Mark 2:4

2:4 When they were not able to bring him in because of the crowd, they removed the roof ¹  above Jesus. ²  Then, ³  after tearing it out, they lowered the stretcher the paralytic was lying on.

Mark 4:15

4:15 These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: Whenever they hear, immediately Satan ⁴  comes and snatches the word ⁵  that was sown in them.

Mark 6:11

6:11 If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off ⁶  your feet as a testimony against them.”

Mark 8:34

Following Jesus

8:34 Then ⁷  Jesus ⁸  called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, ⁹  he must deny ¹⁰  himself, take up his cross, ¹¹  and follow me.

Mark 9:2

The Transfiguration

9:2 Six days later ¹²  Jesus took with him Peter, James, and John and led them alone up a high mountain privately. And he was transfigured before them, ¹³ 

Mark 16:6

16:6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. ¹⁴  He has been raised! ¹⁵  He is not here. Look, there is the place where they laid him.

[2:4]  ¹ sn A house in 1st century Palestine would have had a flat roof with stairs or a ladder going up. This access was often from the outside of the house.

[2:4]  ² tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:4]  ³ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[4:15]  ⁴ sn Interestingly, the synoptic parallels each use a different word for Satan here: Matt 13:19 has “the evil one,” while Luke 8:12 has “the devil.” This illustrates the fluidity of the gospel tradition in often using synonyms at the same point of the parallel tradition.

[4:15]  ⁵ sn The word of Jesus has the potential to save if it germinates in a person’s heart, something the devil is very much against.

[6:11]  ⁷ sn To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.

[8:34]  ¹⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[8:34]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:34]  ¹² tn Grk “to follow after me.”

[8:34]  ¹³ tn This translation better expresses the force of the Greek third person imperative than the traditional “let him deny,” which could be understood as merely permissive.

[8:34]  ¹⁴ sn To bear the cross means to accept the rejection of the world for turning to Jesus and following him. Discipleship involves a death that is like a crucifixion; see Gal 6:14.

[9:2]  ¹³ tn Grk “And after six days.”

[9:2]  ¹⁴ sn In 1st century Judaism and in the NT, there was the belief that the righteous get new, glorified bodies in order to enter heaven (1 Cor 15:42-49; 2 Cor 5:1-10). This transformation means the righteous will share the glory of God. One recalls the way Moses shared the Lord’s glory after his visit to the mountain in Exod 34. So the disciples saw Jesus transfigured, and they were getting a sneak preview of the great glory that Jesus would have (only his glory is more inherent to him as one who shares in the rule of the kingdom).

[16:6]  ¹⁶ sn See the note on Crucify in 15:13.

[16:6]  ¹⁷ tn The verb here is passive (ἠγέρθη, hgerqh). This “divine passive” (see ExSyn 437-38) points to the fact that Jesus was raised by God.