Mar 4:7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

The power of ideas and information comes from placing it in the right environment. This parable is a discussion of the problems with different environments.

It isn't until this verse that we get to the purpose of the seed: to produce fruit, that is, more seeds. In other words, our purpose is taking raw material from the environment and transforming it into more information. All that information is already hidden in the environment, the problem is always one of decoding it and transforming it into information that can be duplicated and passed on.

In the first part of this parable, the problem was the hardness of the ground, which made it slow to take in the seed and so the seed could be taken away entirely by the "birds of heaven."

In the second part, the problem was the lack of earth of the ground. The problem is with the lack of root and the heat of the sun.

Here, the growing conditions for the seed are fine, but it has competition from other seeds, other ideas. Though the seed may progress further than on the wayside or on rocks, it still doesn't come to fruition.

It is interesting that Christ doesn't see the word triumphing in competition with other, competing ideas. The plant arising from the good seed doesn't conquer the weeds. The weeds conquer it. What is going on? Why does Christ phrase it this way?

"Thorns" is from akantha (akantha), which means "thorn," "prickle," or "any thorny or prickly plant." Christ only uses it twice, in this parable and in the verse about knowing a tree by its fruits (Mat 7:16, Luk 6:44).

"Yielded" is from didômi (didomi), which means "to give," "to grant," "to hand over," and "to describe." It is the word usually translated as "give" in the Gospels.

"Fruit" is from karpos (karpos), which means "fruit," "the fruits of the earth," "seed," "offspring," "returns for profit," and "reward."

Mar 4:6 But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

In Christ use of symbols, the sun is always a positive one. It brings light, rising on both the beautiful and the base. Righteousness shines like the sun. The culmination of an era is marked by darkening or falling of the sun.

The root, on the other hand, is the foundation of life. Trees are cut from their root (Mat 3:10, Luk 3:9). The dead but solid rock is a good foundation for a building, for things that are made, but its roots are the foundation for living things.

Again, the "enemy" in the verse is not something evil. The sun is always something good. The problem is not the Sun nor the nature of the rocky ground. However, the end result is not what we hope. The seed might get further than that which was eaten by birds, but it fails just the same.

Is the seed any better off here than when it was eaten? It gets further, but nothing comes of it in the end.

"Sun" is from hêlios (helios), which means the "sun," "life," "day," "sunshine," "the sun's heat," "brightness," and the sun-god.

"Root" is from rhiza (rhiza), which means "root," "that from which anything springs as a root," "foundation," "the mathematical base," and the "root of the eye."

"Scorched" is from kaumatizô (kaumatizo), which means "to burn" and "to scorch." It is only used in this parable here and in Matthew.

Mar 4:5 And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:

Stone is used symbolically by Christ throughout the Gospels. He uses the term in two different ways and, in doing so, uses two different terms. This is not apparent in English translation but it is in Greek.

The first type of stone refers to the substance of the natural world that does not give life. In his temptations, the physical temptation is turning stone into bread. In Mat 7:9, Christ again contrasts the life giving nature of bread to stone. In the second temptation, Christ is tempted by the idea of angels saving him from falling onto stone. All these uses refer to lithos, which means the substance of stone. This is not the word used here. It is the negative use of stone.

The other symbolic use of stone is as a strong foundation. This is the positive nature of stone. The parable of the houses build on rock and sand and the naming of Peter both refer to this type of stone. Here, the term for stone is petros or petra. This is the form referred to here in the adjective petrôdês.

So, like the wayside and the birds, these stony places are not evil in any sense. They are useful for a foundation. The problem is that these areas lack "depth" of "earth." So what does Christ mean by this?

He only uses the term for depth in the context of this parable, but you might be familiar with the word use, bathos. The term means "depth" in Greek, but it doesn't only mean physical depth but emotional depth. In English, it specifically means "sentimentality."

This connection to emotion and feeling is important because it is one of the three realms that Christ teaches about, the physical, the mental, and the emotional. This emotional realm specifically deals with our connections and relationships with people. True to this idea, the point here is about the depth of "earth" (gê ). Again, Christ uses a lot of different terms that are translated as "earth" in the Gospels, but this is the word that is used when Christ refers to the realms of "heaven" and "earth." This is the earth that the meek inherit (Mat 5:5)and that people are the salt of (Mat 5:13). This is the earth that has laws (at 5:18). It is the earth that is defined by the "tribes of earth" (Mat 24:30).

