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Reactions To Jesus In Mark 3
Reactions To Jesus In Mark 3
Having done miracles and drawing crowds because of it, the Pharisees gathered in the synagogue to ‘watch’ Jesus to see if He would heal on the Sabbath. There was a man there with a withered hand, but they had no compassion upon him for their anger at Jesus had pushed all such compassion out of their hearts. Jesus not only called them on their hypocrisy, but condemned them for their hardness of hearts. This only drove them deeper into their wrath and they took counsel on how they could destroy Him.
The opposite happened as a great crowd followed Him, for they had seen the same signs and wonders being done! As he entered into Capernaum, his home, again a crowd gathers to Him.
His family sees such great crowds of people gathering around Him, but their response was to try and seize him, saying, “He is out of his mind”.
The Scribes from Jerusalem behold Him casting out demons and respond that He must be possessed by Beelzebul.
Same Jesus. Same signs and wonders. Different responses. It is at this point that Jesus tells the parable of the soils (more often called the parable of the Sower). The parable shows that there is one seed and one sower, but many different results. Such depended NOT upon either the sower or the seed, but upon the soil – the hearts of men.
What type of heart do YOU have? Your response to Jesus is the indicator of the very nature of your heart.
Hugh DeLong
