Search

1He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there whose hand was withered. 2They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. 3He said to the man whose hand was withered, “Stand up.” 4He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good or to do harm? To save a life or to kill?” But they were silent. 5When he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. 6The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.

7Jesus withdrew to the sea with his disciples; and a great multitude followed him from Galilee, from Judea, 8from Jerusalem, from Idumaea, beyond the Jordan, and those from around Tyre and Sidon. A great multitude, hearing what great things he did, came to him. 9He spoke to his disciples that a little boat should stay near him because of the crowd, so that they wouldn’t press on him. 10For he had healed many, so that as many as had diseases pressed on him that they might touch him. 11The unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, fell down before him and cried, “You are the Son of God!” 12He sternly warned them that they should not make him known.

13He went up into the mountain and called to himself those whom he wanted, and they went to him. 14He appointed twelve, that they might be with him, and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17James the son of Zebedee; and John, the brother of James, (whom he called Boanerges, which means, Sons of Thunder); 18Andrew; Philip; Bartholomew; Matthew; Thomas; James, the son of Alphaeus; Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot; 19and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

Then he came into a house. 20The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. 21When his friends heard it, they went out to seize him; for they said, “He is insane.” 22The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons.”

23He summoned them and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26If Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he can’t stand, but has an end. 27But no one can enter into the house of the strong man to plunder unless he first binds the strong man; then he will plunder his house.

28“Most certainly I tell you, all sins of the descendants of man will be forgiven, including their blasphemies with which they may blaspheme; 29but whoever may blaspheme against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.” 30—because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”

31His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside, they sent to him, calling him. 32A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, “Behold, your mother, your brothers, and your sisters are outside looking for you.”

33He answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, “Behold, my mother and my brothers! 35For whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and mother.”

"A Certain Young Man"

"A Certain Young Man"

Passage Study | Mark 14:51 | Daniel G Garland • Hershel Wayne House

The author of the Gospel of Mark does not identify himself by name. However, it is possible that he left a hint in Mark 14:51, 52. The young man who was following Christ, wearing nothing but a linen sheet, and who escaped naked when seized by those who had come to arrest Jesus, may well have been Mark, of Jerusalem (Acts 12:12, 25; 15:37), the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10), whose Jewish name was John (Acts 13:5, 13). This would explain the author's knowledge of the incident that occurred after all the disciples had already left, and was recorded only in the second Gospel. It would also mean that the author was an eyewitness to some of the events he recorded.

Most scholars agree that Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome under Peter's supervision. The outline of events in Mark's Gospel correlates with the outline of Peter's sermon at the house of Cornelius at Caesarea (Acts 10:34-43; 13:23-33). Mark's close association with Peter is further indicated by the fact that Peter announced his miraculous escape from jail at the home of Mary, Mark's mother (Acts 12:12).

Papias of Hierapolis (A.D. 140), claimed that Mark, as Peter's interpreter, wrote an accurate Gospel. In Rome, about A.D. 150, Justin Martyr quoted Mark 3:17 as being "in Memoirs of Peter." Mark was also named as the author in the Roman Prologue to Mark (A.D. 160-180). Irenaeus, in France around A.D. 180, said that Mark wrote down Peter's preaching. In North Africa, Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria made the same claim around A.D. 200. –DG