ESV Global Study Bible :: Footnotes for Mark 2

Mark 2:1 Jesus returns to Capernaum (c. 20 miles [32 km] northeast of Nazareth), which serves as the base for his Galilean ministry.

Mark 2:2 no more room. The house probably held no more than 50 people.

Mark 2:4 The flat roof consisted of branches or sticks combined with clay. It could be accessed from the outside (see note on Luke 5:19).

Mark 2:5–7 Their faith probably refers to the faith of the friends who brought the paralytic to Jesus, but it may include the faith of the paralytic as well (see note on James 5:15). your sins are forgiven. Jesus claims to be able to forgive sins, as God alone can. Therefore his opponents think that he is guilty of blasphemy, which is punishable by death (Lev. 24:10–23; Num. 15:30–31; Mark 14:62–64).

Mark 2:8 perceiving . . . that they thus questioned within themselves. See note on Matt. 24:36.

Mark 2:9–11 Which is easier? The fact that Jesus can do the visible miracle (heal the paralytic) is evidence that he can also do the more difficult invisible miracle (forgive sins).

Mark 2:10 The healing of the paralytic verifies that Jesus also has divine authority . . . to forgive sins. Son of Man is the way Jesus most frequently refers to himself in Mark’s Gospel. The term refers to both his human and his divine natures. See 8:38; 13:26; compare Dan. 7:13–14.

Mark 2:14 Jesus continues to focus on “teaching” (v. 13; see note on 1:14–15). Levi (also called “Matthew”; 3:18; Matt. 9:9) collected taxes and thus was despised for collaborating with the Roman Empire. Most tax collectors kept some of the tax money for themselves. “Beside the sea” (Mark 2:13) suggests that the tax booth was by the Sea of Galilee and was used for taxing fishermen.

Mark 2:15–16 To recline at table indicates personal friendship. When dining formally in a home, guests reclined on a couch that stretched around three sides of a room. The guests’ heads were toward the tables and their feet toward the wall. tax collectors and sinners. According to the Pharisees (see note on John 1:24), Jesus should keep himself “clean” from such people (see Lev. 10:10).

Mark 2:17 Jesus compares those who are well to those who are righteous, and those who are sick to sinners.

Mark 2:18 fasting. See note on Matt. 6:16–18.

Mark 2:19–20 Jesus refers to himself as the bridegroom. In the OT, God the Father was the bridegroom (see Isa. 62:5; Hos. 2:19–20). then they will fast. When Jesus is taken away from his disciples (when he dies), they will return to fasting in order to seek God’s presence. But they do not need to do that when he is still with them (see Isa. 53:8).

Mark 2:21–22 unshrunk cloth . . . old garment. . . . new wine . . . old wineskins. The kingdom of God is not merely a patch over the Mosaic law and Jewish traditions. Jesus brings a new era, with new ways.

Mark 2:23–24 Deuteronomy 23:25 implies that, if a person is hungry, he is permitted to eat heads of grain from any field he might pass by. However the Pharisees decreed that, since plucking the grain involves “work,” it could not be done on the Sabbath.

Mark 2:25–26 The fact that David ate the bread of the Presence (1 Sam. 21:1–6) means that, if there is a serious need, actions are allowed on a Sabbath that otherwise might not be permitted.

Mark 2:27–28 Son of Man. See note on Matt. 8:20. If the Sabbath is for the benefit of mankind, and if the Son of Man is Lord over all mankind, then the Son of Man is surely lord even of the Sabbath.