Mark 2

Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In this chapter, the first arguments between Jesus and other Jewish religious teachers appear. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, meets with the disreputable Levi and his friends, and argues over the need to fast, and whether or not one can harvest food on Sabbath.

Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In this chapter, the first arguments between Jesus and other Jewish religious teachers appear. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, meets with the disreputable Levi and his friends, and argues over the need to fast, and whether or not one can harvest food on Sabbath. ==Text== The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 28 verses. ===Textual witnesses=== Some early manuscripts containing the complete text of this chapter are: Codex Vaticanus (325–350) Codex Sinaiticus (330–360) Codex Bezae (~400) Codex Alexandrinus (400–440) Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (~450) ==Critical scholarship== Several writers treat Mark 2:1–3:6 as a single unit for analytical purposes. Joseph Mali refers to these verses as containing the "Galilean Conflict Stories", whilst noting that there is no scholarly consensus in this field. He notes "Markan Public Debates" and "controversy dialogues" as other terms which have been used to cover these verses. The Jerusalem Bible refers to the "Five Disputes" set out in these verses. Vincent Taylor suggests that this passage may have existed "as a connected whole" before the gospel was compiled. Johannes Weiss sees its function as establishing "why Jesus' opponents hated [him] and pursued him to death". ==Jesus heals a paralyzed man== ". Mark 2:4. Engraving by Bernhard Rode, 1780.]] Jesus returns to Capernaum after a period of absence in the open country ( ). Verse 1 of this chapter sees him "in the house" ( , en oikō). Some translations state that Jesus was "at home". Tom Wright notes that "most people don't realize that this was probably Jesus' own house", although it may have been Peter's house. Four men carrying a paralyzed man come to see Jesus, but they cannot get past the crowd. Mark is the only canonical gospel to specify that there were four persons carrying him. It is not stated who the men are, but it is implied that they have faith in Jesus, or in God's working through him. Since Mark has so far listed four disciples, some writers speculate that Mark might be indicating it is them doing the carrying, but there is no general agreement on this. These four men create a hole in the roof of the house ( , apestegasan tēn stegēn, "they uncovered the roof") and lower the man in to see Jesus. Kilgallen suggests that because they "dug" through the roof this indicates that it is a poor house, with the roof made of leaves, bark, and dirt. It might also have had wooden beams for more sturdy support. This was the ordinary type of house in Judea at the time. Longman, Strauss and Taylor's Expanded Bible states "they dug a hole in the roof" and notes that Judean "roofs were generally flat and made of thatch and dried mud" and The Living Bible refers to a "clay roof". Jesus is impressed by their effort, praising all the men's faith, and he tells the paralytic that his sins are forgiven. Theophylact includes the paralytic as a person of faith: otherwise he would not have allowed himself to be carried up onto the roof of the house. It has also been argued, to the contrary, that Jesus "did not mean the faith of the sick man, but of his bearers" (Pseudo-Chrysostom). Jerome and Ambrose exclude the paralytic himself from the commended faith, but John Chrysostom includes him. Wright suggests that the forgiveness is granted in part for creating a hole in the roof of Jesus' house, but also that the forgiveness Jesus granted "went deeper" than this. Jesus calls the man "Son" or "my child", a term of affection. Some of the teachers of the law present (belonging to the sect of the Pharisees) are disturbed by this. "Why does this fellow talk like that? He's blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?" ( ). Mark observes that Jesus "... knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts..." ( ). He says to them "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven', or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins ..." He says to the man "...get up, take your mat and go home." (8–11). According to Raymond E. Brown, it may have been easier to tell the man something than to demand he get up and walk. Jesus chooses to prove his ability to forgive sins, with a demonstration of the man's ability to walk. He forgives and heals by word alone, highlighting the power of his words. Mark says that "everyone" was amazed by this. Jesus refers to himself as the Son of Man, ho huios tou anthrōpou (literally son of the human being), which he does many times in Mark. This is taken in several ways in Mark, but is a term accepted by orthodox Christianity as referring to his Messiahship. The term is found in other Jewish sources, for example Daniel 7:31 and the Book of Enoch. In the Jewish apocalyptic tradition, this title represents the judge during the final judgement. He was often viewed as angelic or as a heavenly being who comes as a flesh and blood person. Only Jesus mentions this title in the Gospels, often using it to speak about himself in the third person. It has also been seen as symbolic of God's plan for all people. In both Luke and John Jesus rejects the notion that illness and misfortune are the result of sins. The teachers say that only God can forgive one's sins; some see Exodus and Isaiah and as proof