26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground,
27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how.
28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head.
29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
This parable was mentioned only by Mark.
My commentaries interpret this parable to refer to the Church in the modern age or to the growth of an individual believer. Odd, since the Lord began the parable with the application — “The kingdom of God.”
This new parable refers to the disciples as representing the fertile soil, and is a pendant to the parable of the Sower, teaching that even in the case of the fourth type of hearers the production of fruit is a gradual process demanding time. Put negatively, it amounts to saying that Christ’s ministry has as yet produced no fruit properly speaking at all, but only in some cases has met with soil that gives promise of fruit (the disciples). — Wuest, page 91.
sleep .. and rise (v.27) — present tense, “sleeping and rising” — Suggestive of a man who has nothing to do except wait patiently for the results of his past action.
sprout and grow (v.27) — again, present tense, “sprouting and growing”
does not know how (v.27) — In Greek, emphasis is on “how.”
The mystery of growth still puzzles farmers and scientists of today with all our modern knowledge. But nature’s secret processes do not fail to operate because we are ignorant. This secret and mysterious growth of the kingdom in the heart and life is the point of this parable. — Wuest, page 92.
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by itself (v.28) = self-moved, spontaneously, without external aid, and also beyond external control, with a way and a will, so to speak, of its own that must be respected and waited for. — Wuest, page 92.
blade (v.28) = grass, the first shoots that spring up from the dirt
head (v.28) = an ear of corn or grain, the covering of the actual fruit
full grain (v.28) = the grain itself
sickle (v.29) — the reapers who use it to harvest
has come (v.29) – stands ready, tense is a past action with present results. The process of growth resulted in a fruit ready for harvest.
Without any commentary to guide me, my take is this: The disciples were to sow the seeds by spreading the message that the Kingdom of God was at hand. They weren’t responsible for the way the message was received or for the way the Holy Spirit brought the hearers to the point of believing it. But the disciples were to be ready to reap the harvest when it was ready by leading people to the Lord.
21 Also He said to them, “Is a lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Is it not to be set on a lampstand?
22 For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.
23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”
24 Then He said to them, “Take heed what you hear. With the same measure you use, it will be measured to you; and to you who hear, more will be given.
25 For whoever has, to him more will be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”
Also found in Luke 8:16-18.
The question in v.21 is phrased to expect a negative answer.
basket (v.21) = bushel, a dry measure holding about a peck
bed (v.21) = from the word for “to incline,” referring to the reclining couch placed next to a dining table.
To put the lamp under a peck measure, would put out the flame, and it would give no light. To put it under a reclining couch would set it on fire. … True to His uniform teaching that privileges are to be used for the benefit of others, Jesus tells His disciples that if they have more insight than the multitude, they must employ it for the common benefit. These sentences in mark represent the first special instruction of the disciples. — Wuest, page 90.
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[Christ] says that things are hidden in order that they may be manifested. Concealment is a means to revelation. … The temporary concealment is for final manifestation and a means to an end. Those who are charged with the secret at this time, are given the set responsibility of proclaiming it on the housetops after [His] ascension. The word “manifested” is the translation of [a word meaning] “to make manifest or visible or known what has been hidden or unknown.” — Wuest, page 90.
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If (v.23) — The “if” here is not the conditional particle ean which introduces a future, unfulfilled, hypothetical condition, but ei, the particle of a fulfilled condition. The point is, they had ears with which to hear. Therefore, they ought to use them. — Wuest, page 90.
more (v.24) — More, above and beyond what is due
The more a man thinks, the more he will understand, and the less a man thinks, the less his power of understanding will become. … [To the man who pays attention], knowledge will be given him, and from him who [doesn’t pay attention], the seed of knowledge will be taken. For as diligence causes the seed to grow, negligence destroys it. — Wuest, page 91.
3 “Listen! Behold, a sower went out to sow.
4 And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.
5 Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.
6 But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.
7 And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.
8 But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
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14 The sower sows the word.
15 And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown. When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16 These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.
