Mark 3

Named the apostles and sent them out to preach.

Luke 6, 13, Mark 3, 14.

Thus they were personally chosen, called, and commissioned by Jesus Christ and authorized to teach in his name.

The New Testament evidence is clear that this group was small and unique.

If you didn't hold a presupposition about the relationship between Mary and Joseph, how would you read this naturally? That's the question I have.

Let's go to Mark 3:31-35.

"His mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him, calling him.

A multitude was sitting around him, and they told him, 'Behold, your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside looking for you.' He answered them, 'Who are my mother and my brothers?' Looking around at those who sat around him, he said, 'Behold my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God is my brother, my sister, and my mother.'" Now, Mark is going to in- uh, specifically include another [chuckles] group that was not mentioned by, uh, by Matthew, which is the sisters of Jesus.

Uh, for example, in Luke 8:19-21, "His mother and brothers came to him, and they could not come near him for the crowd.

Some people told him, 'Your mother and brothers stand outside desiring to see you.' But he answered them, 'My brother, my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.'" Always he's comparing these two.

Let's just go, uh, and take a look at those three passages 'cause they are all synoptic, right? We're looking at, uh, Matthew 12:46, Mark 3:31, Luke 8:19.

Start there in those three passages.

Matthew and Mark both record a similar event.

See Matthew 12, 22-45, and Mark 3, 20-30.

But this event took place in Judea, while the event described in the other Gospels took place in Galilee.

Jesus' reference to the strong man keeping his palace, see verse 21 through 22, may have been a reference to Isaiah 49, 24 through 26.

Okay, let me read a scripture for us, and I want to share a few things of what this looks like for us as a church and as a global as we build this house.

Mark 1:16-20, and then Mark 3, a couple verses over there.

Ready? Yeah.

Yes.

They were in their boat mending the nets.

Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with hired men and followed him.

Jump down to Mark 3:13, we read this: He, Jesus, went up the mountains and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him.

And he appointed twelve, whom he also called apostles, to be with him and to be sent out to proclaim the message and to have authority to cast out demons.