Daily Devotional for July 29 – August 4

Mark 3 6–12, And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Hcrodians against Him, how they might destroy Him. But Jesus withdrew Himself with His disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judea, and from Jerusalem, and from Idumea, 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, And He told His disciples, that a small boat should wait on Him because of the multitude, lest they should throng Him. For He had healed many; so much so that they pressed upon Him for to touch Him, as many as had scourges. And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him, and cried, saying, Thou art the Son of God. And He sternly charged them that they should not make Him known.

Who were the Herodians? They were either soldiers of Herod, or adherents to a newly appeared heresy which taught that Herod himself was the messiah, because with him the succession of Judaic kings had come to an end. For the prophecy of Jacob clearly stated that when the line of princes from Judah would fail, then the Christ would come.1 Therefore since there was no Judaic prince during Herod’s years, and Herod, a native of Idumea, ruled as a foreigner, there were those who thought that he was the messiah. They formed a heretical faction, and it was they who were attempting to kill the Lord. But the Lord withdrew, for it was not yet time for the Passion. But He also withdrew from those ungrateful ones so that He might do good to others as well. For many followed Him and He healed them, and even those of Tyre and Sidon, who were foreigners, received His help. But those of His own kin drove Him away, showing that kinship of blood is of no benefit without kinship of heart. So the foreigners came to Jesus from afar, but the Jews, to whom Jesus came, drove Him away. Observe as well the absence of vainglory in Him: so that the multitude would not throng around Him, He asked for a small boat in which He could enter and be seen without the people crowding around Him. “Scourges” mean illnesses. For indeed illnesses are often laid upon us for chastisement, God disciplining us as a father does his children. Understand this as well, that the Herodians, who are fleshly and carnal, desire to kill Jesus, for “Herod” means “fleshly”. But those who follow Him are those who depart from their own homes and cities, that is, who leave behind all relations according to the flesh. Whereupon their scourges are healed, I mean, their sins which scourge the conscience, and the unclean spirits are driven out. Take heed how Jesus gives orders to His disciples that a boat should be made ready for Him so that the multitude would not throng Him. For Jesus is the Word within you, Which commands that your boat, signifying your body, should wait on Him and not set forth into the tempest of life’s affairs, lest the crowds, signifying the turmoil of life’s affairs, throng Christ within you.

13–19. And He goeth up onto a mountain, and calleth unto Him those whom He wanted: and they came unto Him. And He ordained twelve, that they should be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have authority to heal sicknesses, and to cast out demons: and Simon He surnamed Peter; and Janies the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and He surnamed them Boanerges, which is, the sons of thunder: and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

He goes up onto the mountain to pray. Since He has worked miracles, He prays after the demonstration of miracles, teaching all of us that we should give thanks to God whenever we have labored and achieved some good, and that we should attribute that good to God’s power. Or, by another interpretation, He ascends the mountain to pray because He was about to ordain the apostles, so that we might learn that when we intend to ordain someone, we too should first pray that the worthy candidate might be revealed to us lest we share in the transgressions of another. The Lord makes even Judas an apostle, teaching us that God does not reject a man now because of the evil that he will do in the future; but rather He deems him worthy of honor now for the sake of the virtue which he now possesses, even though later he will turn out to be evil. The evangelist lists the names of the apostles because of false apostles, so that it would be known which were the true apostles. The Lord names Zebedee’s sons “the sons of thunder’’, because they were great preachers, filled with theology.

Wednesday

19–22. And they went into an house. And the multitude coineth together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when those with Him heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself. And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the demons casteth He out demons.

“When those with Him heard,” meaning His own family, or perhaps those of His own city, or even His own brothers, “they went to lay hold on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself,” that is, He has a demon. For when they heard that He was casting out demons and healing the sick, out of envy they thought that He had a demon and so was beside Himself. So they wanted to “lay hold on Him” in order to tie Him up, as was done to those who were demon- possessed. “Those with Him,” meaning, His own family, acted in this manner; but the scribes from Jerusalem thought the same as well, and said that He had a demon. Since they had nothing to say against the things that He did, they found another way to slander the miracles, saying that He did these things with the help of demons.

Thursday

23-27. And He called them unto Him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a household be divided against itself, that household cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and plunder his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will plunder his house,

By means of irrefutable examples, He stops the mouths of those malevolent Jews. How is it possible, He asks, for a demon to cast out demons? As we can see in the case of a household, if those within the house are at peace with each other; that household is united and strong. But if they are divided against each other, the household falls apart. Or how is it possible, He asks, to steal a strong man’s goods, unless they first tie him up? What He means is this: “the strong man” is the demon, and his goods are those persons in whom he dwells. Therefore, unless one first binds the demon and destroys him, how could one steal his goods, that is, those who are demon-possessed? Since I am stealing his goods, that is, I am freeing men from demonic possession, it follows that first I have bound and destroyed the demons, and that I am their enemy. How can you say, therefore, that I “have Beelzebub,” that is, that I am a friend of demons and a magician? For I cast out demons.

Friday

28-30. Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Spirit hath never forgiveness, but is liable to eternal damnation. Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

What He is saying here is this: whatever other sin a man may commit, he will perhaps have some excuse and obtain forgiveness, since God is forbearing with human weakness. For example, when they said that the Lord was a glutton and drunkard and a friend of publicans and sinners, they will be forgiven for this. But when they see Him working extraordinary miracles and then blaspheme the Holy Spirit, that is, blaspheme the miracles that took place through the Holy Spirit, how will they then obtain forgiveness, unless they repent? For when they took offence at what Christ did in the flesh, they were forgiven this even without repenting, for what they saw scandalized them as men. But when they saw Him doing the works of God and still blasphemed, how will they be forgiven while remaining unrepentant?

Saturday

31-35. There came then His brethren and His mother, and, standing without, sent unto Him, calling Him. And the multitude sat about Him, and they said unto Him, Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren without seek for Thee. And He answered them, saying, Who is My mother, or My brethren? And He looked round about on them which sat about Him, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.

The brothers of the Lord out of envy approached to lay hold of Him as one who was “beside himself’ and demon-possessed…The Lord therefore replies, “My mother will derive no benefit from being My mother unless she has the other virtues as well; likewise, neither will kinship of the flesh benefit My brothers,” For Christ’s true kin are they who do the will of God. By saying these things, the Lord is not thereby denying His mother, but He is showing that she will not be worthy of honor only because she gave Him birth, but because she also possesses every other virtue. And if she does not have these virtues, others will be shown greater honor for their true kinship to Him.