3:1-6, Cf. 1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
When Jesus went again to the synagogue,
he saw a man with a withered hand.
2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
Some watched to see if he would heal on the sabbath day, so they could accuse him.
3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
Jesus said to the man with the withered hand, "Stand up."
4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
Then he said to those who were watching,
Is it lawful to do good or evil on sabbath days?
To save life or to kill?
But no one answered him.
5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
Jesus looked at them in anger, [1] and then said to the man,
Hold out your hand.
And when he held out his hand, it was no longer withered.
6 And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
Then the Pharisees went to meet with the Herodians to devise a plot to destroy Jesus.
3:7-127 But Jesus withdrew himself with his disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed him, and from Judea,
8 And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaea, and from beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things he did, came unto him.
Jesus and his disciples went to the sea,
with a large crowd following them.
9 And he spake to his disciples, that a small ship should wait on him because of the multitude, lest they should throng him.
10 For he had healed many; insomuch that they pressed upon him for to touch him, as many as had plagues.
He boarded a boat to avoid being crushed by the sick people who tried to touch him.
11 And unclean spirits, when they saw him, fell down before him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God.
When the unclean spirits saw Jesus, they fell down and cried,
You are the Son of God. [2]
12And he straitly charged them that they should not make him known.
Jesus ordered the unclean spirits to not tell anyone who he was.
13 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.
Jesus and his disciples climbed a mountain,
14 And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
where he ordained twelve of them and sent them forth to preach,
15 And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:
and gave them power to heal the sick and to cast out devils.
16 And Simon he surnamed Peter;
17 And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:
18 And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite,
19 And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.
These are the twelve men that Jesus ordained:
Simon (whom Jesus called Peter),
James, the son of Zebedee, and John, James's brother (whom Jesus called the sons of thunder)
Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James, the son of Aphaeus
Thaddaeus, [3]
Simon the Canaanite,
and Judas (who betrayed him)
After the ordination ceremony, they went into a house.
3:20-2120 And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.
So many people came to the house that Jesus and his disciples couldn't even eat.
21 And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
When Jesus's family ("friends" in the KJV [4]) heard about it, they went to constrain him, saying,
He is beside himself.
22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.
The scribes from Jerusalem said,
He is possessed by Beelzebub.
He casts out devils by the power of the prince of devils.
23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan?
24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
Jesus said,
How can Satan cast out Satan?
25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.
A house divided against itself cannot stand.
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
All sins will be forgiven,
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation.
except for blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
That sin will never be forgiven,
and whoever is guilty of it is in danger of eternal damnation. [5]
30Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
Jesus said these things, because people were saying he had an unclean spirit.
31There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him.
Jesus's mother and brothers stood outside and called to him.
32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
The crowd that was standing around said to Jesus,
Your mother and your brothers would like to see you.
33And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
Jesus said to them,
Who is my mother or my brothers? [6]
34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!
Then he looked at the crowd around him and said,
These are my mother and brothers!
35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister, and mother.
The withered hand story shows up in all three synoptic gospels, but Jesus shows his anger only in Mark. Since Mark's gospel is the oldest and the original source of the story, it's likely that the authors of Luke and Matthew removed the somewhat embarrassing reference to Jesus's anger from Mark's account. (See Mt 12:9-14, Lk 6:6-11)
Although the disciples weren't sure about Jesus even after his alleged resurrection, the "unclean spirits" knew that he was "the son of God." But Jesus told them not to tell anyone.
Mark says that Thaddeus was one of the twelve apostles, but his name is not included in the lists given in Luke (6:14-16) or Acts (1:13), which list Judas the brother of James instead.
The King James Version says that Jesus's friends thought he was insane, but many other translations say it was his family.
Although the Greek word in verse 3:21 could refer to either family or friends, it seems more likely to be family, since verses 31-35 clearly say that Jesus's family were asking to speak to him, where Jesus denies that they are his family, saying that his true family are his followers.
For more on this see Rabbi Tovia Singer's explanation in this youtube video.
Jesus is angry at those who said that he had an unclean spirit, so he announces the unforgivable sin: blasphemy against the Holy Ghost.
Jesus shows disrespect for his mother and family by asking, "Who is my mother, or my brethren?" when he is told that his family wants to speak with him.
Mark 3:29 - Blaspheming the Holy Spirit is the "unforgivable sin." This is clear, but the nature of what blasphemy actually entails is not. Checking outside resources, the interpretations of what sort of blasphemy counts as being unforgivable are wide and varied. So, how do you know if you've blasphemed against the Holy Spirit and have punched a ticket straight to Hell? Check the list:
1. Have you ever attributed to Satan that which is the work of God?
2. Have you ever claimed that the ministry of Jesus is of the devil because he was empowered by an evil spirit?
3. Have you ever repeatedly, without repentance, rejected the Holy Spirit's testimony to Christ?
4. Do you have an ongoing hardened heart against the Holy Spirit?
5. Have you ever rejected the Holy Spirit's work, particularly his work to convince us about Jesus?
6. Do you ever mistake Beelzebul, the Prince of Demons, for Jesus because both can cast out demons?
7. Do you reject Christ and God's free gift of salvation in Jesus? (Thanks goes to Focus on the Family for this nugget.)
8. Have you ever accidentally said some bad things about the Holy Spirit, but actually MEAN IT?
9. Has the Holy Spirit ever revealed Jesus to you personally, but you called him the devil in response?
10. Do you willfully determine yourself to oppose the power of the Holy Spirit?
11. Do you have to mow your lawn to find your car? [Whoops! A Jeff Foxworthy redneck quip has snuck in accidentally. I repent.]
Chances are, you are a blasphemer of the Holy Spirit. However, if you think you are, BUT you feel fear of what may happen to you in the afterlife, don't fret. That concern alone shields you from eternal damnation. Check out this, from an online ministry's webpage:
"All scriptures have to be harmonious with one another. So think about it this way: if someone commits the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, then they will always be rejected by God. And Jesus promised to never reject anyone who comes to Him, because those who come to Him have been drawn by the Father. If the one who committed the unpardonable sin ever came to the Lord, then the Lord would have to break His promise of never rejecting anyone who came to Him. Therefore, the one who has committed the unpardonable sin would never approach God in the first place. Indeed, such a person has no desire to ever again approach God.
Bottom line: Are you afraid that you may have committed the unpardonable sin? That fear alone is proof that you haven’t."
See? It's really, really simple and not convoluted at all!