18 Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word,
19 and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
20 But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.”
Also found in Matthew 13:3-23 and Luke 8:5-18.
Listen! (v.3) — lit. “Be listening.” Not a military command, but but still an imperative.
The seed that was sown was the Word of God.
wayside (vs.4, 15) — Alongside the road, the hard surface next to a road or path.
On some [the truth] produces no vital impression whatever; it lies on the surface of a mind which the feet of earthly interests have trodden hard. There is no chance for it to expand, to begin its operation by sending out the smallest tendrils to grasp, to appropriate anything, to take root. And it may well be doubted whether any soul, wholly indifferent to religious truth, ever retained even its theoretic knowledge long. The foolish heart is darkened. The fowls of the air catch away for ever the priceless seed of eternity. Now it is of great importance to observe how Jesus explained this calamity. … Jesus said, “straightway cometh Satan and taketh away the word which hath been sown in them.” … Men cannot reckon upon stopping short in their contempt of [truth], since what they neglect the devil snatches quite away from them. — Chadwick, pages 111-112.
takes away (v.15) = takes by force
stony ground (vs.5, 16) — Some commentaries say this means slabs of rock with thin layers of dirt on top. Wuest says “ground full of rocks.”
some (v.5) — other seed of the same kind
no root in themselves (v.17) — Those who have a superficial experience of divine truth but who have not permitted it to make its way into the inner recesses.
stumble (v.17) — “to put a stumbling block or impediment in the way upon which one may trip or fall.” Thus, to be offended in someone is to find occasion of stumbling in him, to see in another what one disapproves of and what hinders one from acknowledging his authority. Here, those who are like seed sown on ground full of rocks, are offended at the afflictions and persecutions in the sense that they find occasion of stumbling in them since the disapprove of them. — Wuest, page 88.
thorns (vs.7, 18) — weeds
among thorns (v.7) — Nobody would plant seeds among weeds. The seeds in this case were mixed with weed seeds.
choked it (v.7) = pressed around, thronged, almost suffocated, strangled, throttled
These (v.18) — The word “these” is not in the best texts. [It could be] “others.” … It fixes attention on the third type of hearers as calling for special notice. They are such as, lacking the thoughtlessness of the first and the shallowness of the second class, and having some depth and earnestness, might be expected to be fruitful; a less common type and much more interesting. — Wuest, page 88.
cares (v.19) = lit. “anxiety,” “worry,” “to be drawn in different directions,” “to be distracted”
world (v.19) — The course of life as it is lived currently on this earth by those who do not know God. Our Lord was referring to the worries of the people of this age who live apart from God.”
other things (v.19) — Things not in the categories of cares of the world and desire for riches, but which still distract on from being fruitful.
yielded (v.8) — tense indicates “kept on yielding” Same tense used with “sprang up,” “increased,” and “produced.”
The amount of produce is not the issue, for some ground brings forth more than others. Even though fruit may appear relatively meager, the fact remains, it brings forth fruit.
1 And again He began to teach by the sea. And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.
2 Then He taught them many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:
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9 And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”
10 But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable. 11 And He said to them, “To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
12 so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand; Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.’”
13 And He said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How then will you understand all the parables?
great (v.1) — a superlative, the crowd was very large
boat (v.1) — Not a rowboat, as in Mark 3:9, but a larger boat, moored close to shore. The rowboat was likely the boat used to reach the larger boat.
taught (v.2) — tense indicates a continued action. The Lord gave information and explanation, as opposed to making proclamations.
parables (v.2) = lit. “the placing of two things side by side for purposes of comparison.” So, a spiritual truth compared to a truth from the natural world.
teaching (v.2) = doctrine, that which is taught
those around Him with the twelve (v.10) — apparently a larger group than just the 12, probably His followers from whom the apostles were chosen.
parable (v.10) — should be plural. They asked Him about His parables. This seems to indicate that the key to understanding them was the same — to understand one would be to understand all.