In other words, this is the earth of human society, not simply the physical planet.

So those with little depth of earth are those with few human connections and, because of that, little depth of emotion or character. Again, this is not an evil thing, but it does set some people apart from others.

These people can bring the word into their lives but because they have too few human connections, the word cannot grow and survive. These lives have a strong foundation, but they are too barren to give life to the word, the make it grow and pass it on. In this case, stability and solidness is not enough.

As a side not, there are both symbolic similarities and differences between these rocky areas and the wayside. Both are "hard" but one is hard because of how it has been used. The wayside can have depth of earth and many relationships, but it has been turned off to those relationships and grown hard over time. In the case of the stony areas, these areas were not changed over time. It is simply their nature not to have many relationships, to be more physical or mental rather than emotional.

"Stony ground" is from petrôdês (petrodes), which means "like rock or stone," "rocky," and "stony." Its source is petros (petros) petra (petra)which means "rock," "boulder," and "stone" as a building material. It also has the specific meaning of "rocky cliffs" of "ledges" over the sea and a "rocky peak" or "ridge." Another word for stone used in the Gospels is lithos, which means "a stone," "stone as a substance," and various specific types of stones, such as touchstones, and altar stones.

"Great" is from polus, which means "many (in number)," "great (in size or power or worth)," and "large (of space)." As an adverb is means "far," "very much," "a great way," and "long."

"Earth" (in both cases) is from gê (ge), which means "the element of earth," "land (country)," "arable land," "the ground," and "the world" as the opposite of the sky.

"Deepness" is bathos (bathos), which means "height" or "depth" measuring up or down. In Greek, it was also use as a metaphor (as it is in English) for depth of mind, e.g. "He is deep." The exact phrase here is me (no) bathos (depth), which we would describe in English as "shallowness."

Mar 4:4 And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.

There are several messages about the nature of reality inherent in this parable that are easily overlooked.

First, the sower does not control where the seed falls. It goes were it will. Since the seed in "the word," logos, we can say simply that information spreads through society, reaching whoever it happens to reach.

Second, the message is that all "ground" is not created equal. This means that every person is not equally capable of accepting a message. In the case of the ground on the "path," it has been trampled down so that it has no cover. This allows the birds to see the seeds. .

Notice that there is no sense of blame here. Is it the ground's fault that it has been trampled down? There is no sense of that in the parable. This is consistent with most of Christ's messages regarding what goes wrong in people's lives. We are not evil. We are burdened. We miss the mark rather than sin.

Nor is there any maliciousness in the birds that eat the seed. Christ consistently uses birds as symbolic of the natural world acting as part of God's plan. Christ brands them here as our "adversaries," but do they really portray the common religious idea of Satan? No, they are the adversity that is part of nature. These birds are from heaven. The word translated as "air" here is the same word that is translated as "heaven" throughout the Gospels. Christ labels them this way to make it clear that the challenge they represent is not in opposition to God, but part of the way that God has made the world.

The term "devour" used here is one that Christ always uses to mean the complete consumption of something so that there is nothing left. So the sense is that, for some people, not only is the opportunity missed but that nothing at all is gained from it.

"Shall fall" in both cases is from piptô (pipto), which means "to fall," "to fall down," "to be cast down," and "to fall upon." It also means "to descend to a prostrate position," as one does when worshiping.

"Way side" is from hodos, which means literally "the way" or "the road" but which is used symbolically to mean "a way of doing things" or "a philosophy of life." It is interesting that a term joining a path with philosophy exists in all languages with which I am familiar.

"Fowls" is from the Greek, peteinos, (peteinos) which means "fully-fledged," "able to fly" or "winged." In the form used, peteinon, it refers to any winged thing. There was clearly a conscious choice here not to use the Greek word for bird, which is ornis, or, in the diminutive, ornithion. All the English words referring to birds coming from Greek begin with this "ornith" prefix, incluidng ornithology, the study of birds.

