These chapters of Mark’s Gospel record Jesus’ early ministry in Galilee and roughly parallel events recorded in Matthew 4, 8-9, and Luke 4-6. In Mark 2-3 the author emphasizes Jesus’ unparalleled authority in action. For Mark, Jesus stood supreme as the One who had the authority to forgive sins, the freedom to eat with the unclean, and the right to interpret the Sabbath in light of His entrance into the world. In short, Jesus was not only proclaiming the kingdom of God in His sermons, He was also inaugurating it in His actions. Even Jesus’ mother and brothers needed to align themselves with the time of His coming. Mark wove Jesus’ messages and miracles with their Old Testament precedents to portray Jesus’ supremacy in Scripture’s storyline.
(1) In Mark 2:13-17, Jesus ate with those considered unclean by the standards set forth in the law. In Leviticus 11, Moses detailed the various animals that were unclean and to be avoided by those in the community. Moses repeated many of these stipulations in Deut 14:3-20. In Deut 14:21, Moses stated that the people of Israel were allowed to give unclean foods to resident aliens among them or sell those foods to foreigners but said, “You are a holy people belonging to the LORD your God.” Laws detailing unclean food influenced the Pharisees’ social habits. By dining with tax collectors and sinners, Jesus inverted their paradigm and established a new way of thinking about holiness. Sanctification was now to be expressed by loving benevolence to sinners. Jesus said, “Those who are well don’t need a doctor, but the sick do need one. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17).
(2) In Mark 2:18-22, Jesus’ statements about fasting focused Israel’s patterns of religion in light of His teaching and ministry. The Old Testament required fasting only on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16), but John’s disciples and the Pharisees fasted more regularly, distinguishing themselves from Jesus and His disciples (Matt 9:14-17//Mark 2:18-22//Luke 5:33-39). When crowds noticed the varying patterns of religion, they approached Jesus asking why He did not follow the same traditions as John and the Pharisees. Jesus answered that His coming in the flesh demanded that all honor Him over and above contemporary signs of piety. Jesus retorted that His message was not an appendage to Judaism, like a new patch on an old garment, or new wine into old skins. His teaching was the new wine and could only be appreciated by fresh wineskins (Mark 2:22). New patterns of piety were in order and only those that centered on Him were to be followed.
(3) In Mark 2:25-26, Jesus justified His disciples’ eating on the Sabbath by citing the event when David and his men ate consecrated bread from the high priest. When David was on the run from Saul, he came to the priest at Nob and asked for food that he and his men might eat. The priest told David, “There is no ordinary bread on hand. However, there is consecrated bread, but the young men may eat it only if they have kept themselves from women” (1 Sam 21:4). David assured the priest that he and his men were pure. The priest gave David and his men the Bread of the Presence and they ate it (1 Sam 21:6; Exod 25:30; Lev 24:5-9). One Sabbath day, Jesus was going through the grain fields with His disciples and the Pharisees complained when the disciples began to pick grain and eat (Matt 12:1-8//Mark 2:23-28//Luke 6:1-5). Jesus asked them, “Have you never read what David and those who were with him did when he was in need and hungry?” (Mark 2:25). Jesus concluded His argument with the Pharisees by stating His own supremacy over all of salvation history. “The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27-28).
Mark 4
Jesus’ teaching in Mark 4 represents Mark’s report of Jesus’ actions throughout his Gospel. In quick succession, Jesus stacked parables on top of one another as a means of teaching since parables reveal true meaning only to those who have the ability to hear. Jesus’ parables in Mark 4 accentuate His ministry and the kingdom of God in light of Old Testament expectations.
(1) In Mark 4:2-10, Jesus told the Parable of the Soils, explaining His ministry in accord with Isa 6:9-10. The point of the parable is that only good soil is able to produce a crop (Mark 4:8, 20). The other three surfaces—due to their lack of ability to internalize the seed and give it habitation for growth—receive it to no ultimate effect (Mark 4:13-19). Jesus’ statement, “Anyone who has ears to hear should listen!” (Mark 4:9), establishes the point of contact between Jesus and Isaiah. The Evangelists noted that Jesus taught in parables in a way that reflected Isaiah’s ministry (Matt 13:1-15//Mark 4:1-12//Luke 4:4-10). At the beginning of Isaiah 6, the prophet reported the historical circumstances of his ministry. It was the year of King Uzziah’s death, a time of political and spiritual unrest in Israel. But that is when Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord lofty and exalted, sitting on His throne in the temple filled with glory (Isa 6:1-2). The prophet heard the angels around the Lord’s throne crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; His glory fills the whole earth” (Isa 6:3). The Lord called out asking who would go out to speak the Lord’s message and Isaiah responded to God’s call (Isa 6:8). The prophet learned that although the Lord’s glory filled the temple, it did not fill Israel. Israel was a stubborn people with dull ears, the Lord told Isaiah. The prophet’s sermons would dull them further, the Lord told him (Isa 6:9-10). Jesus used parables so that those outside of the kingdom “may look and look, yet not perceive; they may listen and listen, yet not understand; otherwise, they might turn back—and be forgiven” (Mark 4:12). When in private the disciples asked Jesus about His use of parables, Jesus went on to tell them that the ability to understand His teaching was the foundation of repentance and faith and the kingdom of God (Mark 4:10-12).
(2) In Mark 4:26-32, Jesus’ parables about the growth of the kingdom of God reflected the growth of Israel from one man to a great nation. God called Abraham and promised to make him into a great nation such that his descendants would be like the stars of the sky (Gen 12:1-3; 15:5). Abraham’s family grew through his sons Isaac and Jacob. When Jacob left Canaan to take refuge with Joseph in Egypt, Jacob’s family numbered 70 (Gen 46:27). In Egypt, the descendants of Abraham multiplied so greatly that the Pharaoh considered the Hebrews a threat to Egyptian security. He ordered all Hebrew boys to be executed (Exod 1:15-16). The Parable of the Growing Seed and the Parable of the Mustard Seed in Mark 4:26-32 continue the theme of agriculture expressed in the Parable of the Sower. Jesus’ point was that when something small grows to its potential, it is far beyond what might have been expected. Through the parables of Mark 4, Jesus argued that those who hear with understanding, those who correspond to good soil (Mark 4:8, 20), esteem the kingdom of God even though at present the kingdom seemed small and insignificant.
Commentary Mark New Testament