The Section Concludes With A Summary Of The Continuing Ministry (3:7-35).
The first major section of Mark's Gospel (from Mark 1:1 to Mark 3:35) now concludes with:
· A description of the continuing ministry of Jesus.
'b7 The appointing of the twelve.
'b7 The opposition of His family and acquaintances.
'b7 The growing opposition of the leading Pharisees and the controversy with them over the casting out of evil spirits.
'b7 Jesus' rebuking of Mary and His brothers accompanied by the assertion that His real family are those who are truly under the Kingly Rule of God and do God's will, who are His true brothers and mother.
In this last part of the section Jesus continued attack on the forces of evil is also highlighted (compare Mark 1:23-27; Mark 1:32-34). The unclean spirits fall before Him and declare Him to be the Son of God (Mark 3:11), the Apostles are appointed to have power over evil spirits (Mark 3:15), and He declares to the leading Doctors of the Law His power to cast out and bind Satan (Mark 3:24-27). Meanwhile His own family are also made to take second place to believers because they think that ‘He is beside Himself' in consequence of His devotion to the crowds (Mark 3:21 with Mark 3:34-35), and have failed to recognise Who He is.
Note also in the analysis that follows the different groups who are involved: the huge crowds who come to hear Him and be healed, the evil spirits who recognise Him as ‘the Son of God', the twelve who are the foundation of His new community, His near family and friends who think Him deranged, the Scribes from Jerusalem who see Him as demon-possessed, and the ‘crowd' of believers whom He sees as His true family.
Analysis.
a Jesus' ministers to the huge crowds who gather to hear Him and to be healed. They are the ‘seeking' (Mark 3:7-10).
b The evil spirits declare Him to be the Son of God. They are the ‘fearful but discerning' (Mark 3:11-12).
c He appoints twelve Apostles whom He sees as chosen to ‘rule' over all Israel, that is over ‘the twelve tribes of Israel' (Matthew 19:28), in the Kingly Rule of God. They are the ‘chosen' (Mark 3:13-19).
c His family and friends, hearing about the great crowds who are exhausting Him with their demands, declare that He is ‘beside Himself'. They are the ‘unbelieving' (Mark 3:20-21).
b He is attacked by the Scribes from Jerusalem as being demon-possessed, and declares that His casting out of evil spirits is rather evidence that He is stronger than Satan and is acting through the Spirit of God, with the result that Satan's kingdom is being defeated. They are the ‘opposition' and ‘blasphemers' (Mark 3:22-30).
a He demonstrates the proper place of Mary and her sons in the scheme of things by declaring that His true family are ‘the crowd' of believers who are gathered with Him and are under the Kingly Rule of God, and do the will of His Father. These are ‘the believers' (Mark 3:31-35).
Note that in ‘a' the huge crowds are gathered around Him to hear Him and to be healed, and in the parallel we find the smaller crowd of true believers who are gathered around Him and are His true brothers and sisters and mother. In ‘b' the evil spirits testify that He is the Son of God, and in the parallel the Scribes of Jerusalem testify that He is of Satan. In ‘c' He appoints twelve Apostles as His chosen ones who will establish His Kingly Rule and help to cast out Satan, and in the parallel are those who should have known Him but have not understood, and will therefore seek unknowingly to undermine His work.