"Sky" is from the Greek ouranos (ouranos), which means "heaven as in the vault of the sky," "heaven as the seat of the gods," "the sky," "the universe," and "the climate."

"Devour" is from katesthiô (katesthio), which means "to eat up" and "to devour." It is a term applied to animals of prey. It also means "to corrode" or "to be gnawed."

Mar 4:3 Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
Alternative: Hear this. You see, one who sowed went out to sow.

This is the first line to one of the few analogies in which Christ explains his use of symbols. As such, it is one of the beginning "key to the kingdom" because it illustrates a lot about how Christ uses symbolic language to express certain ideas.

It starts by calling attention to two senses: sound and sight. Hearing symbolizes mental knowledge (including the use of symbols), which only people have because it takes intelligence and awareness to comprehend. Hearing can communicate ideas that cannot be physically seen, but what you hear is not always true. Sight refers to physical understanding, which only requires eyes, that is, the physical equipment involved. It cannot communicate deeper truths that are hidden, but physical evidence is harder to fake. When Christ wants to verify the truth of something, he tells people to report both what they have heard and seen (Mat 11:4).

Christ uses the specific word used here for hearing (akouô ) to refer to what men learn from teaching. When he refers to what people learn from scripture, he uses this word (Mat 5:21-Mat 5:43). Christ, however, realizes that not everyone can understand what is said because hearing is a more challenging type of knowledge. "He that has ears to hear, let him hear. (Mat 11:15).

The word used for "seeing" here is idou , which appears frequently in the Gospels, but much more rarely does Christ use it. When he does, it is either to physically illustrate a point as he does here, to call up a mental image (Mat 23:38), or, more frequently, putting the term in the mouth of people in his parables (Mat 25:6). Christ virtually never uses it to call attention to his own works for which he uses a different term, blepō, which is an even more tangible and physical word for seeing things.

"Seeds" are Christ's symbol for information in general and spiritual information, that is, the good news, specifically. "Going out," means going out into the world.

"Hearken" is from akouô (akouo), which means "hear of," "hear tell of," "what one actually hears," "know by hearsay," "listen to," "give ear to," "hear and understand," and "understand."

"Behold" is from idou (idou), which means "to behold," "to see," and "to perceive." It is a form of the verb eido, which means "to see."

"Went forth" is from exerchomai, which means "to come or go out of " or "to come out."

"Sower" and "Sow" are from speirô (speiro), which means "to sow a seed," "to beget offspring," "to scatter like a seed," and "to sow a field."

Mar 3:35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.
Alternative: Those who produce what my Father in heaven wishes are my brother, sister, and mother.

For Christ, the question of which "house" or group we belong to is never resolved by how people think or feel. Our membership to a given group may be dictated by what we share with them in terms of ideas and feelings, but the test is always our actions, that is, what we physically do and create with those ideas and feelings.

"Spirit" is the intangible information (and the power that comes from that information), that comes to us God. That information go on to form our bodies, minds, and relationships. However, the body-mind-feeling human is a flickering, shifting flame of temporary wants and desires and ideas that arise when that spirit is mixed with our freedom of decision, our individual awareness of being in a specific place and time. For the sake of our freedom, the eternal is hidden from us.

The choice we make is between what is "worthless and base" (the real meaning of the wold translated as "evil" in the Gospels) and what is "beautiful." We make our decisions from moment to moment based upon the impulse our most basic instincts or we ask ourselves what we can do to make the world a more beautiful place. Those make the world a more beautiful place are following the will of God.

Knowing (and trusting) the family that we are born into is relatively easy. We know them because we grew up knowing them we know where we can trust them (and when we cannot). Knowing the will of God is much more difficult. Knowing who else to trust is more difficult. We must judge people by their actions and what those actions produce.

It is said that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder," but out sense of beauty beyond physical beauty is something more eternal, arising from the spirit within us. It is our sense of balance, proportion, and rightness. Identifying desires from our base instincts and our desire for beauty is not that difficult in real life even though we cannot capture that sense of beauty in words.

