RSV ~ Mark 2 Notes
Mk 2:1-12 | ISB Notes
The healing of the paralytic reveals Jesusâ identity through his actions: he claims to forgive sins as only God can forgive and to channel that forgiveness to the world as only the Jerusalem Temple and priesthood were authorized to do under the Old Covenant.
Mk 2:5 | ISB Notes
their faith: i.e., the faith of the four men who carried kilkJ the paralytic (2:4).
⢠The forgiveness that Jesus confers upon the helpless paralytic in response to the faith of others (the four men) mirrors the effects of Infant Baptism, where he continues to regenerate helpless children through the intercessory faith of their parents (CCC 1250-53).
Mk 2:6 | ISB Notes
the scribes: Scholars of the Mosaic Law and its traditional interpretation. With the exception of one episode (12:2834), they are cast as Jesusâ adversaries in Mark.
Mk 2:7 | ISB Notes
it is blasphemy!: The scribes are incensed that Jesus claims for himself a prerogative that belongs only to God: the power to remit sins (Ps 103:3; Is 43:25; CCC 1441). They have misjudged the matter as blasphemy, which was a capital crime in ancient Israel (Lev 24:16). Note that Jesus manifests his divinity both by absolving the manâs sins and by exposing the unspoken disapproval of his critics (2:8).
Mk 2:9 | ISB Notes
Which is easier: Forgiveness is easier to claim than to accomplish, since its effects cannot be verified by observation. For this reason, Jesus restores the manâs body as a visible demonstration of what he has already done invisibly in his soul. See note on Mt 9:8.
Mk 2:14 | ISB Notes
Levi: Also called âMatthewâ (Mt 9:9). He abandoned his occupation to follow Jesus and was later named an apostle (3:18).
the tax office: The Pharisees despised tax collectors as âsinnersâ (2:15) for several reasons. (1) Collecting revenue in Galilee involved frequent contact with Gentiles. By Pharisaic standards, this meant that collectors were exposed to the ritual defilement of the pagans. (2) Since taxes were collected for the unwelcome Romans, who ruled Palestine, collectors were branded as traitors to Israelâs hope for national independence. (3) Collectors were sometimes guilty of extortion, exacting personal commissions above the required tax amount.
Mk 2:15-28 | ISB Notes
Three controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees. In each, the Pharisees try to discredit Jesus as a spiritual leader (2:16, 18, 24). They consider his behavior questionable and even dangerous, as though Jesus were leading Israel away from true covenant holiness. (1) In 2:15-17, the Pharisees are scandalized by those with whom Jesus eats (tax collectors, sinners). (2) In 2:18-22, they question why he eats with his disciples instead of fasting like Johnâs followers. (3) In 2:23-28, the issue concerns when his disciples pluck and eat grain (on the Sabbath). These tensions reach the breaking point with the Phariseesâ conspiracy to eliminate Jesus (3:6).
Mk 2:16 | ISB Notes
eating with sinners: Table-fellowship was symbolic of personal acceptance and mutual friendship in the ancient Near East. Jesusâ open association with outcasts thus violates the standards of the Pharisees, who regarded sinners and tax collectors as inappropriate company for the religious Jew. They clung to Old Covenant standards of holiness that required Israelites to separate themselves from all sources of uncleanness, including fellowship with Gentiles (Acts 10:28). Jesus exemplifies New Covenant holiness, which extends mercy to everyone in imitation of the Father (Mt 5:43-48; Lk 6:36; CCC 545, 574).
See essay: Who Are the Pharisees?
Mk 2:17 | ISB Notes
no need of a physician: A well-known proverb. Jesus adapts it to imply that table-fellowship is central to his healing mission. Just as doctors do not avoid the sick, so Jesus cannot avoid those wounded by sin.
not to call the righteous: Jesus did not come to prolong the Old Covenant with the nation of Israel. This was an imperfect, provisional covenant designed to separate Israel from the Gentiles and their sins (Lev 20:26) while Israel was not ready to love God from the heart (Jer 11:8; Mt 19:8). Jesus inaugurates the New Covenant to transform the hearts of his people (Jer 31:31-34; Mt 5:8) and so welcomes all into Godâs covenant family. Whereas the Old Covenant quarantined Israel from the world, the New Covenant embraces the world within Godâs mercy (Rom 11:32).
