Mark 3:1-19

3:1-2 | Jesus’ opponents had no interest in the welfare of the man with the withered hand; he was important to them only as a potential means to discredit Jesus for breaking their traditions.

3:3-5 | The Pharisees could not answer Jesus’ question without condemning themselves. In their stubbornness, they preferred to keep their mouths closed rather than open their hearts and change their traditions. Such hardened religious pride provoked more of a negative reaction in Jesus (in this case, anger and grief) than any other sin.

3:4-6 | Ironically, Jesus had just asked about whether it was lawful to save life or to kill on the Sabbath, and now, on the Sabbath, Jesus’ enemies plotted to kill Him. While the Pharisees worried that Jesus would damage their religious hold over the people, the Herodians – who supported Rome and Rome’s puppet ruler, Herod – probably worried that Jesus would provoke political opposition and damage their power base. These two factions, who were normally at odds with each other, found common cause – against Jesus.

3:13-18 | Luke writes that Jesus spent the night in prayer before choosing the Twelve (Luke 6:12). As apostles (lit. “sent ones”), they first had to be with Jesus for an extended period of time; then He would send them to preach, to heal various sicknesses, and to cast out demons as His ambassadors. By virtue of their intimate connection to Him, all of Jesus’ followers are able to represent Him to a lost and hurting world (John 15:1-8).

3:16-17 | The 12 disciples are listed here. Peter, the new name that Jesus gave Simon, means “Stone.” He would be a rock – one of the leading founders of the church – after Christ’s resurrection (Matt. 16:18; Eph. 2:20).