"Shall do" is from poieô (poieo), which means "to make," "to produce," "to create," "to bring into existence," "to bring about," "to cause," "to render," "to consider," "to prepare," "to make ready," and "to do."

"Will" is from the noun, thelêma (thelema), which means "will" and "pleasure."

"The same" is from houtos, which is the demonstrative pronoun "those" or "these."

Mar 3:34 Behold my mother and my brethren!
Alternative: Look and you can see where I come from and who is with me.

In this verse, Christ says that you can answer his last question about where he comes from and who is with him just by using your eyes and brain. The word that is translated as "behold" is eido the word he always uses to indicates something that is readily apparent to all.

There is a song verse that goes, "We've got two lives, one we're given and the other one we make." Christ is saying something very similar to referring to which "house" he belongs. We each are born into a specific family, but that is the life we are given. Over time, we each build a new family and a new life. When Christ talks about our relationships, those are the ones that really count and really determine who we are.

Again, this relates back to everything Christ said about our inner demons. Those demons cannot control us unless we give them permission. We have to "tie up" the strength within us and give them the freedom to destroy our house and our lives.

If, on the other hand, we fight adversity with the strength we are given, we create a new house, and new family.

Everyone can see, just by looking at us, what decisions we have made. Just by looking, they can see those with whom we spend our time. They can see how we spend our time. The actual binds might be spiritual in the sense that the bond of faith and belief that bind us are invisible, but we are correctly judged by our associations because we choose the ideas and beliefs about life with which we ally ourselves.

"Behold" is from eido (eido), which means "to see," "to examine," and "to know." The form used here is the second person singular imperative. This word is also occasionally translated as "to know" in the Gospel.

Mar 3:33 Who is my mother, or my brethren?
Alternative version: Who do I come from? and who is with me?

Christ always used the term translated as "brethren" or "brothers" in the widest possible sense, that is, as the member of the same house or more generally, someone with whom you have a relationship. It indicates a closer relationship than the idea of "neighbor," which Christ uses to mean anyone to whom you are physically near. You can be physically close to someone without have a personal relationship with them.

Mother is the physical source of a house (Jews follow the maternal line) while fathers are the master and protector of the house.

Referring back to Christ earlier references to a house not being divided against itself, Christ is using this opportunity ask what the real meaning of a "house" is under the universal rule. He is asking us if we can see beyond our physical relationships. Just as we are joined into a physical house by the information we share in our DNA, we are also bound into a "house of ideas" with those with whom we share ideas and beliefs.

"Mother" is from mêtêr (meter), which means "mother," "grandmother," "mother hen," "source," and "origin."

"Brethren" is from adelphos (adelphos),which means "son of the same mother," "kinsman," "colleague," "associate," and "brother."

Mar 3:29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
Alternative: But those that might cast blame on the sacred breath of life have no release in this age but are liable for perpetual dispute.

Christ's words incorporate a broader, bolder idea than the narrow threat of punishment. Christ is making a point here about the nature of adversity and the importance of our reaction to it. Christ has already said that we can free ourselves form blaming God, the normal interpretation of blasphemy, or others, which is part of the Greek definition, for our problems. He goes beyond that idea here.

Christ says that there is a limit to what we can blame. Beyond that, he says that those who go beyond that limit are themselves liable for the perpetual problems (the original Greek is the term krisis)of the world. The important distinction here between the terms used for what I call "blame" and "liability." The first term, blasphêmeô, means means "slander," that is false blame. The later, enochos,is the Greek term for true liability in the legal sense.

So, what causes this perpetual crisis? Casting blame on the sacred breath of life" or what is traditionally know as the Holy Ghost.
Since I do not to make statements about the nature of divinity because I am really equipped to comprehend the nature of God, I will leave discussion of the Holy Ghost as part of the triune God to others who feel they are more qualified.

Putting aside the whole phrase for a moment, let us look at its parts. Christ uses the word translated as "holy" (hagios )to refer those things which dogs cannot appreciate (Mat 7:6), holy places (Mat 24:15), holy angels/messengers (Mat 25:31, Mar 8:38, Luk 9:26), and the Father (Jhn 17:11).