of this claim. Mark thus leaves it implied that Jesus is God and that faith in his power can lead to not just a cure of physical ills but to a forgiveness of a person's sins. Early Christians may have used this story to buttress their claims of Jesus' ability to forgive sins. Thus to the teachers Jesus' claim is blasphemy as they do not think Jesus is God, but to Mark's audience this confirms their belief in Jesus' divinity. This is the first conflict between Jesus and other Jewish teachers in Mark. Mark might be starting his explanation of why these Jewish authorities later turned on Jesus. This incident of the cure of a paralytic and his subsequent forgiveness of his sins is told in all the Synoptic Gospels, (Luke and Matthew 9:1–8). All the synoptics agree that the man was paralyzed and that the teachers of the law were incensed at Jesus because he said he could forgive the man's sins. ==Plucking grain on Sabbath== on a monument on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol. The third non-indented commandment listed is "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy".]] One sabbath he was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees accused them of breaking Sabbath ( ). The command to observe Sabbath is found in Exodus , a "perpetual covenant ... [for] the people of Israel" (NRSV). Some think this is not historical but is Mark's literary way of debating Sabbath observance issues. E. P. Sanders argues that these debates on Sabbath, handwashing, and food are artificial constructs of Mark as there were debates between Paul and other Christians ( ; ; ) about the issue after Jesus' ministry. The Jesus Seminar determined , , to be "pink" acts of Jesus, that is "a close approximation of what Jesus did" and call them "Sabbath observance." Jesus points out to them a story about David found in 1 Samuel . David ate the special consecrated bread reserved for the priests, detailed in Leviticus . In Mark, Jesus says this was when Abiathar was high priest, while Samuel says the high priest was Ahimelech, Abiathar's father. Neither Luke and Matthew name the high priest. Mark may have simply made an error or had an incomplete or inaccurate copy of the Books of Samuel. A few early Marcan manuscripts omit this phrase, but most scholars think the name of the priest was originally written by Mark, not a later copyist. Jesus then says "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." ( ) Thus human needs take precedence over strict observance of the law. Some see this as a radical departure from the Jewish understanding of the law (see also Christianity and Judaism). Neither Luke nor Matthew have the first phrase putting people ahead of Sabbath. Since form critics believe the Q hypothesis and that Luke and Matthew copied from Mark, many argue they might have found this too radical and so chose not to include it. Jesus here claims he knows what Sabbath is for, and thus that he knows the mind of God, something only God could do, and equates himself with the "Lord of the Sabbath", God. The passage thus has a christological climax. Most scholars agree that Sabbath and proper observance of Mosaic law in general were a point of contention between Jesus and other Jewish teachers. A minority position, held by scholars such as E. P. Sanders, is that these do not constitute proof of a rejection of the law, e.g., Sanders claims there was no significant conflict between the Pharisees as a group and Jesus and that the Church took some time to reach its position on Sabbath, which makes it difficult to believe Jesus specifically taught one position or the other. The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jesus argues the Halakah ("Jewish Law") was not in so definite a form at this period due to the disputes of Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai. There were debates within Early Christianity, such as at the Council of Jerusalem between Paul and Jewish Christians, over just how much of the Law of Moses one should follow. This passage might have been used by the early Church in defense of their less than strict observance of Sabbath against Jews like the Pharisees who held a harder line on Sabbath observance. The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Jesus notes: "...stricter rabbis allowed only the saving of life to excuse the slightest curtailment of the Sabbath rest (Shab. xxii. 6)." These stories are almost entirely the same in Luke 5–6, and in Matthew except for the story of the Sabbath, which occurs in Matthew at Chapter 12. They do not occur in John except for perhaps the paralyzed man. According to the Jewish Encyclopedia: New Testament: Misunderstood Passages: The Jewish Encyclopedia article on Gentile: Gentiles May Not Be Taught the Torah notes the following reconciliation: ==See also== ==References== ==Sources== Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament Doubleday 1997 Brown, Raymond E. et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary Prentice Hall 1990 E. P. Sanders, accessed 11 October 2005 Jewish Encyclopedia on Jesus, accessed 8 September 2006 Kilgallen, John J. A Brief Commentary on the Gospel of Mark Paulist Press 1989 Marcionism, accessed 11 October 2005 Miller, Robert J. Editor The Complete Gospels Polebridge Press 1994 Sanders, E.P. Jesus and Judaism Fortress Press 1985 ==External links== Jewish Encyclopedia: Jesus: Attitude Toward the Law King James Bible - Wikisource English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) Multiple bible versions at Bible Gateway (NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.)

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