Mk 2:19 | ISB Notes
the bridegroom: Jesus uses marital imagery to kilkJ reveal his divinity.
⢠His words recall several OT passages that depict Yahweh as a groom wedded to Israel (Is 54:5; Jer 3:20; Hos 2:20). The NT transfers this covenant relationship to Christ as the divine spouse of the Church (Mt 25:1-13; Eph 5:25; CCC 796).
they cannot fast: Since fasting symbolizes mourning and separation, it was inappropriate while Jesus was present among the disciples.
⢠Christians fast before celebrating the liturgy, i.e., before Christ comes among them in Word and Sacrament. The arrival of Christ then makes it a time of feasting, when the divine Bridegroom gives himself in love to his bride, the Church. Communion with Jesus in the Eucharist is a foretaste of the heavenly âmarriage supper of the Lambâ (Rev 19:9).
Mk 2:21-22 | ISB Notes
Because the Old Covenant has become like an old garment and old wineskins, the New Covenant can neither be stitched to its worn fibers nor poured into its brittle skins. Rather, the fasting and anticipation of the Old Covenant must give way to the feasting and celebration of the New Covenant that Jesus brings into the world.
Mk 2:24 | ISB Notes
not lawful on the sabbath: Although Deut 23:25 permits the Israelites to pluck and eat standing grain, the Pharisees indict the disciples under the law of Ex 34:21, which forbids harvesting on the Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11; CCC 2168-73). Resolved to discredit him, the Pharisees equate plucking grain with harvesting it.
Mk 2:25 | ISB Notes
Have you never read: A stinging insult to the educated Pharisees. See note on Mt 12:3.
what David did: Jesus recalls 1 Sam 21:1-6 to shed light on the present circumstances.
⢠David was permitted to override the Mosaic ritual Law by letting his hungry companions eat the sacred bread of the Tabernacle reserved for the priests. Since Jesus is the Messiah and thus greater than David (12:35-37), he should not be condemned for suspending the Sabbath to meet a legitimate need (hunger) for his own disciples. Should the Pharisees denounce Jesus, they would unwittingly denounce the honored King David.
Mk 2:26 | ISB Notes
when Abiathar was high priest: The priest who provided David with bread was actually Ahimelech, Abiatharâs father (1 Sam 21:1). This apparent discrepancy causes some modern scholars to accuse Jesus of misquoting Scripture, although this conclusion is unnecessary.
⢠Jesus probably mentioned Abiathar instead of Ahimelech to post a warning for the Pharisees. Abiathar is infamous in OT history as the last high priest of his line, who was banished from Jerusalem and the priesthood for opposing Solomon, the son of David and the heir of his kingdom (1 Kings 2:26-27). He thus represents the end of an old order that passes away with the coming of Davidâs royal successor. As Jesus compares himself and the disciples with David and his men, he likewise draws the Pharisees into the story by casting them as figures like Abiathar. The Pharisees, then, represent an old order of covenant leadership that is about to expire, and if they persist in their opposition to Jesus, the new heir of the Davidic kingdom, they will meet the same disastrous fate that befell Abiathar. Jesusâ allusion to this OT tradition was a subtle yet strategic way to caution the Pharisees against their antagonism to his ministry.
Mk 2:27 | ISB Notes
the sabbath: A day for physical rest and spiritual worship (Gen 2:1-3; Ex 20:8-11). It reminded the Israelites weekly of their total dependence upon God. The Pharisees, however, made observance of the Sabbath according to their own standards a stringent test of Jewish faithfulness. Whoever disobeyed the minute Sabbath regulations codified by the Pharisees was automatically suspected of religious laxity or compromise. According to Jesus, God designed the Sabbath to benefit his people, not to burden them (CCC 2172-73).