Chapter 3 Small town gossip

Chapter 3
Another story about sabbath watchers with agendas- I wonder if Mark put it here because he had just told one – so he then thought of this one. It also shows something of a progression- there is a growing group chrystalising against Jesus. “some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus so they watched him closely, to see if he would heal him on the sabbath” How did Peter (or Mark) know this? I suppose it could have been more than just being there and seeing the expressions on their faces- seeing how they responded when challenged by Jesus- seeing the way they departed in groups, whispering among themselves. Small town stuff where small town gossip got around. Peter might have even had friends that were close to such people and told him of the some of the conversations.
How big would the Herodians have been? I imagine the disciples and Jesus received word of the plotting in the same sort of way- what sort of conversations would this have led to amongst the disciples- I suppose we see some of the potential outworkings of these conversations and then personal rumination when Peter tries to prevent Jesus from following a path that would get him killed.
There were fast friends and brothers within the group- they could have talked fairly unencumbered I imagine- there was so much going on- trying to get a handle on Jesus- taking this punt on him- somehow being captured by him- seeing a noose starting to tighten- following threads through- what does Thomas say about following Jesus to Jerusalem and dying with him...