asked (v.10) — The Greek indicates that they asked as soon as they got a chance away from the crowd. Perhaps they waited until then because they didn’t want the crowd to know they didn’t understand, but they also were anxious to find out.
mystery (v.10) — The word … as used in Scripture means “the secret counsels of God which are hidden from the ungodly but when revealed to the godly, are understood by them.” the mystery is not in the fact that they are difficult of interpretation, but that they are impossible of interpretation until their meaning is revealed, when they become plain. — Wuest, page 85.
to you it has been given (v.11) — tense indicates a pat act with present results. The Greek indicates a sense of permanence — they had been given and would remain in possession of the secret.
those who are outside (v.11) — outside the circle, to be understood in the sense of contrast — so, here, the apostles, who sought understanding, as opposed to the Pharisees who had hostile minds.
The use of parables on this occasion was a penalty for judicial blindness on those who will not see. The parables are thus a condemnation on the willingly blind and hostile, while a guide and blessing to the enlightened. This is on the same principle as God hardening Pharaoh’s heart by forcing him to an issue which he did not want to meet (Romans 9:14-18). Light resisted, blinds. Here, these Pharisees were attempting to show that our Lord was in league with Satan. They did not want the truth. Thus, rejecting the truth, they in a sense blinded themselves. The parables are so adjusted that they blind the one who wickedly rejects the truth, and enlighten the one who desires it. — Wuest, pages 85-86.
The quote is from Isaiah 6:9.
turn (v.12) = to turn one’s self about, to turn to, to return to, to cause to return, to bring back. A reversal of one’s position from one previously held.
Their sins be forgiven them (v.12) — “Their sins” does not appear in the best texts. It should be “it should be forgiven them.” The Pharisees would not be forgiven their blasphemous accusations against Jesus. Jesus used the words of Isaiah to declare their doom. The verb is singular, referring to one thing — their rejection of the truth.
do you not understand (v.12) — The apostles had been given the secret (the mystery of the Kingdom of God) and should have understood the parables. Jesus was saying that, if they didn’t understand the parable of the sower, they couldn’t understand any of the parables.
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.”
23 So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.
27 No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter;
29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”—
30 because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”
Matthew 12:22 states that the scribes from Jerusalem made their accusation after the Lord healed a demon-possessed, blind, and mute man. The local scribes and Pharisees — those who had conspired with the Herodians (Mark 3:6) — may have sent to Jerusalem for support against the Lord.
Beelzebub (v.22) — The implication is that Beelzebub has Him, is using Him as his agent. The expression points to something more than an alliance, as in Matthew, to possession, and that on a grand scale: a divine possession by a base deity doubtless, god of flies or god of dung, still a god a sort of Satanic incarnation. The Jews transferred this name of a Philistine god to Satan in contempt. At all events, it is a title of the Devil. — Wuest, page 75.
ruler (v.22) = prince, the first in a series, one who is first in order of importance or power.
Here we have the case of a fallen angel, Satan, as ruler over a different order of beings than himself, the demons. In saying that Jesus cast out demons through the help of the prince of the demons, the Pharisees were arguing upon the basis of the assumption that spirits are cast out by the aid of some other spirit stronger than those ejected. the religious leaders of Israel were trying to break the force of the attesting power of our Lord’s miracles done in the energy o the Holy spirit, by saying that He performed them in dependence upon Satan, thus disproving His claims to Messiahship and linking Him with the Devil. This is the so-called unpardonable sin. It cannot be committed today, since the conditions are not here which made it possible in the first century. Our Lord is not here in humiliation attempting to gain a foothold for His claims and teaching my means of attesting miracles. — Wuest, page 76.
parables (v.23) = lit. “to throw alongside.” A parable is an illustration offered alongside a truth to explain it.
Neither kingdom nor house divided against itself can stand. And if Satan be divided against himself and his evil works, undoing the miseries and opening the eyes of men, his kingdom has a end. All the experience of the world since the beginning was proof enough that such a suicide of evil was beyond hope. The best refutation of the notion that Satan had risen up against himself and was divided was its clear expression. But what was the alternative? If Satan were not committing suicide, he was overpowered. — Chadwick, page 93.
