A Man with a Withered Hand
1 For ver. 1-6, see Matt. 12:9-14;Luke 6:6-11Again ch. 1:29he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 And Luke 14:1;20:20;[Luke 11:54;John 8:6]they watched Jesus,3:2 Greek him to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. 3 And he said to the man with the withered hand, "Come here."4 And he said to them, [Luke 14:3]"Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?" But they were silent. 5 And he ver. 34;ch. 5:32;10:23;[ch. 10:21] looked around at them with anger, grieved at ch. 6:52;Rom. 11:25;Eph. 4:18their hardness of heart, and said to the man, "Stretch out your hand."[1 Kgs. 13:4]He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 See Matt. 12:14The Pharisees went out and immediately See Matt. 12:14held counsel with ch. 12:13;Matt. 22:16;[ch. 8:15]the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.
A Great Crowd Follows Jesus
7 Matt. 12:15Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and Matt. 4:25;Luke 6:17a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Isa. 34:5;Ezek. 35:15Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around See Matt. 11:21Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. 9 And he told his disciples to ch. 6:32,45(Gk.);8:10(Gk.)have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they ch. 5:24,31crush him, 10 for See Matt. 4:23he had healed many, so that all who had ch. 5:29,34diseases pressed around him ch. 6:56;Matt. 9:20,21;14:36;Luke 6:19to touch him. 11 ch. 1:26,34;Luke 4:41And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they Luke 8:28fell down before him and cried out, "You are See Matt. 14:33the Son of God." 12 And See Matt. 12:16he strictly ordered them not to make him known.
The Twelve Apostles
13 Matt. 10:1;Luke 6:12,13;[ch. 6:7-13;Luke 9:1,2] And he went up on the mountain and called to him those John 13:18;15:16,19whom he desired, and they came to him. 14 [See ver. 13above]And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach 15 [See ver. 13above]and have authority to cast out demons. 16 He appointed the twelve: For ver. 16-19, see Matt. 10:2-4;Luke 6:14-16;Acts 1:13Simon (to whom Matt. 16:18;John 1:42he gave the name Peter); 17 Matt. 4:21James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matt. 9:9Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,3:18 Greek kananaios, meaning zealot19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
20 Then he went ch. 7:17;9:28home, and the crowd gathered again, ch. 6:31so that they could not even eat. 21 [John 7:5] And when [ver. 31] his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, "He 2 Cor. 5:13;[John 10:20;Acts 26:24]is out of his mind."
Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
22 And ch. 7:1;Matt. 15:1the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, Matt. 9:34;12:24;Luke 11:15;[Matt. 10:25]; See John 7:20"He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "by the prince of demons he casts out the demons." 23 For ver. 23-27, see Matt. 12:25-29;Luke 11:17-22And he called them to him 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 will not be able to stand.26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.27 But Isa. 49:24no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. [Isa. 53:12]Then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 For ver. 28-30, see Matt. 12:31,32;[Luke 12:10;Heb. 6:4-6;10:26;1 John 5:16]"Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter,29 but whoever [Acts 7:51;Heb. 10:29]blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin"— 30 for they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit."
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
31 For ver. 31-35, see Matt. 12:46-50;Luke 8:19-21And his mother and his ch. 6:3;Matt. 13:55;John 2:12;7:3,5,10;Acts 1:14;1 Cor. 9:5;Gal. 1:19brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. 32 And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, "Your mother and your brothers3:32 Other manuscripts add and your sisters are outside, seeking you." 33 And he answered them, "Who are my mother and my brothers?"34 And ver. 5looking about at those who sat around him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers!35 [John 15:14;Heb. 2:11] For whoever Matt. 7:21;[Luke 11:28]does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother."