Mark 3:20 Study Bible: And he came into a house, and the crowd came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread.

◄ Mark 3:20 ►

Then Jesus went home, and once again a crowd gathered, so that He and His disciples could not even eat.

Then Jesus went home
The phrase "went home" indicates a return to a familiar place, likely Capernaum, which served as a base for Jesus' ministry in Galilee. The Greek word used here, "oikos," can mean house or home, suggesting a place of rest and refuge. This return signifies a momentary pause in Jesus' itinerant ministry, highlighting His humanity and need for rest. Historically, Capernaum was a bustling fishing village, strategically located on the trade route known as the Via Maris, which would have facilitated the spread of Jesus' teachings.

and once again a crowd gathered
The phrase "once again" underscores the recurring nature of Jesus' popularity and the relentless pursuit of the crowds seeking His teaching and healing. The Greek word for "crowd," "ochlos," often refers to a large, unorganized group of people, indicating the widespread impact of Jesus' ministry. This gathering reflects the deep spiritual hunger and desperation of the people, who were drawn to Jesus' authority and compassion. It also sets the stage for the growing tension between Jesus and the religious leaders, who viewed His influence with suspicion.

so that He and His disciples could not even eat
This phrase highlights the intensity of the crowd's demands on Jesus and His disciples, to the point of disrupting their basic needs. The Greek word for "eat," "phagein," emphasizes the physical necessity that was being neglected due to the pressing needs of the ministry. This scenario illustrates the sacrificial nature of Jesus' mission, prioritizing the spiritual and physical needs of others over His own comfort. It also foreshadows the ultimate sacrifice Jesus would make, giving His life for the salvation of humanity. The inability to eat signifies the urgency and immediacy of the Kingdom work, calling believers to a life of selfless service and dedication.

Persons / Places / Events

1. Jesus
Central figure in the Gospel of Mark, performing miracles and teaching with authority.

2. Disciples
Followers of Jesus who are learning from His teachings and witnessing His works.

3. Crowd
Represents the people who are drawn to Jesus, often seeking healing or to hear His teachings.

4. Home
Likely refers to a house in Capernaum, which served as a base for Jesus' ministry in Galilee.

Teaching Points

The Demand of Ministry
Jesus' ministry was so demanding that He and His disciples could not even eat. This highlights the relentless nature of serving others and the need for balance.

The Draw of Jesus
The crowd's persistent gathering around Jesus shows the deep spiritual hunger and need for healing that people have. It challenges us to consider what draws us to Jesus today.

Prioritizing Spiritual Needs
Despite physical needs like hunger, Jesus prioritized the spiritual needs of the people. This teaches us to sometimes set aside our own needs to serve others.

Community and Support
The presence of the disciples with Jesus underscores the importance of community and support in ministry. We are not meant to serve alone.

Boundaries in Service
While Jesus was dedicated to His mission, He also took time to withdraw and pray. This reminds us of the importance of setting boundaries to maintain spiritual health.

Bible Study Questions

1. What does the constant presence of the crowd around Jesus tell us about the spiritual climate of the time, and how does it compare to today?

2. How can we balance the demands of serving others with our own physical and spiritual needs, as seen in Jesus' ministry?

3. In what ways can we ensure that our attraction to Jesus is based on a desire for spiritual growth rather than just seeking miracles or blessings?

4. How can we build a supportive community around us, similar to Jesus and His disciples, to help us in our spiritual journey?

5. Reflect on a time when you had to prioritize spiritual needs over physical ones. What did you learn from that experience, and how can it apply to your current walk with Christ?

Connections to Other Scriptures

Mark 1:33-34
Earlier in Mark, crowds gather at the door of the house where Jesus is staying, seeking healing and deliverance.

Luke 5:17-19
Another instance where a crowd gathers, making it difficult for people to reach Jesus, illustrating His growing popularity and the desperation of those seeking Him.

John 6:1-2
Crowds follow Jesus because of the signs He performs, showing a pattern of people being drawn to His miraculous works.

Sermons

Retirement	R. Green	Mark 3:7-35
Christ and His Disciples	G. R. Leavitt.	Mark 3:13-21
Christ's Choice of His Helpers	C. S. Robinson, D. D.	Mark 3:13-21
Christ's Workers Varied	Anon.	Mark 3:13-21
God Employs Little and Lowly Apostles	Dr. Newton.	Mark 3:13-21
Power to Cast Out Devils	See, Wanderings in China, by C. F. Gordon Cumming.	Mark 3:13-21
The Ministerial Office	Quesnel.	Mark 3:13-21
The Twelve	W. F. Bishop.	Mark 3:13-21
The Twelve	J. R. Thomson, M. A.	Mark 3:13-21
This was the Third Stage in the Preparation of the Disciples for the Apostolate	H. M. Luckock, D. D.	Mark 3:13-21
Christ Hindered by His Friends	A.F. Muir	Mark 3:20, 21
The Saviour Judged by the World	A.F. Muir	Mark 3:20-22
Mistaken Friends and Malignant Foes	J.J. Given	Mark 3:20-30
The Sin Against the Holy Spirit	E. Johnson	Mark 3:20-30