Christ used the word translated as "spirit" or "ghost" (pneuma) without the "holy" to describe something people can lack (Mat 5:3), the truth from the Father that speaks within us (Mat 10:20, Mat 22:43, Jhn 3:34, Jhn 6:63, Jhn 14:17, the power of God from which Christ gets his power (Mat 12:28, Luk 4:18), as our multiple inner demons (Mat 12:45, Mar 5:8, Luk 10:20, Luk 11:26), the good desires within us (Mat 26:41, Mar 14:38), that which gives people their ideas (Luk 9:55), that what Christ gave up when he died (Luk 23:46), the appearance but not reality of a physical body (Luk 24:39), that which gives us birth into the kingdom of God (Jhn 3:5), that which is the source of spirit (Jhn 3:6, Jhn 3:8), the proper way in which to worship God (Jhn 4:23, Jhn 4:24), the source of the words of life (Jhn 6:63), and the spirit of truth (Jhn 14:17, Jhn 15:26, Jhn 16:13).

So the "breath" of life and inspiration is an invisible force within us that is separate from our physical being. This force contains information because it contains the truth. Some of Christ's earliest words in the Gospels (Mat 4:4) is that "man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." The Greek for word is "logos," that is, information. This information coming from the mouth of God is the breath of life. Information isn't just inanimate fact. It is the instruction set by which our bodies and our minds run. There is power in those instructions because the universe was designed to interact with them. An analogy might be a computer program, controlling a computer, this spirit operates within physical reality but it exists on a level beyond that physical reality. The set of instructions or ideas of information contains both good impulses (consider them subroutines) and bad impulses. The right instructions in this program give us power in the world and entry into the higher-level kingdom, the universal rule of God.

This idea of the divine breath of life goes further. Breathing is a process of reversing cycles. We must inhale and exhale. The breath of life fills us as children and empties out of us at death, but the cycle repeats in each life, in each generation. This is why Christ calls us children of God and says that they are like the kingdom of heaven (Mat 19:14). As children, we are these seeds of information coming from the breath of spirit, planted in the world (Mat 13:38).

Who are those that blaspheme against the divine breath of life? Aren't these those who believe that the material world that we can see is all there is? We can get beyond our mistakes is we blaming God for our problems. We can get beyond our mistakes if we blame other people. Where people get stuck is when they make the mistake of believing that the physical world is all there is, that there is no divine breath of life, no spiritual dimension to life, no information in life, or, to put it more simply, no meaning to life. When that happens, people are not only stuck, but they create all the disputes in the world. If there is no greater purpose on a non-materialistic level, there is no uniting force. The world is just a bunch of empty, competing egos with no moral center and no moral restraints.

How does this idea of "breath" tie to the whole previous discussion of the nature of adversity and Christ and our power over it? I would suggest that Christ is also saying, in a very consistent way, that the cycle of adversity and achievement is also part of the "breathing cycles" of life. This adversity is part of God's kingdom. It has a purpose. This purpose is also a part of the divine breath of life and its cycles. If you believe in purpose, adversity makes sense. If you don't believe meaning, all the suffering of the world is meaningless and empty and endless.

"Blaspheme" is from blasphêmeô (blasphemeo), which means "to speak profanely of sacred things," "to offer rash prayers," "to speak ill of," "to slander," and, since the NT, "to speak irreverently of God."

"Holy" is from hagios ( hagios ), which means "devoted to the gods," "pure," "holy," and on the negative side "accursed."

"Spirit" is pneuma (pneuma), which means "blast," "wind," "breath," "the breath of life," and "divine inspiration."

"Forgiveness" is from aphesis (aphesis), which means "letting go," "release," "discharge (from a group)," "relaxation," "divorce," "emission," and "leave of absence."

"In danger" is from enochos (enochos), which means "held in by," "bound by," "liable to," "subject to," "guilty," and "liable to a penalty for."

"Eternal" is from aiônios (aionios), which means "lasting for an age," "perpetual," and "eternal." From "aion" which is used in the bible to mean an "age."

"Damnation" is from krisis (krisis), which means "separating," "distinguishing," "judgment," "choice," "election," "trial," "dispute," "event," and "issue."

