3:1-2 The Pharisees are consumed by rules and not wisdom. Be careful not to listen to anyone who clouds the beautiful word and comfort of God with man-made rules and confusion. God is there for us everyday of the week; He heals us whenever we are ready to be healed.
3:3 Jesus is reminding them that rules do not dictate when not to do good works. The Pharisees kept quiet because of course God will, on any day, allow good work and saving of lives.
3:4-5 This really affected Jesus. He perceived their spirits to be hard of heart. They had no compassion. Instead of delighting in the fact that this man could be healed, they looked for a way to prevent it. Do not become entangled with rigid, religious rules. God wants you to love people and to help them whenever you are able.
3:6 We already know from studying Matthew that the Pharisees will not stop harassing Jesus until they put Him on the cross. They have no wisdom and no compassion: the choose not to see truth and justice.
3:7-8 Jesus gathered so many. Yes, He healed physical ailments but His presence uplifted them and His free, selfless message held them firmly.
3:9-10 Jesus was so popular that He was actually in danger of being crushed (with love) by the crowd. He needed a place to teach His disciples safely because after He left, He needed the teaching to continue throughout the world and the generations of people to come.
3:11 Jesus muted and eliminated so many of people's illness, addictions and challenges (mentally and physically. We learn that any evil up against God is fearful because it recognizes that God is the true and all powerful God -- that our God is loving and compassionate.
3:12 Jesus maintains that He wishes not to make Himself a celebrity. Jesus is humble and hard-working, He wants to reach as many people as possible and He knows that He must protect His relative anonymity to do that.
3:13 Jesus called the 12 chosen disciples up with Him because they had a lot of learning to do and He wanted them to have a quiet, private place to do that learning.
3:14 Jesus wanted them to
- Be with Him: Believe in and follow the compassionate instruction of God.
- Go out and teach that compassionate instruction to others. Jesus' plan was not to dote on 12 people alone but on the whole world as well! He created a plan to stretch across the world. He created a team, a family... one which you also are a part of if you choose to be.
3:15 Jesus is going to enable them to do the seemingly impossible. God is capable of unimaginable greatness and He spreads those capabilities to those who can handle them selflessly.
3:16-19 We are given the names of the disciples.
3:20-21 So many people encircled Jesus that there was barely any space. The disciples went down to help Him out of the tangle because their excitement was nearly suffocating Him. We get a great idea of how popular Jesus was.
3:22 The scribes come and are still desperate to regain their power from Jesus. They are offended and annoyed that He has gathered the people they used to deceptively rule over. The scribes call Jesus a ruler of demons. Of course this makes no sense and Jesus will point this out:
3:23-24 Jesus is explaining that His good work would weaken and disassemble an evil house. Jesus is explaining that a cause can't work against itself.
Maybe this seems like common sense to you but think a bit more deeply and in relation to our own lives today: a lot of people who are judged or bullied are actually good, honest people who are doing their best. A lot of people are trying to build a good house and do not need hecklers standing around them while they do it.
3:25 Jesus is explaining that if He were against His own ideas... He would surely fail. In other words, He cannot possible be evil because He constantly does good work against evil.
3:26 You cannot possibly work against your own cause without destroying it.
3:27 You cannot work against your own mission. You have to eliminate the problem before you can accomplish the mission.
3:28-30 God forgives us our mistakes. God understands that we are imperfect and that we learn through experience. He is always merciful and compassionate with us. However, the person who learns of and knows of God and chooses to reject Him... that person is eliminated. God stands for truth, love and compassion and so He will not allow anyone to stick around and tarnish truth with falsity, love with hate or compassion with selfishness. The person who chooses evil is not making a mistake, they are making a choice... and the wrong one.
3:31 Jesus is called to by His kin... but there is a strong message following.
3:32 The multitude points out Jesus' family to Him (and thereby forget to realize that they are Jesus' family too).
3:33-35 Jesus wants us to know that we are a part of His family. He wants us to accept our place in it and find our love and comfort. Whoever does the will of God is a children of God and an integral part of God's family. We are loved and interconnected in God's spirit.