People

Alphaeus, Andrew, Bartholomew, Beelzebub, Boanerges, Herodians, James, Jesus, John, Judas, Matthew, Peter, Philip, Simon, Thaddaeus, Thomas, Zabdi, Zebedee

Places

Capernaum, Galilee, Idumea, Jerusalem, Jordan River, Judea, Sea of Galilee, Sidon, Tyre

Topics

Able, Assembled, Bread, Crowd, Disciples, Eat, Extent, Gathered, Home, Meal, Multitude, Opportunity, Snatch

Dictionary of Bible Themes

Mark 3:20

5279 crowds

Mark 3:20-21

     2570   Christ, suffering
     5099   Mary, mother of Christ
     5822   criticism, against believers

Mark 3:20-22

5401 madness

Library

And Judas Iscariot
AND JUDAS ISCARIOT TEXT: "And Judas Iscariot."--Mark 3:19. There is something about the name of this miserable man which commands our attention at once. There is a sort of fascination about his wickedness, and when we read his story it is difficult to give it up until we have come to its awful end. It is rather significant, it would seem to me, that his name should come last in the list of the Apostles, and the text, "And Judas Iscariot," would suggest to me not only that his name was last, but …
J. Wilbur Chapman—And Judas Iscariot

'He is Beside Himself'
'And when His friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on Him: for they said, He is beside Himself'--Mark iii. 21. There had been great excitement in the little town of Capernaum in consequence of Christ's teachings and miracles. It had been intensified by His infractions of the Rabbinical Sabbath law, and by His appointment of the twelve Apostles. The sacerdotal party in Capernaum apparently communicated with Jerusalem, with the result of bringing a deputation from the Sanhedrim to look into …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Relations
'Whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.'--Mark iii. 35. There was a conspiracy to seize Jesus because He is 'mad,' and Mary was in the plot! I. The example for us. (1) Of how all natural and human ties and affections are to be subordinated to doing God's will. Obedience to Him is the first and main thing to which everything else bows, and which determines everything. If others compete or interfere, reject them. Out of that common obedience new ties …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Anger and Grief of Jesus
He looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts.'--Mark iii. 5. Our Lord goes into the synagogue at Capernaum, where He had already wrought more than one miracle, and there He finds an object for His healing power, in a poor man with a withered hand; and also a little knot of His enemies. The scribes and Pharisees expect Christ to heal the man. So much had they learned of His tenderness and of His power. But their belief that He could work a miracle did not …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Mistakes of Christ's Foes and Friends
'And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub, and by the prince of the devils casteth He out devils. 23. And He called them unto Him, and said unto them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? 24. And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end. 27. No man can enter into a strong man's …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Christ's Kindred
'There came then His brethren and His mother, and, standing without, sent unto Him, calling Him. 32. And the multitude sat about Him; and they said unto Him, Behold, Thy mother and Thy brethren without seek for Thee. 33. And He answered them, saying, Who is My mother, or My brethren? 34. And He looked round about on them which sat about Him, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren! 35. For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and mother.'--Mark iii. 31-35. …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Ambassadors for Christ
'And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodlans against Him, how they might destroy Him. 7. But Jesus withdrew Himself with His disciples to the sea: and a great multitude from Galilee followed Him, and from Judaa 8. And from Jerusalem, and from Idumaa beyond Jordan; and they about Tyre and Sidon, a great multitude, when they had heard what great things He did, came unto Him. 9. And He spake to His disciples, that a small ship should wait on Him because of the multitude, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Necessity of Divine Influences. [*Continued]
Luke xi. 13.--"If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." In expounding the doctrine of these words, in the preceding discourse, the argument for the necessity of Divine influences had reference to the more general aspects of man's character and condition. We were concerned with the origin of seriousness in view of a future life, and the production of a sense of moral corruption and …
William G.T. Shedd—Sermons to the Natural Man

Jesus Angry with Hard Hearts
But I must not let imagination mislead me: they did nothing of the kind. Instead of this, they sat watching the Lord Jesus, not to be delighted by an act of his power, but to find somewhat of which they might accuse him. When all came to all, the utmost that they would be able to allege would be that he had healed a withered hand on the Sabbath. Overlooking the commendation due for the miracle of healing, they laid the emphasis upon its being done on the Sabbath; and held up their hands with horror …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 32: 1886

