Mark 2:7

2:7 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! ¹  Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Mark 3:35

3:35 For whoever does the will of God is ²  my brother and sister and mother.”

Mark 12:10

12:10 Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ³ 

Mark 13:13

13:13 You will be hated by everyone because of my name. ⁴  But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ⁵ 

Mark 14:69

14:69 When the slave girl saw him, she began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.”

¹ sn Blaspheming meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.

² tn The pleonastic pronoun οὗτος (Jouto", “this one”) which precedes this verb has not been translated.

³ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

⁴ sn See 1 Cor 1:25-31.

⁵ sn But the one who endures to the end will be saved. Jesus was not claiming here that salvation is by works, because he had already taught that it is by grace (cf. 10:15). He was simply arguing that genuine faith evidences itself in persistence through even the worst of trials.