From: Busy Person’s Guide to Mark 1 to 8 Return to Home
By
Roland H. Worth, Jr. © 2019
All reproduction of
text in paper, electronic, or computer
form both permitted and encouraged so long as
authorial
credit is given and the text is not altered.
Busy Person’s Guide to the
New Testament:
Quickly Understanding Mark
(Volume 1: Chapters 1 to 8)
by
Roland H. Worth, Jr.
Copyright © 2019 by author
Introduction
to the
“Busy
Person’s Guide” Series
When the great scholar Jerome was producing what came to be known as the “Vulgate”--the authoritative Latin text for the Roman Catholic Church--the equally renowned Augustine was upset and annoyed: Why do we need another Bible translation? he insisted to his fellow scholar. Quietly Jerome hit at Augustine’s own weak point: Why do we need another commentary? (The production of which was a hallmark of Augustine’s labor.) Augustine reconsidered and backed off from the criticism as being, perhaps, a bit hasty.
Augustine’s question remains relevant to our age, however. You could invest all of your surplus income--assuming you are part of the prosperous but overworked middle class--and still not afford to buy all those that are available. Much less find the time to read them. So why another commentary and why this one in particular?
Historically commentaries have been written more often than not for either the well educated or the self-designated religious “elite” who are so absorbed in the text that they want to learn as much as they can about it and prefer exhaustive analysis. There is a definite place for such commentaries and I am not above writing such myself.
Yet in the past and even more so today, there is also the need for a very different type of exposition: concise and to the point. Even the most devout has only 24 hours a day. The hasty pace of keeping one’s family’s financial head above water takes up an inordinate amount of that time. Family obligations and one’s religious interests eat yet further into what is available. In this pressure cooker environment, the time to merely set down and think has become extraordinarily precious.
Hence these Quickly Understanding commentaries have been produced to allow the Biblically interested but time limited reader to get the most out of their restricted study time. First, read a section of the text itself. For your convenience we divide the commentary into such sections; the headings are not intended to be merely descriptive of what is in that section, but, often, interpretive as well—to make plain one or more points that are underlying the discussion.
These are presented in the able New English Translation. They officially permit—rather than unofficially permit or “overlook” the usage--so long as it is done absolutely without any financial charge. (Or read it in your own preferred translation: the commentary will work with just about any except the most paraphrasistic ones.) All individual verse translations we provide, however, are from the New King James Version--an able update of the KJV and utilizing the same underlying Greek text.
Individual verses then follows. In a limited number of cases multiple verses are studied together. A typical cause of this happening is the way certain verses end at awkward places and in the middle of a thought.
Instead of having to wade through highly technical long paragraphs and even multi-pages you find simple and direct language. A matter of a few paragraphs instead of a few pages. Not everything you could find of value of course but, hopefully, a “nugget” or two of something useful in every verse analyzed.
Sometimes it will be the core thought or message of the verse. Sometimes it will be a key moral principle the text intends to convey. In all cases it will be summed up in significantly different words than the text or with supplemental interpretive phrases to “flesh out” the meaning or intention.
Every verse is unique. Some make us wonder why people acted the way they did and we briefly probe the possibilities. In other cases we wonder why they so misunderstood what was going on and we suggest reasons that could have motivated them. Other passages present an implicit challenge to the then listener and here we make it explicit so we can face the same challenge as the original audience. To understand yet other readings, a piece of historical background is needed and we have tried to provide that as well.
We have avoided fanciful and far-fetched interpretation. We have assumed that Jesus intended to give guidelines for life in the here and now. Realistic. Reachable. Reasonable. And we have interpreted the text with those assumptions as our foundation. I have no problem introducing inferences but we have tried to limit this to the more probable ones unless we include cautionary language as well. After all, inferences can range from necessary to probable to possible to conjectural to fanciful to outright delusional. It is a tool to be used with caution, common sense, and prudence.
For those who wish to grasp the essence of the still living message, this book should prove invaluable assistance.
We have avoided those areas that require elaborate and sustained discussion. Issues of authorship, date, and canonicity are all useful and of value. But here we are interested in the contents of the book. We begin with the assumption that virtually every one shares: this purports to be a first century book by someone claiming to know a great deal about the life of Jesus. Based upon what he has preserved for us, what can we learn about Jesus’ life? What can we learn about His teaching? Most importantly, what can we learn that will help us better understand the text or morally improve our own lives? Hence the sometimes obscure scholarly arguments relating to the book’s background are best left for a different context.
The original version of Matthew, Luke, and John appear to have been done in 2006 and was revised in 2017-2018, during which the translations were added as well as extra commentary added to enhance what was already present. In this time frame Mark was added to complete the four gospels.
Frankly, I had forgotten that these volumes were anywhere near completed in first draft form. They were among a number of various projects I had set aside over the decades that were either partially or nearly fully researched and “ready to go”—except I had nowhere for them to “go to.” Now that I have my own web site there is a place.
And it is my hope and prayer that these and my other works will live on in the electronic realm for many years to come. After all the purpose of any serious Biblical study should be to deepen one’s own understanding of the sacred text—and, where possible, to assist others in their efforts to do so as well.
Roland H. Worth, Jr.
Chapter One
The
Role of John the Baptist (1:1-1:8): 1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. 2 As it is
written in Isaiah the prophet, “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, / who will prepare your way, / 3 the voice of one shouting
in the wilderness, / ‘Prepare
the way for the Lord,/ make his
paths straight.’ ”
4 In the
wilderness John the baptizer began preaching a baptism
of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 People from the whole Judean countryside and all of
1:1 The
beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark
labels “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” as the time at
which Jesus is baptized by John and enters His own public ministry. In contrast “the beginning of the
[physical/earthly] life of Jesus Christ” was far earlier and is covered
by both of the other Synoptics from the time of the
physical conception of the Lord. His
even earlier pre-existence in heaven is covered in the first verses of
the gospel of John.
The
fact that He is called “the Son of God” seems almost empty rhetoric if it means
nothing more than that He was merely another honorable man and followed the
demands of Jehovah. That would apply to any
and all obedient Jews of the time.
Hence the invocation of the label in the very first sentence of the
gospel strongly implies that it was in some special and superior sense that the
term is used. The introductory words of John provides that “unspoken background story” as
do the accounts of His miraculous conception in both Matthew and Luke.
1:2 As
it is written in the Prophets: “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, / Who will prepare
Your way before You.” Since the words are spoken by no less than an
inspired “prophet” (Malachi
It was, of
course, a great honor to have one’s work predicted by God, but there was also
something deeply humbling in the fact as well.
For all the good that he would do, his primary task was still as a
“preparer” for someone else. His own
work would be esteemed and well regarded, but it would also provide the
foundation that someone greater than himself--Jesus--would
build upon.
Sidebar: The
very popular “critical text” of the Greek--followed by the bulk of
translations--refers the verses quoted to “Isaiah.” When Malachi is quoted along with the prediction
of Isaiah (in the next verse) one could imagine either both being mentioned by
name or, if only one, then Isaiah would be the most natural choice because he
is so well known for repeated Messianic predictions. The Pulpit Commentary prefers a
different explanation: “The oracle of Malachi is, in fact, contained in the
oracle of Isaiah; for what Malachi predicted, the same had Isaiah more clearly
and concisely predicted in other words.”
1:3 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; / Make His paths straight.’ ” We think in terms of cities and all they can
provide--and they do. But there can be
successes launched in other venues as well, even the scarcely populated
“wilderness” between cities. And it was
from that kind of unexpected base that John launched his successful teaching
career. Instead of going into the
cities, those who heard of him and his message increasingly came out of
those very places and took the time to travel major distances to hear and
listen to his teaching.
That teaching involved spiritual
road building: “Make His paths
straight.” By teaching the people sound
moral principles, he successfully encouraged multitudes to start thinking once
again about important spiritual and ethical matters. Their religion had become “routine;” he put
serious commitment back into it. In the
short term, this was of immediate value to them, but in the long term it also
prepared them for an even more important teacher in the man from
Sidebar: This second quotation comes from Isaiah
40:3. The only other quotation from this
source comes near the end of the gospel in Mark 15:26 (which invokes
Isaiah 53:12).
1:4 John came
baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins. “A baptism of repentance” was an outward act to show
that one recognized the existence and seriousness of one’s sins and had every
intention of changing for the better.
Without such it was an empty ritual and John had no time for such
foolishness--as in the example of those priests who came to be baptized by him
because it was the latest popular fad rather than out of any desire to reform
for the better (Matthew 3:7-12).
The purpose of this immersion--for this and related words
like submersion and dipping all describe
the meaning of the Greek term found here, baptízō--was nothing short of the exoneration of sins: If you didn’t go through it you wouldn’t have
forgiveness. It is useful to remember
that repentance is both a commitment/pledge to change (which happens
before the baptism) but also a carrying out of that pledge
afterwards. Unless you’ve carried out
that commitment, you are no better than a man who has bought a new boat--and
never turns the engine on. You aren’t
going anywhere!
Sidebar on
the location of the baptism: It is “the dry and unpeopled region
extending from the gates of
1:5 Then all
the
The baptizing was done at or near “Bethabara
beyond the
As to those who were baptized, they represented a broad
cross-section of society. “The crowds that flocked to his
baptism included representatives of every class: Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 3:7),
tax-gatherers (Luke
There was an essential pre-requisite for their baptism
and that was an admission of their bad behavior. No admission of sin, no baptism. Some of the hardest words in any language
are, “I did wrong!” Jesus did not fit
into this category because of His sinlessness, but if
He did not conform to the requirement of baptism He would be perpetually open
to the challenge of whether He accepted the authority of John the Baptist or
not. See more on this in verse 9.
1:6 Now John was clothed with
camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and
wild honey. His clothing was made of coarse, long camel’s hair and
would have an appearance and texture rather like sackcloth. Not the most comfortable thing to wear, but
an ongoing reminder that his would never be the “refined” life of either farmer, merchant, or city religious leader. A diet of locusts mixed with wild honey would
have been readily available in wilderness areas. Not an exciting or varied diet, but
sufficient to keep one alive.
1:7 And he preached, saying,
“There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not
worthy to stoop down and loose. Comparative importance can be conveyed in different
ways. A “door opener” is obviously way
down the totem pole compared with those he opens the door for. A secretary is similarly lower than the
governor. But it is hard to imagine a
more profound difference in position than when you are not even deserving of
the lowly status of undoing someone’s “sandal strap!”
1:8 I indeed
baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” The
object John used to administer baptism was the water of the
Baptism of Jesus and the Satanic Sequel (1:9-13): 9 Now in those days Jesus came from
--New English
Translation (for comparison)
1:9 It came to pass in those
days that Jesus came from
Although Jesus is described in the New Testament as
sinless (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5), there was no way you were
going to be able to convince others of it except after something
happened that was so dramatic that it made the concept both reasonable and
highly compelling--think the physical resurrection from the dead. Hence Jesus needed to conduct Himself as if
He were as much a sinner as anyone else.
If God expected others to offer sacrifices, Jesus did. If He expected others to observe the various
feasts, Jesus did that as well. Hence it
would be inevitable that Jesus would be baptized by John and that what the
Father expected others to do, the Son would do as well.
The fact that Jesus was willing to
do this is seen in the language found in both Matthew 4:1 (“led up”) and in
Luke 4:1 (“led by the Spirit”). The
stronger language here in Mark is sometimes explained as being used because it
implies an immediate and rapid movement to the place of the
temptations. It can also be explained by
the presence of the Spirit internally within Him after His receiving it in
verse 10: “Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit,
returned from the
After this period of temptation, we
learn from another of the gospels that the Lord returned to where John was
continuing his baptisms. Hostile
“priests and levites” (John
“The next day [after this] John saw
Jesus coming toward him” and spoke of how he had seen the Spirit come down upon
Jesus at his baptism (verses 28-34).
Note that this is identified as the “next day” after the confrontation
with the religious authorities and not the next day after the actual
baptism. Since there had been forty days
of temptation at least that amount of time had intervened before this next
meeting together.
The second day after John’s
pronouncement (verse 35) Jesus met Andrew and Peter (verse 40). On the third day (verse 43) He decided to move
on to
Jesus Begins His Ministry and Recruiting Disciples (
16 As he went along the
--New English
Translation (for comparison)
Earlier He had taught in
God was going to do His long
promised part, but the general population had obligations when they
embraced it: (1) Setting their lives
aright by a positive change (“repent[ance]”) in
action and attitude--not only to do right, but to want to do
right, ungrudgingly and willingly. Part
of that is to (2) “believe in the gospel”--the “good news” that is preached by
Jesus of Nazareth. The Torah and
prophets were praiseworthy and commendable, but now there was something
additional that must be respected and adhered to, the teaching of the
“good/gospel news” that they would hear from Jesus.
1:16 And as He
walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net
into the sea; for they were fishermen. Part of Jesus’ work would involve recruiting what we
today would refer to as “support staff.”
No one can do all the work, especially when it was Jesus’ conscious
intention to complete His personal, earth side labor within only a few
years. It was vital that there would be
a cadre of reliable and authoritative individuals to lead the new movement once
He had left.
Hence now the second stage of the recruitment
begins: The first stage for Simon and
Peter had been when they had originally met after hearing John the Baptist praise Him (John
Sidebar: In the
New Testament this body of water--the largest fresh water lake within
geographic
And it is described as “the
When Jesus introduces this offer
with “follow Me,” He effectively tells them: “I will show and teach you how to do
this. I will provide you with the
encouragement and teaching that will enable you to do it.”
But what kind of movement are they
going to be creating? Since these had
all come into contact through association with the Baptist and his attempt to
ready people spiritually for what was to come, the movement had to be spiritual
in nature--with the purpose of faithfully serving God. To the extent that this is a Messianic
movement--and its impossible to believe that John’s
message could inspire anything other than just such an understanding of what
was happening--the nationalistic and temporal aspects attached to that in popular
thought would inevitably be in their minds as well. The spiritual aspirations will turn out to be
well grounded, but not the worldly ones easily grafted on it
1:19 When He had
gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in
the boat mending their nets. While in the same neighborhood (they had only “gone a little
farther”), Jesus encountered two men working on their fishing equipment. Whether in this
technological age of ours or in the one of theirs where the necessary materials
were far simpler, “upkeep” is always required. If the material isn’t kept ready to be used,
it won’t be able to meet your needs.
Jesus Demonstrates His Supernatural Authority By Casting Out Demons
(
23 Just then there was a
man in their synagogue with an unclean
spirit, and he cried out, 24 “Leave us alone, Jesus the Nazarene!
Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are— the Holy One of God!” 25 But Jesus rebuked him:
“Silence! Come out of him!” 26 After throwing him
into convulsions, the unclean spirit
cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. 27 They were all amazed so that they asked each
other, “What is this? A new
teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.” 28 So the news about him
spread quickly throughout all the region around
Aside--what the Bible tells us about
Sidebar: “The” not
“a” “Holy One of God.” (“The” is in the
Greek.) It is hard to read this text
without concluding that the demon is recognizing the Messianic role of Jesus
that is painted in Psalms 16:10: “You [God] will not leave my soul in Sheol,
nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption”--The merely human would not
be abandoned forever in Sheol; in contrast the
“Holy One” would never decay in the grave at all.
Sidebar on the gospels’ different selection of miracles
to mention first in their accounts: “The first miracle recorded by Matthew is the healing
of a leper by a touch (Matthew 8:1-4); the first miracle which John records is
the changing of water into wine (John 2:1-11); the first miracle recorded by
Mark and Luke (Luke 4:33-37) is this casting out of a demon in the synagogue of
Capernaum.” (
Oddly, they don’t bother to ask Him! They simply bounce it around among
themselves. There are some questions
that one simply does not feel comfortable coming out and raising. There is the certainty that one does not yet
know everything that is needed but also the queasy feeling of whether one
really wants to know much more at the moment until one has had time to
think it all through.
Jesus Demonstrates His Supernatural Authority By Miraculous Healings
Both Private and Public (
32 When it was evening,
after sunset, they brought to him all
who were sick and demon-possessed. 33 The whole town gathered by the door. 34 So he healed many who
were sick with various diseases and
drove out many demons. But he would not permit
the demons to speak, because they knew him.
--New English Translation (for comparison)
One thing Jesus was not going to do was let them
talk: “they knew Him” and He had no
desire for what they knew to be shared.
They got out the words “I know who You are--the
Holy One of God” (Luke
Jesus Refuses to Be Limited to a Narrow Location in Galilee
but Teaches and Heals
Throughout the Entire Region (1:35-39): 35 Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was
still very dark, departed, and went
out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer. 36 Simon and his companions searched for him. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking
for you.” 38 He replied, “Let us go elsewhere,
into the surrounding villages, so that
I can preach there too. For that is what
I came out here to do.” 39 So he went into all of
Sidebar: “According
to Josephus,
“Casting out demons” remained on the agenda, but note
that it is listed second. True, such
exorcisms worked to make the reliability of His teaching more credible for
those who might question it. Wonderful
as such confirmations were, non-demonically possessed humans were far more
numerous than the possessed and needed to prepare for eternity through hearing
and obeying His teaching. Hence the priority of teaching.
Even Dreaded Leprosy Falls to His Power (
43 Immediately Jesus sent
the man away with a very strong warning. 44 He told him, “See that
you do not say anything to anyone,
but go, show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering that Moses commanded for your cleansing,
as a testimony to them.” 45 But as the man went
out he began to announce it publicly
and spread the story widely, so that Jesus was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed
outside in remote places. Still
they kept coming to him from everywhere.
--New English Translation (for comparison)
1:43 And He
strictly warned him and sent him away at once, 44 and said to him, “See that you
say nothing to anyone; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer
for your cleansing those things which Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” Verse 43 does not tell us what the Lord “warned him” about, but the next
verse does. In light of the order that
is given there, it was firstly to keep the source of healing to himself rather
than enthusiastically sharing it with everyone on the way. This would delay obtaining the rituals that
were required. Furthermore if he spoke
of it near the wrong priest, a hostile foe of Jesus might refuse to perform the
required rituals out of animosity to Jesus’ role.
Secondly, to immediately go and offer the required
sacrifices for cured leprosy. Just
because these were “ritualistic” matters did not remove the need for them since
they were part of the religious code revealed through Moses. Not even the joy of the moment justified it.
Sidebar:
The sacrifices required f or leprosy:
“viz. (1) two birds,
‘alive and clean,’ Leviticus 14:4, (2) cedar wood, (3) scarlet, and (4)
hyssop; this was for the preliminary ceremony (Leviticus 14:4-7). On the eighth
day further offerings were to be made, (1) two he lambs without blemish, (2)
one ewe lamb, (3) three tenth deals of fine flour, (4) one log of oil. If the leper was poor, he was permitted to
offer one lamb and two turtledoves or two young pigeons, with one tenth deal of
fine flour.” (
1:45 However, he
went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the
matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in
deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction. The “however” at the beginning of the verse argues
that Jesus intended His order to stay silent to apply both on the way to
the priest and after the purifying rituals as well. Jesus’
knowledge of human behavior surely warned Him that any silence was likely to be
all too temporary due to natural enthusiasm over the miracle.
Even so the effort needed to be made since this sharing
of the news seriously inconvenienced Jesus’ central goal of teaching. People became so obsessed with His miracles
that He could not easily enter into cities without being diverted into this
secondary mission. Although miracles confirmed
the preached word, if only miracles occurred there was no time left to
teach--the very purpose of miracles being undermined! Hence on the one hand they were needed to
verify Jesus’ credibility, but they could easily became the core of
Jesus’ importance in the public mind--to the neglect of even more essential
matters.
Chapter Two
Jesus Proves His Ability To Do the Unseeable
(Forgiveness of Sins) By Means of Doing
the “Impossible” That Is Seeable (Healing of the Paralyzed) (2:1-12):
1 Now after some days, when he returned to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 2 So many gathered that there was no longer any room, not even by the
door, and he preached the word to
them.
3 Some people came
bringing to him a paralytic, carried by four
of them. 4 When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus. Then, after tearing it out, they lowered the
stretcher the paralytic was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their
faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your
sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some of the
experts in the law were sitting there, turning
these things over in their minds: 7 “Why does this man s peak this
way? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 8 Now immediately, when Jesus realized in his spirit that they were contemplating such thoughts,
he said to them, “Why are you
thinking such things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are
forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take
your stretcher, and walk’?
10 But so that you may know
that the Son of Man has authority on
earth to forgive sins,”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I tell you, stand up, take your stretcher, and go home.” 12 And immediately the man stood up, took his
stretcher, and went out in front
of them all. They were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” --New English Translation (for comparison)
2:1 And again He entered
Sidebar: After His
rejection by the people of
2:2 Immediately many
gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not
even near the door. And He preached the
word to them. Having an audience available literally “at His front
door,” they were invited into the courtyard until space was even cramped
outside of the door. (The courtyard
setting is required by the paralyzed man being lowered down from above to
Jesus.) The substance of what was
preached is not hinted at here but, as inevitable with any well intentioned and
effective preacher, it would be something that would be particularly useful in
their lives--to make them better people both morally and spiritually.
2:3 Then they
came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. Being unable to walk, this man could get there only
courtesy of the friendship and co-operation of others. Not just of one person, but of
four. This was “going out of the way” in
helpfulness, but if there are those who you deeply like or feel sorry for, what
else can you possibly do? In
chapter one, He had established a track record of healing both normal physical
diseases as well as overt demonic possession.
There was no reason to believe that Jesus had suddenly lost those powers
and He was the one option that might provide relief. If it failed, nothing was lost; if it worked,
he had his life back.
Sidebar on this healing as illustrative of how the gospel
writers often give only part of what was happening and how comparing the
accounts allows insight into the fuller picture: “Here
again the minuteness of detail is very observable. It is also interesting to notice how the
three writers of the synoptic Gospels supplement and illustrate one
another. Matthew gives the outline, Mark and Luke fill up the picture.
“Luke (Luke
2:4 And when they could not
come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let
down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.
Their quite logical intention
was frustrated by the very size of the crowd.
The course of many would have been to stand there in great frustration,
but these folk clearly took time to think their problem through: this was simply an opportunity not to be
missed; they had to find a way.
If they couldn’t approach on the ground, they would use the outside
stairs and lower the sufferer down from the flat roof to the presence of
the Lord.
This would have taken a bit of work and would have been
observed by the crowd: “What in the
world are they up to?” probably went through their minds and from their lips as
well. Until their quite visible task was
finished, every eye that could see would be looking in their direction. We have no idea what was on Jesus’ own face,
but it is hard to escape the suspicion that He stood there with pleasant
amusement--not laughing at them, of course, but pleased that they had found a
creative way to solve their problem.
2:5 When Jesus saw their faith,
He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven
you.” Once in front of Him, the physical condition
was obvious yet He doesn’t bother to mention it. Instead He uses His ability to produce the
physically “impossible” to prove that He could do the same on a spiritual
level: “Your sins are forgiven
you.” A paralytic was temporally
“doomed” because of the affliction but that ended at death; in contrast the
person whose sins had not been forgiven was spiritually doomed as
well--but forever. Jesus wished to
remove both afflictions and not just one.
All His miracles bore implicit witness to this ability (verse 9). It was another reason why obeying His
teaching was so much more important than obeying that of the rabbis.
Sidebar: The wording of what Jesus says has been used
to prove that sin had somehow led to the paralyzed condition. (An accident while involved in some blatant
evil, perhaps?) The case of the
paralyzed man in John 5 is invoked and especially the words of caution and
warning in verse 14: “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon
you.” They may be right, but the incident makes
full sense even if this element were not present.
2:6 And some of the scribes
were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. That
the claim was controversial was natural, especially among religious specialists
such as the “scribes” that are mentioned here and the broader group of
“Pharisees and teachers of the law . . . who had come out of every town
of Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem.”
(Their presence is mentioned in the parallel account in Luke 5:17.) They all claimed to be intelligent
people--and were--but there was nothing in their background to prepare them to
embrace a claim as radical as this one.
Both the substantial number of listeners and the place of their homes
are significant: This was an audience
who would carry word of His claims back to places far and wide
throughout geographic
2:7 “Why does
this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” The
assumption of their argument is quite true:
“Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
That God had such power was a fundamental principle of the Old Testament
(Isaiah 43:25, Micah
2:8 But immediately, when Jesus
perceived in His spirit that they reasoned thus within themselves, He said to
them, “Why do you reason about these things in your
hearts? Jesus did not have to hear the words
to know what they were thinking “in their heart” (verse 6). It did not even require His supernatural
power; it was an inevitable reaction to an unprecedented claim. So Jesus promptly challenges them to think
through whether there was good evidence that it might be objectively true
no matter how intense was their passion to deny it. . . .
2:9 Which is
easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or
to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’ Both are beyond the bounds of anything that seems
possible. And there would be a three
fold proof of it: (1) He would be able to “arise” and stand
on his feet. (2) In spite of his longstanding record of bodily
weakness, he would also have the strength to lift a load: “take up your bed.” (3) He
would now have ongoing mobility--the ability to “walk” with the bed
wherever he needed to carry it.
Sidebar: “The
original word thus rendered [as ‘bed’] means a portable pallet, little more
than a mat, used for mid-day sleep, and the service of the sick. It was of the commonest description and used
by the poorest.” (
Jesus Recruits Levi the Tax Collector (a/k/a Matthew) To Be
One of His Followers (
16 When the experts in
the law and the Pharisees saw that he
was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax
collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard this
he said to them, “Those who are
healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. I have not come to call the righteous, but
sinners.” --New English Translation (for comparison)
Sidebar: “Situated as
Sidebar on the social status of tax collectors: “The
‘publicans’ properly so called were persons who farmed the Roman taxes and in
later times were usually Roman knights and men of wealth and position. Those here alluded to were the inferior
officers, natives of the province where the taxes were collected, called
properly portitores. So notorious were they for rapacity and
dishonesty that Suetonius (Vit. Vesp. i.) tells us how several cities erected statues to Sabinus, ‘the honest publican;’ and Theocritus
in answer to the question, which were the worst kind of wild beasts, said, ‘On
the mountains bears and lions; in cities, publicans and pettifoggers.’ The Jews included them in the same category
with harlots and sinners; see Matthew 21:31-32; Matthew 18:17.” (
2:16 And when the
scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they
said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with
tax collectors and sinners?” Although “the scribes and Pharisees” were not guests,
they clearly knew what was going on.
Either they were standing on the edges of the room as cynical gawkers (not an unknown ancient phenomena)
or they stood outside backbiting Jesus’ reputation when they learned what He
was doing. (The “He said to them” in the
next verse argues that at least some of them had entered the dining area to
verify that what they heard was happening.)
One wonders which was more offensive to them--people
eating a social meal with Jesus or with the tax men? Perhaps this is overly cynical. But what is absolutely certain is that they
chose to use the meal as leverage to expose Jesus as blatantly lacking proper
spiritual and moral scruples: Why He eats
with terrible people like that! What
further proof do you need?
Jesus
Explains Why He Does Not Fast But John Does (Mark
21 No one sews a patch of
unshrunk cloth on an old garment; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and the tear becomes worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine
will burst the skins, and both the
wine and the skins will be destroyed. Instead new wine is poured into new wineskins.” --New English Translation (for comparison)
Sidebar: To be
part of the supposed spiritual elite one fasted twice a week--as in the example
of the Pharisee praying in the
Sidebar: The Baptizer had defended Jesus’ right to
baptize on the grounds that, unlike John himself, he was the “bridegroom” (John
Sidebar: We know
that Paul fasted on varied occasions (2 Corinthians 6:5;
2:22 And no one
puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins,
the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins.” Although
the folly of indiscriminately mixing new and old is true of clothing (verse
21), this shows that it is far from the only example that can be given. It represents a principle that duplicates
itself in other areas as well. It is not
that the old is bad, but that the new is even better and far too different.
Jesus Claims Supernatural Authority to Regulate Even Sabbath
Day Observance Rules (2:23-28): 23 Jesus was going through the grain fields
on a Sabbath, and his disciples began to pick some heads of wheat as they made their way. 24 So the Pharisees said
to him, “Look, why are they doing what is
against the law on the Sabbath?”
25 He said to them, “Have
you never read what David did when he
was in need and he and his companions were hungry— 26 how he entered the house of God when Abiathar
was high priest and ate the sacred
bread, which is against the law for any but
the priests to eat, and also gave it to his companions?” 27 Then he said to them,
“The Sabbath was made for people, not people
for the Sabbath. 28 For this reason the Son of Man is lord even
of the Sabbath.” --New English
Translation (for comparison)
Sidebar: “This passage marks with some nicety the time of the
year. The corn in that district would be
ripening about May. It would, therefore, be not long after the Passover.” (Pulpit Commentary)
Sidebar: “They did
not accuse them of theft, for the Law allowed what they were doing (Deuteronomy
2:26 how he went
into the house of God in the days of Abiathar
the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for
the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” The
But the Law encompassed the norm. What if something extraordinary were to occur
such as David’s situation? Jesus argues
that this transformed the situation from something sinful to something without
guilt--note He doesn’t say it was desirable; only that the extraordinary
situation made it acceptable. The beauty
of this example was three-fold: (1) They couldn’t deny
it happened for it was clearly recorded in scripture (1 Samuel 21:1-6). (2)
Unlike the argument against Jesus, this involved behavior that seemed
explicitly and directly prohibited.
(3) It involved a hero of the Old
Testament whom they revered; it couldn’t be dismissed out of hand.
Sidebar on
the nature of the bread: “The Jews called them the loaves of the face, i.e.,
of the presence of God. The bread was
made of the finest wheaten flour that had been passed through eleven
sieves. There were twelve loaves, or
cakes, according to the number of tribes, ranged in two piles of six each. Each cake was made of about five pints of
wheat. They were anointed in the middle
with oil, in the form of a cross.
According to tradition, each cake was five hand-breadths broad and ten
long, but turned up at either end, two hand-breadths on each side, to resemble
in outline the ark of the covenant. The shewbread was
prepared on Friday, unless that day happened to be a feast-day that required
sabbatical rest; in which case it was prepared on Thursday afternoon. The renewal of the shewbread
was the first of the priestly functions on the commencement of the
Sabbath. The bread which was taken off
was deposited on the golden table in the porch of the sanctuary, and
distributed among the outgoing and incoming courses of priests. . . .” (Vincent’s Word Studies)
His personal authority to ignore the traditional Sabbath
rules--especially their glosses upon them--was to be put front and center in
the Sabbath day synagogue healing that begins the next chapter. In regard to the grain, our text only notes
that it was when “His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain” (
Chapter Three
Jesus
Claims Supernatural Authority to Regulate Even Sabbath Day Observance Rules By
Healing the Severely Disabled--Even In a Synagogue (3:1-6): 1 Then Jesus entered the
synagogue again, and a man was
there who had a withered hand. 2 They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they could accuse him. 3 So he said to the man
who had the withered hand, “Stand up
among all these people.”
4 Then he said to them,
“Is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath, or evil, to save a life or destroy
it?” But they were silent. 5 After looking around
at them in anger, grieved by the hardness
of their hearts, he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 So the Pharisees went out immediately and began
plotting with the Herodians, as to how they could assassinate him. --New English Translation
(for comparison)
3:1 And He
entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand.
