Mark 3
| Mark 3 | |
|---|---|
Mark 3:2-3 from Uncial 0213 (5th/6th century)
|
|
| Book | Gospel of Mark |
| Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Bible part | 2 |
| Category | Gospel |
Mark 3 is the third chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains a conflict over healing on the Sabbath, Jesus' calling of the Twelve Apostles, and his conflicts with some scribes and his own family.
Continuing the theme of the Sabbath from Mark 2, Mark 3 begins with Jesus healing a man with a shriveled hand on the Sabbath in the Synagogue. Mark uses the adverb palin (again), indicating this is the same Synagogue as the one in Mark 1:21-28. According to Mark "some" people were there specifically waiting to see if Jesus would heal someone on the Sabbath so that they could accuse him of breaking it. Rabbis of the time would allow healing on the Sabbath only if the person was in great danger, a situation his hand would not qualify for. The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jesus notes: "...stricter rabbis allowed only the saving of life to excuse the slightest curtailment of the Sabbath rest (Shab. xxii. 6)."
He asks the people "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" (3:4) They do not answer and he angrily looks around at the crowd and is "distressed at their stubborn hearts", (3:5). He tells the man to put out his hand which he does and then, seemingly instantaneously, it is healed. Many other stories of healing at the time involved the healer doing work in some way to effect a cure as compared to this quick almost effortless action here. Mark could be highlighting how great he viewed Jesus' powers as being. Jesus also equates not doing good with doing evil and says it is more important, even or perhaps especially, to not let evil and suffering occur through inaction.
...
Wikipedia