IS SOMETHING MISSING FROM

MARK 3 VERSE 21?

A Question About the Text

 In the third chapter of Mark we read, “He [Christ] ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils” (Mk. 3:14-15). We then read that, “The multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread. And when his family heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself” (Verses 20-21).

          That raises a question. Who is the one being described as being “beside himself”? We know that it is not Jesus, because in the next two verses Jesus is calmly talking with the Pharisees, and it is not until verse 31 that we read, “His brothers and His mother then arrived.”

          In order to answer this question I looked up the parallel account in Matthew 12.

          In both chapters we read about Jesus healing on the Sabbath day, the Pharisees accusing Jesus of casting out devils by the power of the devil, and Jesus’ family arriving just after that. However, just before being accused by the Pharisees, Matthew tells us that, “They brought to him one who was demon possessed, who was blind, and mute: and He healed him, so that he could both talk and see… But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow does not cast out devils, except through Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom that is divided against itself is brought to destruction” (Matt. 12:22-25).

          A comparison of these two accounts tells me that, in Mark 3:22, the Pharisees accused Jesus of casting out devils by the power of the devil because he had just cast a devil out of a man, even though Mark fails to mention that fact. And, the man who had the devil cast out of him was the man whose family, “went out to take charge of,” saying, “He is beside himself,” (Mark 3:21).

 Consider how much more clearly that section of mark reads in the light of the words “Then they brought to him one who was demon possessed… and he healed him,” from Matt. 12:22)

“Then they brought to him one who was demon possessed, and he healed him. But when his family heard of it, they went out to take charge of him: for they said, He is beside himself. And the scribes that came down from Jerusalem said, He is possessed by Beelzebub, and casts out devils by the prince of the devils. So Jesus called them to himself, and said to them in parables, How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” (Mark 3:21-23).

In the light of that comparison it is clear that both accounts (Matthew and Mark) are saying the same thing, and agree perfectly. That makes me wonder if there are any textual variants of Mark 3 that make mention of Jesus casting out a devil at that time.

Gary Ray Branscome