This man’s disability drastically
reduced or even eliminated his ability to earn a livelihood, but in spite of
that fact he did not neglect the opportunity to worship God. Many, however, take the opposite approach and
bitterly resent God for their physical problems. Worse--and far less understandable--even if
they lack such afflictions and even if He does provide them ample
blessings, many still don’t take time to regularly worship. They treat it as their inherent due
rather than as a Divine gift to be deeply appreciated.
3:2 So they watched Him
closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse
Him. Jesus had already demonstrated His willingness to transgress their
rabbinic invented rules and it is not surprising that they were deeply
suspicious that He would act in such a manner again. Yet is there not something terribly
self-condemning that their reaction would not be happiness at the potential
betterment but annoyance over their traditions being violated? Of course, in a very twisted sense, they were
wanting Him to heal the man since they entered the synagogue hoping He
would do something “that they might find an accusation [to make] against Him”
(Luke 6:7)--and the healing gave them exactly that.
3:3 And He
said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.”
Jesus took the initiative.
Whatever the man’s own inclinations, this put the responsibility
strictly on the Lord’s shoulders and it would be impossible for them to
credibly blame the healed for what was about to happen.
3:4 Then He
said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”
But they kept silent. The question was quite logical and there was no answer
to it compatible with their theology.
When there is no good answer it is easiest to keep the mouth shut and
damn the other person in spite of that inability. This outraged Jesus for we read. . . .
3:5 And when He had looked
around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He
said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And
he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the
other. We don’t often read of Jesus getting outright angry
because anger easily blinds one to considerations of fairness and justice, but
there are also occasions so extreme that the only honorable reaction is
anger. Here the anger is aimed not at
what they were actively doing but at the blind prejudice which they
refused to even make the effort to defend (verse 4). He “vented” it, not by doing evil to them,
but by doing good to the suffering and removing
his affliction.
Sidebar: This is “one of seven miracles wrought on the Sabbath-day.
The other six were, (1) The demoniac at Capernaum (Mark 1:21); (2) Simon’s
wife’s mother (Mark 1:29); (3) the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda (John
5:9); (4) the woman with a spirit of infirmity (Luke 13:14); (5) the man who
had the dropsy (Luke 14:1); (6) the man born blind (John 9:14).” (
3:6 Then the
Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians
against Him, how they might destroy Him.
How much did they include
under the label of “destroy Him”?
Certainly at least destroy His influence and His reputation and
calculate the ways they could most effectively do that.
That the Pharisees saw a potential linkage of political
interests with their own distinctly religious opposition can be seen in their
attempting to co-ordinate actions with the “Herodians.” Theologically they had the same views as the
Sadducees. However their very name shows
their acute loyalty to the political establishment. We have no way to know whether they cast
their fortunes with Herod Antipas on political grounds and only had modest
religious interests or were religious figures who also took passionate interest
in the political dreams of the broader Herod family. Either way it is hard to read this as
anything short of a Pharisee effort to broaden the anti-Jesus cabal. The Pharisees had nothing to lose by this
and, potentially, much to gain.
9 Because of the crowd,
he told his disciples to have a small boat
ready for him so the crowd would not press toward him. 10 For he had healed many, so that all who were afflicted with diseases pressed toward him in order
to touch him. 11 And whenever the unclean
spirits saw him, they fell down before him and
cried out, “You are the Son of God.” 12 But he sternly ordered
them not to make him known. --New English Translation (for comparison)
3:7 But Jesus
withdrew with His disciples to the sea. And
a great multitude from
These contacts would play an important role later as
Jesus traveled about for they assured a wide spectrum of individuals already
knew about Him. They would have “primed
the local pump” of interest for those who had not come into previous contact
with Him. It guaranteed Him a continuing
audience wherever He went.
The list begins with the two major geographic divisions
we connect with
3:8 and
Jerusalem and Idumea and beyond the Jordan; and those
from Tyre and Sidon, a
great multitude, when they heard how many things He was doing, came to Him.
In
referring to “
The two
cities, in the Old Testament, were bastions of pagan evil and domineering God’s
people (see the description in Ezekiel 28).
In Jesus’ age they were both major Roman ports. Although one can imagine an occasional
Gentile becoming intrigued when hearing of Jesus, He was clearly a Jew and it
would be Jews from that region who would have the strongest reason to be
fascinated by the reports that came their way.
And since they were major ports, tradesmen--moving into and out of
The mention
of these two specific cities in particular--of the many others that existed at
the time--argues that there is some specific unstated reason for them being
mentioned. Probably to provide an
explanation for why Jesus would later go into that region (Mark
3:9 So He told His disciples
that a small boat should be kept ready for Him because of the multitude, lest
they should crush Him. The problem with a huge crowd lies in the pure numbers
involved. Even with the best of good
will, they can get out of hand and walk over each other and do actual harm
without meaning to. Picture the crowds
at a popular modern concert, moving with emotion and happiness--feeling, not
thinking. Jesus was acutely aware that
they could, literally, walk all over Him, “crush Him” beneath their feet and,
in their horror, would then wonder what they had done. So Jesus assured that a boat was kept handy
for His safety. The potentially volatile
situation was produced by the magnitude of His success. . . .