Satan would have no motive to operate against himself or his own interests.
In verse 27, as I understand it, Satan is the strong man, and the demons were his “goods” — his equipment for furthering his ends. Jesus couldn’t cast out demons without first overpowering Satan.
blasphemes (v.28) = speak reproachfully, revile, calumniate, make a malicious misrepresentation. In this case, to intentionally deny God reverence.
In v.28, Jesus moved from reasoning with the scribes to warning them. They knew their accusations about Him casting out demons by Satan’s power were wrong. If they insisted on accusing Him of it, there were closing in on a very dangerous position — that of blaspheming God.
eternal condemnation (v.29 — sin everlasting in its guilt.
20 Then the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
21 But when His own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, “He is out of His mind.”
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31 Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.
32 And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You.”
33 But He answered them, saying, “Who is My mother, or My brothers?”
34 And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers!
35 For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
The Lord and His disciples returned to Peter’s house from the mountain, but the crowd, which had party dispersed while they were gone, quickly reassembled. They pressed so hard that they had no opportunity to eat.
heard about this (v.21) — Not referring to what happened in v.20. The words “about this” aren’t in the Greek. Instead, the Greek reads “having heard,” probably referring to the Lord’s entire Galilean ministry.
His own people (v.21) — A reference to the Lord’s family. This thread picks back up in v.31. His brothers had not yet believed that He was the Messiah (John 7:5).
they went out (v.21) — Out from their own homes. It is several miles from Nazareth, where the Lord’s family lived, to Capernaum.
lay hold (v.21) = get possession of, become master of, take hold of, seize” His family intended to take Him by force.
He is out of His mind (v.21) = driven out of His senses. Probably not in the literal sense. But they probably thought that He had gotten so caught up on religious zeal that He was no longer thinking straight, that He was in an unhealthy state of excitement.
then (v.31) — not in the original manuscript.
standing outside they sent to Him (v.31) — It seems that they did not want to go into the house and grab Him by force in front of the crowd, but sent in word, hoping that He would come out to them. They probably didn’t want everyone to know why they were there, which would indicate some degree of genuine concern for Him.
Based on the Greek words and the Lord’s statement in v.35, there is some question whether His sisters had accompanied their brothers and mother.
Who is My mother, or My brothers? (v.35) — The Lord knew why they had come.
He looked around in a circle (v.34) — an inclusive look that took in all of those who were sitting in a circle around Him.
It was not surprising that their carnal hearts should have so judged Him, for His conduct must have appeared insane to them. He attacked the clergy, He sat with Sinners, He defended His disciples when they ate with unwashed hands, and when thy plucked corn on the Sabbath Day, and He preached to the extent that He had not time to eat. His behavior was eccentric.
But He was founding a Heavenly family, a spiritual home, in which natural kinship as such, had no place. Not that He denied the honour due to a parent, for He commanded it, nor the affection justly claimed by brothers and sisters, but He taught that these relationships had no authority in the spiritual realm of which He, as God, was supreme. Natural claims must be there denied. — Williams, page 734.
I wonder what Mary was thinking as she traveled home without even seeing her Son.
13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him.
14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach,
15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:
16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter,
17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”;
18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite;
19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
Also found in Luke 6:12-16.
The mountain (v.13) — The same one where the Lord gave the Sermon on the Mount.
Those He Himself wanted (v.13) — The Lord did the choosing, picking those He wanted. He did not ask for volunteers. This was probably a larger group from which He then chose the twelve.
appointed (v.14) = ordained, made. He made the twelve as a separate body.
be with Him (v.14) — tense indicated continuous action. They would remain with Him.
send them out (v.14) — The Greek word is apostello, so “apostle” means “one sent out,” and ambassador.
preach (v.14) = to make a public proclamation with gravity, formality, and authority.
power (v.15) — Not dunamis [from which we get “dynamite”], as in Romans 1:16, but exousia, “delegated authority.”
God did not put His supernatural power into the hands of the Twelve to be exercised by them. He delegated to them the authority to cast out demons in the sense that they would speak the word declaring the casting out, and God’s power (dunamis) would cast out the demons. The words “to heal sicknesses” are not in the [original] text. — Wuest, page 71.
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Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter (v.16) — The verb is “to place upon.” That is, He gave him an additional name to the one he already had. This is a direct reference to John 1:42, where our Lord first added this name which was to become descriptive of Simon’s character after the Holy Spirit had gotten control of him. — Wuest, page 71.
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sons of thunder (v.17) — The expression “sons of” is a Hebrew idiom in which the distinguishing characteristic of the individual or thing named is regarded as his parent. … The name Boanerges seems to have been intended as a title of honor. … It is justified by the impetuosity and zeal which characterized both the brothers … — Wuest, page 72.
Andrew (v.18) — The origin of the name was Greek, although it was used by the Jews. It means “manly.”
Philip (v.18) — Another Greek name, meaning “fond of horses.”
Matthew (v.18) = lit. “a gift of God”
Thomas (v.18) = lit. “a twin”
Thaddaeus (v.18) — called Judas in John 14:22
Simon the Cananite (v.18) — should be Simon the Canaanaean. He was also known as Simon the Zealot, one of the party who considered the presence of Rome in Israel as treason against Jehovah. They were fanatical about Jewish exclusiveness.
Iscariot (v.19) — Probably “the man of Kerioth,” his native town, located on the outscirts of Judah. He was the only one of the Twelve who was not from Galilee.
They went into a house (v.19) — Returns to a house after living in the mountains for a time, perhaps some days. The house was Peter’s, where the Lord lived when in this area.
7 But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea
8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those from Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.
9 So He told His disciples that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest they should crush Him.
10 For He healed many, so that as many as had afflictions pressed about Him to touch Him.
11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried out, saying, “You are the Son of God.”
12 But He sternly warned them that they should not make Him known.
The Pharisees are aware, by a series of experiences, that His method is destructive to their system, that He is too fearless to make terms with them, that He will strip the mask off their faces. Their rage was presently intensified by an immense extension of His fame. And therefore He withdrew from the plots which ripen most easily in cities, the hotbeds of intrigue, to the open coast. It is His first retreat before opposition, and careful readers of the Gospels must observe that whenever the pressure of His enemies became extreme, He turned for safety to the simple fishermen, among whom they had no party, since [the Pharisees] had not preached … to the poor. — Chadwick, pages 75-76.
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Mark alone notes no less than eleven occasions on which Jesus retired from His work in order to escape His enemies or to pray in solitude, for rest, or for private conference with His disciples. — Wuest, pages66-67.
great multitude (v.7) — Greek grammar indicates that this was a very large crowd. Mark went on to list places where people had traveled from. It must have taken days for the crowd to all gather.
they heard how many things He was doing (v.8) — Tense indicates that they were continually hearing of His miracles. He was always healing.
small boat (v.9) = a rowboat, kept in constant readiness for Him.
crush (v.9) = press hard upon, used for pressing grapes to extract the juice
Jesus stayed on the shore and healed all who came, but there was a danger that they would push forward and crush him. So a small boat was kept ready for Him to escape in. It was probably rowed just off shore by some of His disciples who kept it close to where He stood and walked. All those who had diseases of one sort or another pressed forward to the point of rudeness to touch Him.
afflictions (v.10) = stroke or scourge
saw (v.11) — Used primarily, not of an indifferent spectator, but of one who looks at a thing with interest and for a purpose. It would be used of a general officially reviewing or inspecting an army. … [It] would include within its meaning a critical, understanding investigation. … The demons exhibited interest and purpose in their critical observation of the Lord Jesus. — Wuest, page 68.
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The demons kept on [verb indicates continuous action] falling down before Him and crying out. [It isn’t said, but it is probable] that they did this in the bodies of those in whom they had taken residence, which means that we have the spectacle of demonized persons constantly falling prostrate before the Lord. … The word “You” is intensive. … It is “As for you, you are the Son of God.” [The demons knew that] Our Lord is the unique, peculiar, only son of God, in a class by Himself, with whom in His unique relationship to God, no one can be compared. — Wuest, page 69.
sternly warned (v.12) = to tax with fault, chide, rebuke, reprove, censure severely. Includes the sense that there will be a penalty for disobedience.
The Lord did not want demons to testify to His deity. He didn’t want the multitudes to confuse their message with His and He didn’t want any testimony from that source.
1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him.
3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.”
4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent.
5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.
6 Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.
Also found in Matthew 12:9-14 and Luke 6:6-11.
Interesting to note that the Lord didn’t touch the man or even say anything to heal him. He simply told the man to stretch out his hand, and he was healed. The Pharisees were angry that Jesus “worked” on the Sabbath, but He did nothing that could legally be defined as work — there is noting in the Law against healing on the Sabbath. It is obvious that their minds were already made up.
withered (v.1) — tense indicates a past action having continuing results. The man wasn’t born with a withered hand — it happened due to injury or disease. Luke (a doctor who would notice things like this, reported that it was the man’s right hand.
watched him (v.2) — tense indicates a continuous action. They were determined to find fault.
The prefixed preposition (to “watched”) para which means “beside” in its local sense, speaks of the Pharisees as side-line observers. They would have nothing to do with our Lord, and kept themselves away from any fellowship with Him lest they be understood to be in sympathy with Him. They maintained an attitude of aloofness. … They were watching Him carefully and closely as one who dogs another’s steps. … They played the spy. — Wuest, pages 62-63.
accuse (v.2) = to accuse formally and before a tribunal, to bring a charge publicly.
Step forward (v.3) = lit. “step into the midst of all the people so they all can see you” Our Lord answered the spying attitude of the Pharisees by this daring act. He brought things out into the open at once, and threw out a challenge to them.” — Wuest, page 63.
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It was a question of performing an act of healing. Christ assumes that the ethically good coincides with the humane (Sabbath made for man). Therein essentially lay the difference between Him and the Pharisees, in whose theory and practice, religious duty and benevolence, the divine and the human, were divorced. To do good or to do evil, these the only alternatives; to omit to do good in your power is evil; not to save life, when you can, is to destroy it. — Wuest, page 63.
They kept silent (v.4) — Tense is “they continued being silent.” It must have been an awkward pause because they had no answer to the Lord’s question.
He had looked around at them (v.5) — A swift, sweeping glance. With the addition of the words “with anger,” it’s easy to get an idea of what it must have looked like when the Lord looked at the Pharisees.
There are three words speaking of anger (v.5), thumos, indicating a sudden outburst of anger that cools off quickly, orge, defining and abiding and settled habit of mind, not operating at all times, but exhibiting itself in the same way when the occasion demands it, and parogismos which speaks of anger in the sense of exasperation. The latter is forbidden in Scripture, “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26); the second orge is permitted, but the qualification is that no sinful element be included in it. Mark uses the word orge. — Wuest, page 64.
grieved (v.5) — The Lord’s anger was due to grief. Tense indicates the grief was a continuous state.
hardness (v.5) = covered with a thick skin, hardened by being covered with a callus. Better translated “hardening” to indicate a process. In this case, “obtuseness of mental discernment, dulled perception.”
hearts (v.5) = lit. “heart” as if they had one hard heart among all of them
restored (v.5) = restored to its former state.
Herodians (v.6) — The Herodians were a Jewish party in the time of our Lord who were evidently partisans of the Herod family. The Herods were not of proper Jewish descent, and they had supplanted a royal family not merely Jewish, but of priestly blood and rank. They also supported their authority by trying to please their Roman patrons. In doing this, they came into direct antagonism with the Pharisees. But in the case of our Lord, these two warring parties united. The Pharisees really aimed at the life of our Lord, and thus it was helpful to gain the assistance of people having influence at court. — Wuest, page 66.
As I studied these verses, I was struck by the fact that the Pharisees stood there and watched the Lord perform actual, literal, discernible, verifiable miracles of healing — something that they had never seen before. And yet they were angry and hated Him before He even began. The evidence of who He was could not have been clearer, but they refused to accept it. There seems to be an application regarding the pointlessness of arguing with those who have made up their minds. If even miracles can’t persuade them, arguing won’t.
23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain.
24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him:
26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”
27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”
Also found in Matthew 12:1-8 and Luke 6:1-5.
through (v.23) — Seems to indicate that the Lord followed a path that led through a grain field with grain on either side. As they walked, the disciples picked grain.
The law forbade reaping grain on the Sabbath. The Pharisees considered even picking a few heads to be reaping.
Have you never read (v.25) — The Greek grammar indicates that the Lord expected an affirmative answer. The Pharisees had read the Old Testament and knew about David’s actions.
house of God (v.26) — the tabernacle
Abiathar (v.26) — 1 Samuel 21:1 names Ahimelech as high priest. … Apparently he was high priest at the time. … It is possible that both father and son both both names (1 Samuel 22:10; 2 Samuel 8:17; 1 Chronicles 18:16), Abiathar being mentioned, though both were involved. — Wuest, page 60.
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showbread (v.26) — The loaves that were set forth before the Lord. The Jews called them the loaves of the face, namely, of the presence of God. There were twelve loaves of bread baked on Friday and these were placed on the Table of Shewbread in the Holy Place on the Sabbath, the others being removed. It was this old bread that David ate, and which was ordinarily eaten only by Levitical priests. — Wuest, page 60.
man (v.27) = mankind
The Lord established the Sabbath for the good of man. The Pharisees thought man was made for the Sabbath.
Lord (v.28) — The word is kurious, which means “he to whom a person or thing belongs, the owner;” it is used of the possessor and disposer of a thing. In this sense was the son of Man Lord of the Sabbath. But the word is used in the LXX as a translation of the august title of God which we know as Jehovah, and thus has implications of deity. The Creator is Lord of creation, and Lord of the Sabbath. He brought it into being for the sake of mankind. — Wuest, page 61
also (v.28) = even
Jesus’ fivefold rebuttal to the accusation is given in Matthew: (1) the example of David (12:3-4), (2) the teaching of the Law (12:5), (3) the prophetic anticipation of Someone greater than the Temple (12:6), (4) the purpose of the Sabbath for man (12:7; cf. Mark 2:27), and (5) Messiah’s lordship over the Sabbath (12:8) — Harmony, page 60.
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Perhaps the answer of our Lord has been as much misunderstood as any other words He ever spoke. It has been assumed that he spoke across the boundary between the new dispensation and the old, as One from whose movements the restraints of Judaism had entirely fallen away, to those who were still entangled. And it has been inferred that the Fourth Commandment was no more than such a restraint, now thrown off among the rest. But this is quite a misapprehension both of His position and theirs. On earth he was a minister of the circumcision. He bade His disciples to observe an do all that was commanded from the seat of Moses. And it is by Old Testament precedent, and from Old Testament principles, that He now refutes the objection of the Pharisees. This is what gives the passage half its charm, this discovery of freedom like our own in the heart of the stern old Hebrew discipline …
David and his followers, when at extremity, had eaten the shewbread which it was not lawful for them to eat. … We should have said that in other circumstances it would have been unlawful, that only necessity made it lawful; we should have refused to look straight in the face the naked ugly fact that David broke the law. But Jesus was not afraid of any facts. He saw and declared that the priests in the Temple itself profaned the Sabbath when they baked the shewbread and when they circumcised children. They were blameless, not because the fourth Commandment remained inviolate, but because circumstances made it right for them to profane the Sabbath. And His disciples were blameless also, upon the same principle, that the larger obligation overruled the lesser, that all ceremonial observance gave way to human need, that mercy is a better thing than sacrifice. — Chadwick, page 68.
