overpowering Him.  Wouldn't it be nice if people today swarmed to Jesus and overflowed the church buildings?  Verse ten states, For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.  Jesus healed many, and they wanted to simply touch Him to be healed.  Even if they did not truly know Who Jesus was, and not even the disciples did yet, they had faith in His healing power.  As Christians, we need that same type of faith today, especially since we do know Who Jesus is.  Verse eleven states, And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.  The unclean spirits knew Who Jesus was, the Son of God, even if the religious leaders didn’t. They fell down before Him, and one day everyone will.  Verse twelve adds, And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.  Jesus told the unclean spirits to not make it known Who He was.  We today as Christians have the opposite command, and that is to tell everyone that we can about Jesus Christ, the only way to salvation. 

Mark 2:21

 Mark 2:21 says, No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse.  Verse twenty-two adds, And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles. Jesus had just answered the religious leaders' comments about His disciples and Himself not fasting and spoke of celebrating while the Bridegroom was with the bridal party.  He then spoke of new patches on old garments and new wine in old wine skins and bottles.  The religious leaders were still attempting to live by the old covenant, which had been impossible to live up to.  This was not because of there being anything wrong with the old covenant itself, but because of the rebellious nature of people.  Jesus came to usher in the new covenant, which was based on His goodness and obedience to the Heavenly Father alone.  The new covenant of salvation by faith in Jesus Christ alone could not be stitched into the old covenant without destroying both, and Jesus did not come to destroy the old covenant but to fulfill it.  We today cannot attempt to justify ourselves by the old covenant and faith in Jesus Christ also.  We must set aside obedience to the old covenant as a way to salvation. Salvation comes not by our ability to keep all of God's law, which we cannot do, but by faith in Jesus Christ alone as our Savior and Lord.  Verse twenty-three states, And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn. When Jesus and His disciples were going through a cornfield on the Sabbath, they began to pluck ears of corn to eat.  There were very explicit rules about what Jewish people could do on the Sabbath, and plucking corn was not one of the things allowed.  Verse twenty-four adds, And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?  The Pharisees were concerned about the disciples disobeying the law of the Sabbath.  They were more concerned with the law than they were with what the disciples were doing and why they were doing it.  We need to be careful that we don't become more concerned with religious rules than we are with doing whatever we can to share the gospel and enable others to do so.  Verse twenty-five states, And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?  Verse twenty-six adds, How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?  When the Pharisees confronted Jesus, He referred to a passage of scripture about David eating and sharing the shewbread in the temple.  The Pharisees could not deny this happened since they knew the scripture.   If questioned about why we may have done something that others may say is spiritually wrong, we need to be able to support our actions based on what the Bible teaches, and if we can, then they should no longer have a problem with what we have done.  Verse twenty-seven continues, And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:  Verse twenty-eight concludes, Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.  Jesus then said that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath, and that the Son of Man, Jesus Himself, was the Lord of the Sabbath.   We need to realize that our relationship with and obedience to God through our faith in Jesus Christ takes priority over any law, religious or otherwise.  Of course, this is all dependent on having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.  

Mark 2:18

Mark 2:18 says, And the disciples of John and of the Pharisees used to fast: and they come and say unto him, Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but thy disciples fast not?  As usual, the religious leaders were trying to find fault with Jesus.  They said the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees used to fast, and asked Jesus why His disciples didn't fast.  Now, I assume that the disciples of John the Baptist and the Pharisees still fasted, though it was stated that they used to do so.  Either way, the religious leaders were attempting to condemn Jesus based on what others had done or were doing.  I believe that we must be careful about attempting to find fault with how other Christians worship, as long as their focus is on God and bringing Him honor and glory.  I don't believe that we can even judge others by the way people used to worship.  I may not personally like some of the new trends in worship services, but that does not make them wrong, once again as long as God is glorified by the worship service. Verse nineteen adds, And Jesus said unto them, Can the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? as long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast.  Jesus told them that as long as the bridegroom was with them, the people of the bridal party didn't fast, and Jesus was the Bridegroom.  Verse twenty continues, But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. Jesus said His disciples would have time to fast after He was gone.  We today have time to fast, but even if we do, it should be done to bring honor and glory to God and not to ourselves.  For fasting or any other religious ceremony to have any meaning, you must first accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord.