Brit Chadasha Foundations-Concepts in Mark-Chapter 3

Mark 3.1-35 tells us about a controversy about healing on the Sabbath; the sending out of the talmidim as “shaliachim” or sent ones; another controversy with the scribes and a meeting with Yeshua and his relatives.

v 1…And he entered again into a synagogue (possibly at Capernaum); and a man was there with a withered hand.

v 2…And they (the ruler of the synagogue and some Pharisees from Beit Shammai, etc) were watching him to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, in order that they may accuse him (to have something to accuse him of before a religious court).

v 3…And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Rise and come forward (from his seat into the midst of the worshipers)!”

v 4…And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent (the Torah says in Lev 18.5 it was, and Yeshua said it was in Luke 6.9-10).

v 5…And after looking around at them in anger (sternly), grieved at their hardness of heart (blindness to what the Torah says), he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored.

v 6…And the Pharisees (from Beit Shammai who said it was not lawful) went out and immediately taking counsel with the Herodians (or Boethusians-Herod married the daughter of Boethus to elevate a son of Boethus to high priest-Mark 8.13; 12.13. The house of Hillel, or Beit Hillel, of the Pharisees said it was lawful to do good on the Sabbath. These two houses debated over halakah at this time and had over 350 halakhic differences) against him (Yeshua), on how they might destroy him.

v 7…And Yeshua withdrew to the sea (Galilee) with his talmidim; and a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea (Judah in the south).

v 8…And from Jerusalem, and from Idumea (Edom) and beyond the Jordan (east side of it), and the vicinity of Tyre and Sidon (Phoenicia), a great multitude heard of all that he was doing and came to him.

v 9…And he told his talmidim that a boat should stand ready for him because of the multitude, in order that they might not crowd him;

v 10…for he healed many, with the result that all those who had afflictions (plagues) pressed about him in order to touch him.

v 11…And whenever the unclean spirit beheld him, they would fall down before him (they were subject to him), saying, “You are the son of God (in the physical sense, but also a term for a king-1 Chr 28.5-7)!”

v 12…And he earnestly warned them not to reveal his identity (he didn’t want the testimony of a demon, nor did he need it; he wanted the people to accept his word without their input).

v 13…And he went up to a mountain (near Capernaum) and summoned those whom he himself wanted (that were in the plan of God and fit for the calling according to God’s will, not theirs) and they came to him.

v 14…And he appointed twelve, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to teach (as shaliachim or “apostles” in English, meaning “sent ones-Luke 6.13; we have a definition of “shaliach” from the Encyclopedia of the Jewish Religion” by Werblowsky and Wigoner, Adama Books, which says: “AGENT (Hebrew shaliach): the main point of the Jewish law of agency is expressed in the dictum “A person’s agent is regarded as the person himself” (Ned. 72b; Kidd. 41b). Therefore any act committed by a duly appointed agent is regarded as having been committed by the principal, who therefore bears full responsibility for it with consequent complete absence of liability on the part of the agent. A number of results stem from the basic premise. The agent must be of the same legal status and standing as the principal. The appointment of a minor, imbecile, or deaf-mute as agent is invalid, as is any appointment by them (Bava Kama 6.4). Similarly, the death of the principal automatically voids the agency. Betrothal or divorce by proxy is effected by appointing the proxy as an agent. The agent is regarded as acting in his principal’s interest and not to his detriment, and in any dispute as to whether the agent exceeded the terms of his agency this consideration is taken into account. The only exception to the plenipotentiary powers of the agent within the terms of his agency is the rule that “One cannot be an agent for a transgression” (Kidd. 42b); the law of agency applies only to legal acts, and a person committing a crime as the agent of a principal is held responsible for his act”).

v 15…And to have authority to cast out demons (that is the “why” he chose them).

v 16…And he appointed the twelve: Simon (Shimon), to whom he gave the name Peter (Kefa in Aramaic),

v 17…and James (Ya’akov or Jacob), the son of Zebedee (Zabdi) and John (Yocahnon) the brother of James (Jacob), to them he gave the name Boanerges (“Bene reghesh” in Hebrew) which means “sons of thunder”;

v 18…and Andrew (Andrai) and Philip (Pilip in Hebrew), and Bartholomew (Bar Talmai in Aramaic), and Matthew (Matityahu in Hebrew, also known as Levi), and Thomas (Tomas from “ta’om” meaning “twin”), and James (Jacob) the son of Alphaeus (Cleopas or Clopas in Hebrew), and Thaddaeus (Taddai in Hebrew), and Simon (Shimon) the Cananaean (“Kanai” or “zealot” party)

v 19…and Judas (Yehuda) Iscariot (“ish Keriot” or man from Kerioth, or “ha Sicari” meaning assassin and part of the party called the Sicarii) who also betrayed him.

v 20…And he came into a house (in Capernaum, probably Peter and Andrew’s), and the multitude gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal.

v 21…And when his own people (kinsmen-v 31) heard, they went out to take custody of him; for they were saying, “He has lost his senses” (they thought he was exhausted, overwhelmed and overworked, and in an unhealthy state of mind; they did not understand who he was yet-Matt 12.46-50).

v 22…And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed of Beelzebul (a Philistine deity-2 Kings 1.2),” and “He casts out demons by the ruler of the demons.”

v 23…And he called them (the scribes) to himself and began speaking to them in parables (midrashic aggadot), “How can Satan (the accuser) cast out Satan (the accuser)?

v 24…And if a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand (Satan has tried to sow or mix his word into God’s Torah/word; but God’s word is the only good seed-Matt 13.1-30; Luke 8.4-15; the two cannot mix-Gen 1.11; Lev 19.19; Dan 2.31-45; Isa 49.24-26; Hab 3.13).

v 25…And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.

v 26…And if Satan is risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but he is finished!

v 27…But no one can enter the strong man’s house (Satan) and plunder his property unless he (Messiah) first binds the strong man and then he will plunder his house.

v 28…Truly I say to you (scribes), all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies (calling something without a kedusha as having a kedusha; or something with a kedusha as not having a kedusha) they utter;

v 29…but whoever blasphemes against the Ruach ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit, who is not a force but a person) never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin (it cannot be blotted out because he is the one who draws a believer to salvation to begin with; their hearts must be “plucked” like a harp string” by the Spirit-John 3.5-21; Rom 8.26-30)”

v 30…because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”

v 31…And his mother and his brothers (their names were Jacob, Joseph, Shimon and Yehudah-Matt 13.55-56, and he had at least two sisters) arrived and standing outside they sent word to him, and called him.

v 32…And a multitude was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Behold (see), your mother and your brothers (and sisters) are outside looking for you.”

v 33…And answering them, he said, “Who are my mother and my brothers (and sisters)?

v 34…And looking about on those who were sitting around him, he said, “Behold (see), my mother and my brothers (and sisters)!

v 35…For whoever does the will of God (the Torah commandments as they apply-Deut 33.9; their loyalty to Yehovah, like the Levites, transcended any personal considerations and relationships; they refused to join in with the idolatrous worship of the golden calf and were praised), he is my brother and sister and mother.”

Posted in All Teachings, Articles, Idioms, Phrases and Concepts, Prophecy/Eschatology, The Festivals of the Lord, The Tanak, Tying into the New Testament

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