Mar 3:28¶ Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

Alternative: Truly I tell you, All people's mistakes will be gotten rid of, and the false accusations as much as they might blame others [for their own mistakes].

Looking at this in the context of Christ's explanation of his (and our) control over adversity, this statement charts the future progress of each of us as individuals and for human society as a whole. We will let go of our mistakes. We will leave them behind over time. Our foolish actions are not held against us in the future as long as we put them behind us.

The same is true of the way we slander others for our mistakes. Until we let go of our mistakes, it is only natural to blame others, even God, for all the adversity we have in our lives.

All this bad history will be left behind, one way or another. We don't have to keep repeating our mistakes. We don't have to keep dwelling on our past errors. God doesn't dwell on our past mistakes so neither should we.

Relating this to the previous verse about how our houses can be spoiled only if our strengths are first bound, we have authority over our own minds. Making mistakes and bad choices is inevitable and unavoidable. Accusing and blaming others, even God, for what goes wrong in our lives because of that is also inevitable. However, as long as our minds are not enslaved to our inner demons, we will get past these mistakes.

In a larger sense, being enslaved to our inner demons means not letting go of our past errors. Being possessed by evil spirits is being controlled by our bad habits, our worst thoughts, our worst deeds. It means being consumed by blaming others for what we have brought on ourselves. As long as we cannot let go of those deeds, as long as we continue to blame others, we are bound by our inner demons. God can free us but only if we accept that freedom and move on will we let go of our past errors.

"Sins" is from hamartêma (hamartema), which means "failure," "fault," and a "sinful deed." It is midway in meaning between adikêma, which means a "wrong done" or a "wrong" and atuchêma, which means a "misfortune" or "mishap."

"Forgiven" is from aphiêmi (aphiemi), which means "to let fall," "to send away," "to let loose," "to get rid of," "to leave alone," "to pass by," "to permit," and "to send forth from oneself." This is the same word that is translated as "leave" and "forgive" in the New Testament.

"Blasphemies" is from blasphêmia (blasphemia), which means a "word of evil omen," "profane speech," "slander," "defamation," and "abuse." In reading the NT, it came to mean "irreverent speech against God," but this is not what it meant when the Gospels were written.

"Wherewith" is from hosos (hosos), which means "as many," "as much as," "as great as," "as far as," and "only so far as."

"Soever" is from the particle an with no real English equivalent, which indicates that something could occur in the future. Closest idea might be something like "perchance."

"Blaspheme" is from blasphêmeô (blasphemeo), which means "to speak profanely of sacred things," "to offer rash prayers," "to speak ill of," "to slander," and, since the NT, "to speak irreverently of God."

Mar 3:27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.

Alternative: Nothing can enter a house of strength and plunder its contents if something does not first bind its strength and then it can plunder its house.

Christ returns to the topic of "house." As we discussed here, Christ uses the term in two different ways, as a structure and to describe a subunit within the kingdom. However, Christ also uses it in a third way, as a description of a body in which an unclean spirit dwells (Mat 12:44 ). This was how I interpreted the similar verse similar to this in Matthew.

In this context, I realize that this applies to both types of houses.

We are a house of "spirits," that is, ideas, information, and a conglomerate of conflicting thoughts. If our conscious mind is strong, we can protect our private fief of interior mental territory. However, if our conscious mind is enslaved by worthless habits, dominated by thoughts tied to our "bellies" and not our hearts , our personal demons. Once our conscious mind is bound, our house can be spoiled. In Christ system, the heart (relationships, feeling) must direct the mind, not the belly (physical desires). A pure heart allows the mind to see God.

In a larger sense, organizations of people have the same weakness. Our strength is the head of our organization, which isn't necessarily a person. It can be the values that unite and organization that gives it a purpose. A house cannot be divided against its ideals, its meaning. However, once we tie up those ideas, bind the master of our house, then something, perhaps anything, can plunder the house, that the strong man, its strength protected. As with our bodies, our higher desires (our loyalty, our mission, our goals) must direct and organization, not its lower physical desires (pleasure, wealth, etc.). Organizations that follow their higher mission create value the brings wealth. Those that betray their mission for the sake of short-term gains, lose everything.