Jesus “Promotes” Twelve Disciples To
be Apostles (
16 He appointed twelve:
To Simon he gave the name Peter; 17 to James and his
brother John, the sons of Zebedee, he gave the name Boanerges
(that is, “sons of thunder”); 18 and Andrew, Philip,
Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of
Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon
the Zealot, 19 and Judas Iscariot, who
betrayed him. --New English
Translation (for comparison)
It is often assumed to be the same mountain on the side
of which the Sermon on the Mount was delivered.
Although that site was only specifically identified in surviving
records in the 300s and a church erected there, it is at most only a reasonable
location. But one must also wonder
whether that accessible a site would have been chosen when Jesus wanted to be
assured of being out of easy contact with the crowds and be able to appoint His
cadre of apostles in strict privacy.
Sidebar: “We may see in the name thus given a witness to the
fiery zeal of the sons of Zebedee, seen, e.g., in their wish to call down fire from heaven
on the Samaritans (Luke 9:54), and John’s desire to stop the work of one who
cast out devils (Luke 9:49), or the prayer of the two brothers that they might
sit on their Lord’s right hand and on His left in His kingdom (Matthew
20:21). It was, we may well believe,
that burning zeal that made James the proto-martyr of the Apostolic company
(Acts 12:2). We can scarcely fail to
trace in the multiplied ‘thunderings and voices’ of
the Apocalypse (Revelation 4:5, 6:1, 8:5) . . . that which was in harmony with
the spiritual being of the Seer, and with the name which his Lord had thus
given him.” (Ellicott’s Commentary
for English Readers)
If one wishes to strip the political aspects and use the
expression metaphorically, then the connotation would surely be “the Eager One”
(as in the CEV). Interestingly, the
ancient Biblical translator and scholar Jerome believed that a double allusion
was intended to both his civic origin and his religious enthusiasm.
The apostles are a fascinating “mixed bag:” Men of fiery temperament (Peter and the “Sons
of Thunder,”), a man with quite possible roots in political revolution (Simon),
and the tax-collector Matthew--identified in Matthew 10:3 as such but
introduced under the alternate name of Levi in Mark 2:13-16. Yet Jesus was able to blend together this
highly disparate group into sharing a common goal and purpose. They began “poles apart” in preferences and
assumptions and each had to learn a profound lesson about adapting to very
different individuals while working together for the same ends.
Efforts To Discredit Jesus' Demonic
Healings--And The Extreme Evil of Doing So (
23 So he called them and spoke to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is
divided against itself, that kingdom will
not be able to stand. 25 If a house is divided against
itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan rises against himself and is divided, he is
not able to stand and his end has
come. 27 But no one is able to enter a strong man’s house and steal his property unless he first ties up the
strong man. Then he can thoroughly
plunder his house.
28 I tell you the truth, people will be forgiven for all sins, even all the blasphemies they utter. 29 But whoever blasphemes
against the Holy Spirit will never be
forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal
sin” 30 (because they said, “He has an unclean spirit”).
--New English Translation (for comparison)
Word had gotten back to them--“when His own people heard
(rather than saw) what was happening--they made this decision to
intervene. They reasoned that “He is out
of His mind” if He thinks He can control all this! If not a questioning of His
literal sanity then at least of His ability to harness the situation for good
rather than chaos. He simply does
not have the right background to hope to control all this; He is out of His
depth. Hence, for His own protection,
they needed to get Him away from all this.
Out of such concerns they leave their home to go where He
is. They only arrive close by in verse
31 and the intervening verses brief us on the passionate disagreement that had
erupted between the scribes and the Lord.
They need something targeting just Jesus. Since the Devil’s supporters have been purged
from the bodies of the suffering, would not the Devil himself have the power to
accomplish the same thing? After all, as
his supporters and servants, they must obey him. Hence the two lines of attack that Jesus is
demon possessed (“He has Beelzebub”) and that it is demonic power that is used
to “cast out demons.” In either case
non-human power is being exercised, but nothing any honorable man would
want to be associated with!
Sidebar: As argued
in the following verses, the Devil would be destroying His own cause if he
treated his own demons this way.
Ordering them to leave temporarily might be a different
story. To the extent that the exorcists
in Acts
In saying this it should not be overlooked that the Devil
unquestionably could produce a variety of “positive” looking
pseudo-miracles that would be adequate to deceive many. For Jesus Himself spoke of how, before the
fall of
Paul also spoke of how such a challenge lay in the future
for those far from Jerusalem as well, using language that requires more than
normal human fakery, “The coming of the lawless
one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs,
and lying wonders, and with all
unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the
love of the truth, that they might be saved“ (2
Thessalonians 2:9-10). Note, however,
that though the fake miracles will provide the excuse for apostasy, the
root reason will be a lack of love for God’s Divinely
revealed truth.
Jesus now proceeds to point out that
regardless of what types of chicanery the Devil may become involved in, casting
out his own demons emphatically will never be one of them. . . .
Sidebar:
Revelation 20:1-3 refers to a later long-term binding that would also
dramatically limit Satan’s capacity to interfere with earth-side events and
actions.
Sidebar: “ ‘They said (ἔλεγον). Imperfect tense. They kept saying, or persisted in
saying.” (Vincent’s Word Studies) Not a rash
statement, never said again, but one that they repeated and repeated. Surely not just on that particular day
either: Did they have any choice but to
make this their standard explanation since the successes had to be explained in
some manner that did not undermine their own position or superior authority?
Spiritual Kin Are Just as Important as Earthly Kin (