Mutual Help.
(Female Friendly Society.) S. MARK iii. 35. "Whosoever shall do the Will of God, the same is My brother, and My sister, and My mother." There are just two points which I want to put before you to-day. First, what you as Christian women ought to be. Secondly, how you can help each other to be so. On the first point I would ask you to remember the glory and dignity of womanhood. You get this dignity from Jesus Christ, who was born of a woman, and who said, "Whosoever shall do the Will of God, the …
H. J. Wilmot-Buxton—The Life of Duty, a Year's Plain Sermons, v. 2

The Eccentricity of Religion
"They said, He is beside Himself,"--MARK iii. 21. THE most pathetic life in the history of the world is the life of the Lord Jesus. Those who study it find out, every day, a fresh sorrow. Before He came it was already foretold that He would be acquainted with grief, but no imagination has ever conceived the darkness of the reality. It began with one of the bitterest kinds of sorrow--the sorrow of an enforced silence. For thirty years He saw, but dared not act. The wrongs He came to redress were there. …
Henry Drummond—The Ideal Life

The Hardening Operation of Love.
"Being grieved for the hardness of their heart."--Mark iii. 5. Love may also be reversed. Failing to cherish, to uplift, and to enrich, it consumes and destroys. This is a mystery which man can not fathom. It belongs to the unsearchable depths of the divine Being, of which we do not wish to know more than has been revealed. But this does not alter the fact. No creature can exclude itself from the divine control. No man can say that he has nothing to do with God; that he or any other creature exists …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit

Life and Character of John
"Volat avis sine meta, Quo nec votes nec propheta Evolavit altius: Tam implenda quam impleta, Numquam vidit tot secreta Purus homo purius. (Adam of St. Victor.) The Mission of John. Peter, the Jewish apostle of authority, and Paul, the Gentile apostle of freedom, had done their work on earth before the destruction of Jerusalem--had done it for their age and for all ages to come; had done it, and by the influence of their writings are doing it still, in a manner that can never be superseded. Both …
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Whether the Sin against the Holy Ghost is the Same as the Sin Committed through Certain Malice?
Objection 1: It would seem that the sin against the Holy Ghost is not the same as the sin committed through certain malice. Because the sin against the Holy Ghost is the sin of blasphemy, according to Mat. 12:32. But not every sin committed through certain malice is a sin of blasphemy: since many other kinds of sin may be committed through certain malice. Therefore the sin against the Holy Ghost is not the same as the sin committed through certain malice. Objection 2: Further, the sin committed through …
Saint Thomas Aquinas—Summa Theologica

The Great Schism
If a house be divided against itself.--Mark iii, 25. From such a revival as that of the Great Awakening, parties must of necessity arise. Upon undisciplined fanaticism, the Established church must frown. But when it undertook to discipline large numbers of church members or whole churches, recognizedly within its embracing fold and within their lawful privileges, a great schism resulted, and the schismatics were sufficiently tenacious of their rights to come out victorious in their long contest for …
M. Louise Greene, Ph. D.—The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut

The Abrogation of the Saybrook Platform
That house cannot stand.--Mark iii, 25. The times change and we change with them.--Proverb. The omission of all persecuting acts from the revision of the laws in 1750 was evidence that the worst features of the great schism were passing, that public opinion as a whole had grown averse to any great severity toward the Separatists as dissenters. But the continuance in the revised statutes of the Saybrook Platform as the legalized constitution of the "Presbyterian, Congregational or Consociated Church," …
M. Louise Greene, Ph. D.—The Development of Religious Liberty in Connecticut

The Apostle Judas
"And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed Him." MARK 3:19 (R.V.) THE evidential value of what has been written about the apostles will, to some minds, seem to be overborne by the difficulties which start up at the name of Judas. And yet the fact that Jesus chose him -- that awful fact which has offended many -- is in harmony with all that we see around us, with the prodigious powers bestowed upon Napoleon and Voltaire, bestowed in full knowledge of the dark results, yet given because the issues of …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Withered Hand
"And He entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had his hand withered. And they watched Him, whether He would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse Him. And He saith unto the man that had his hand withered, Stand forth. And He saith unto them, Is it lawful on the sabbath day to do good or to do harm? to save a life, or to kill? But they held their peace. And when He had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved at the hardening of their heart, He …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Characteristics of the Twelve
"And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach, and to have authority to cast out devils: and Simon He surnamed Peter; and James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and them He surnamed Boanerges, which is, Sons of thunder; and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeaus, and Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot which also betrayed Him." MARK 3:14-19 (R.V.) THE pictures …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

Christ and Beelzebub
"And the multitude cometh together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his friends heard 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 devils casteth He out the devils. 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 an house be …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

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