"No man" is from oudeis, (oudeis) which means "no one," "not one," "nothing," "naught," "good for naught," and "no matter."

"Can" is from the verb, dunamai (dunamai) which means "to have power by virtue of your own capabilities," "to be able," and "to be strong enough." In the previous verse, the word used was the adjective, dunatos (dunatos), which means "strong," "mighty," "possible," and "practicable."

"Enter" is from eiserchomai (eiserchomai)which means both "to go into," "to come in," "to enter," "to enter an office," "to enter a charge," (as in court) and "to come into one's mind."

"A strong man" is ischuros (ischuros), which means "strong," "mighty," and "powerful." It is from ischus, meaning strength. Here is seems as though it is used to refer to demons that control people.

"House" is from oikia (oikia), which means "building," "house," "family," and "household."

"Spoil" is from diarpazô (diarpazo), which means "to tear into pieces," "to efface," "to spoil," and "to plunder."

"Goods" is skeuos (skeuos)which means "a vessel," "an implement," "a piece of equipment," "household furnishing," and "an inanimate object."

"Bind" is deô (deo) which means "to bind," "to keep in bonds," "to tie," "to hinder from," and "to fetter. "

Mar 3:26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end.
Alternative: And if adversity rouses to action up against itself and is minimized, it cannot last but it has a purpose.

In the standard translation, this line seems to just rephrase the previous few verses, but it does much more than that. It doesn't talk about adversity casting out adversity or how kingdoms and houses cannot be divided between two warring authorities. It brings in the new concepts, of "rousing people to action" and, most importantly, the idea of telos, that is, purpose. In this verse, Christ is simply telling us the purpose of adversity, that is, explaining the need for problems and suffering. Of course, much of this is lost in the desire to personalized "Satan" instead of simply translating the word into what it means, which is "adversity."

Adversity cannot eliminate itself (Mar 3:23 discussed here). Nor is adversity caused by some war between the gods (a pagan view that unfortunately touches many versions of Christianity) as Christ explains in Mar 3:24 (discussed here). Adversity is subject to God's will as a "house" within his kingdom (Mar 3:25 discussed here).

The key for me in understanding this verse is the use of the world telos, which means "end," but not only in the simple sense of a finish to something. It carries with it a strong sense of purpose, bringing something to completion to meet a goal. Its "light weight" translation simple as "end" misses one of Christ's key points throughout the Gospels: events and especially suffering have a purpose. Understanding this sheds important light on critical ideas such as "the end of the age" prophecies that Christ makes (discussion of that section of Matthew starts here).

Instead, adversity wakes up opposition in us against it. It exists to call us to action. Though the ideas seem at first similar to the words in the previous verses, the idea of adversity "rising up" against itself is added here, not to deny that it happens but to explain its purpose. In the previous verses, Christ describes the impossibility of adversity ejecting itself or dividing itself. However, those similar words are changed here

This opposition to adversity ends up dividing or minimizing it. In the process, we learn and grow. This make each individual problem temporary, and adversity as a whole cannot stop us. This is the purpose of adversity in the end.

"Rise up" is from anistêmi (anistemi), which means "to make stand up," "to raise up," "to raise from sleep," "to wake up," "to raise from the dead," "to rouse to action," "to put up for sale," "to make people rise," "to emigrate," "to transplant," and "to rise and leave the sanctuary."

"Against" is from epi , which means "on," "upon," "at," "by," "before," "across," and "against."

"Divided" is from merizô (merizo), which means "divide," "distribute," "assign," "sever," "cut-off," (passive) "to be divided," "to be dispersed," and "to be reckoned a part."

"Can" is from the verb, dunamai (dunamai) which means "to have power by virtue of your own capabilities," "to be able," and "to be strong enough." In the previous verse, the word used was the adjective, dunatos (dunatos), which means "strong," "mighty," "possible," and "practicable."

"Stand" is from histêmi (histemi), which means "to make to stand," "to stand," "to set up," "to bring to a standstill," "to check," "to appoint," "to establish," "to fix by agreement," "to be placed," "to be set," "to stand still," "to stand firm," "to set upright," "to erected," "to arise," and "to place." Like the English words "put" and "set," it has a number of specific meanings from "to put down [in writing]," "to bury," "to establish," "to make," "to cause," and "to assign."

