Mark 3:20-35

Rachel Workman: ²⁰ Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat. ²¹ When his family^[b] heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.” Wow, the crowds gathered so large that Christ wasn't even able to stop and eat yet his family claimed him to be out of his mind. On one hand, can you blame them? It would be as if one of my children claimed to be Christ and the other sibling thinking uh no you were born of my mother and father just like I was.
²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, “He is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons.”
²³ So Jesus called them over to him and began to speak to them in parables: “How can Satan drive out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. ²⁶ And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come. ²⁷ In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house. ²⁸ Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.” No more would Satan send someone to cast out himself than God would send someone to overthrow Christ.
³⁰ He said this because they were saying, “He has an impure spirit.”
³¹ Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. ³² A 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.
³⁴ Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! ³⁵ Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

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John Burnett:  ²⁰ And He *came ^[a]home, and the crowd *gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat ^[b]a meal. ²¹ When His own ^[c]people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.” ²² The scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by ^[d]Beelzebub,” and “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.” ²³ And He called them to Himself and began speaking to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? ²⁴ If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. ²⁵ If a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. ²⁶ If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but ^[e]he is finished! ²⁷ But no one can enter the strong man’s house and plunder his property unless he first binds the strong man, and then he will plunder his house.  People’s hatred of Jesus lead them to irrational thought and eventually he will turn them over to a depraved mind.

²⁸ “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”— ³⁰ because they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”  All sins are forgivable if we humble ourselves as called by the Holy Spirit and confess those sins.  Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit is clinging to sin that hardens the heart and willfully sinning against God and man.  When the Holy Spirit calls us to repent of sin and we refuse, we are blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

³¹ Then His mother and His brothers *arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. ³² A crowd was sitting around Him, and they *said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”³³ Answering them, He *said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” ³⁴ Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He *said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! ³⁵ For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”  I will have to study this further as I don’t understand the mother statement.  Brothers and Sisters I understand because when we put our trust in Jesus as our Savior from Sin, we are adopted in the family of God and are co-heirs with Christ.

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Tomorrow's reading for Mark 4:1-10

4 Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. ² He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: ³ “Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. ⁴ As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. ⁵ Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”

⁹ Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

¹⁰ When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.