1Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."
4Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent.
5He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.
Crowds Follow Jesus
7Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the lake, and a large crowd from Galilee followed. 8When they heard all he was doing, many people came to him from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, and the regions across the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon. 9Because of the crowd he told his disciples to have a small boat ready for him, to keep the people from crowding him. 10For he had healed many, so that those with diseases were pushing forward to touch him. 11Whenever the evil[a] spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, "You are the Son of God." 12But he gave them strict orders not to tell who he was.
The Appointing of the Twelve Apostles
13Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. 14He appointed twelve—designating them apostles[b]—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach 15and to have authority to drive out demons. 16These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Jesus and Beelzebub
20Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. 21When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."
22And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub[c]! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."
23So Jesus called them and spoke to them in parables: "How can Satan drive out Satan? 24If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. 27In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. 28I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
30He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."
Jesus' Mother and Brothers
31Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you."
33"Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked.
34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
I am always reminded of how people try to discredit Jesus. When he was walking ont his earth and after.
ReplyDelete2Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath.
I watched the invention of lying last night, and it troubled my soul. The Movie was written by an athiest and clearly tries to portray the biggest lie: there is a God, heaven etc..
What I found interesting was the joy that people experienced in believing that there is a God. If only the makers of this movie could see the truth and have that joy.
In the end the best thing that could happen without God is that you can trick the pretty girl into falling for the chubby nice guy, and sort of live happily ever after.
28I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. 29But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
I am not exactly sure of what Blasphemy of the Holy spirit is, but I think shaking our fist a God in unbelief and stubbornly remaining there our whole life probably qualifies.
Jesus wasnt afraid of the tough questions. He took on all comers. God has shoulders big enough to handle any criticism, and he is unafraid of telling the truth. He is always inviting us to come to him and "join the family of God"
34Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."
S 5He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.
ReplyDeleteO I love how Jesus becomes angry with the people due to their angry hearts. It's a righteous anger that Jesus continuously has. His anger for others is not like my anger. The anger I tend to have is because I get offended for specific reason. Usually due to the fact that my ego can't handle what it's being told. My anger comes from my own selfishness and insecurities. Yet when Jesus becomes angry, it's due to a deeper level of understanding of someone else. I too feel this type of anger at times, but I am not able to differentiate all the time.
A I want to be able to tell the difference between my own anger and God's righteous anger. I want to give up my own insecure anger so that I may know God's feelings through me.
P Lord I pray that I would drop my insecure anger. That my times of weakness in myself would come to an end. That when I feel anger/the need to tell someone something, it would be coming from you and not my own will. That I would respond to these situations with love; your love. I love you. Amen.
me too Cameron. I also need the passion Jesus had for people and for what is right.
ReplyDeleteI love Jesus's attitude in verse 5. Everyone was looking at Jesus to see if he was really going to heal that guys arm on a sabbath day. Jesus just looks around the room and calls everyone out,and then heals the guys arm. I wish I could do stuff like that when I'm angry!
ReplyDeleteI love in verses 31 - 35, how Jesus refers to those that do God's will...they are his brothers and sisters and mother.
ReplyDeleteHis actual family was in the area and looking for Him and He used this to show us that we are just as much God's family if we chose to follow His will as His blood relatives. That is very powerful.
I know that we use the phrase "family of God" but this is real application used by Jesus himself to equate us to his family tree. Now if I could just learn to keep God's will...