"End" is from telos, which means "come to pass," "performance," "consumation," "result," "product," "outcome," "end," "achievement," "attainment," "goal," "state of completion," "maturity," "services rendered," "something done," "task," "duty," "toll," and "custom."

Mar 3:25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

The only difference in this verse from the previous is the use of the term "house." Lest we forget, but Christ and his earthly father Joseph were house-builders so the idea of a "house" had a rich symbolism for him. (The Greek term describing Christ and translated as "carpenter" is actually closer in meaning to "mason" and refers specifically to someone who builds houses as opposed to working with wood, for example, building furniture.)

As a housebuilder, Christ sees a house as two things.

First, he sees it as a structure whose architecture matters. His first major parable using the idea of a house deals with building it on a solid foundation (Mat 7:24). For him, a house that cannot stand is in a very physical sense, no house at all.

Second, he sees a "house" as a family or a clan, encompassing all the people in the house and headed by the master of the house. For Christ, the world of men is divided into kingdoms and kingdoms are divided into houses (Mat 24:43). Belonging to a given "house" is a matter of personal allegiance (Mat 19:29) to the master. The house can be judged as a group (Mat 10:13). The role of the master of the house is to protect the people and property within the house. (Mat 12:29, Mat 24:43).

So, from Christ's viewpoint, a kingdom has one leader and must be united behind him. Beneath the kingdom, a nation is divided into "houses" where allegiance goes to the master of the house. However, the king has authority over all the houses below him.

On one level, this verse is a simple logical statement about what makes up a house. A member of a house cannot be against the master of the house because his membership in a house depends on his allegiance to the master. Nor can a master of a house be against his (or her, widow's also have houses Mat 23:14) house's members because his authority comes from the responsibility of protecting those members from outsiders. The violation in either half of this contact, the leader's or a follower's, destroys the house itself as a unit.

However, the larger topic here is about adversity and who has authority over it. This is the third level on which Christ has answered this question. His first statement was on the conceptual level, that adversity cannot destroy adversity. His next was about whether God's kingdom was divided between God and His adversaries. Christ also answer this in the negative. Such a kingdom would not be a kingdom at all. Finally, we come down to the third level, where "adversity" could be seen as a "house" within God's kingdom. Again, Christ denies that the leader of that house (Beelzebub) could act against the other members of that house (the demons who are caste out) because that would destroy the very nature of the contract that creates the house.

Who can command a house and its master? Only one person, the king. Christ makes this clear in another verse when he say that the choice between Christ and your "house" is a higher level choice: choosing your king over the master of your house (Mat 19:29). Christ has authority over adversity because it represents a "house" within his kingdom. It is NOT a division within his kingdom not does he represent the house of adversity for the master of adversity.

So, does this mean that adversity can be personified in Beelzebub and spiritual demons who inhabit the house of adversity in the spirit world? Christ doesn't say that and his first statement seems to deny it. He is merely responding to the problem of suffering into the terms that it was presented to him. In this case, what he denies is more important than what he affirms. In other verse, he makes it clear that the type of demons he is talking about can only live within people separately on the spiritual plain.

He first denies that the concept of adversity can be divided into individuals that can be against each other. This seems to mean that adversity should not be personified, but it doesn't go that far.

Next, he denies that adversity represented a division in God's kingdom. He denies that "the adversary" is somehow are war with God.

Finally, he denies that house of adversity is divided against itself: that his authority over adversity comes from the master of the house of adversity. Instead, Christ's authority comes from the kingdom to which the house of adversity belongs.

This tells us that adversity (or what is known as the problem of suffering or evil) is part of God's plan and, as such, Christ has authority over it. What does this mean? That aversity has a role in creation and a job to do. Like the Sabbath, which was made for man, adversity is also made for mankind, though we might not recognize the role it plays. Christ actually explains that job very well elsewhere in the Gospels, but his clear explanation is easily misinterpreted. A hint: he symbolizes the role of adversity in our lives as the same as the role of fire in baking bread.

"House" is from oikia (oikia), which means "building," "house," "family," and "household."