Mark 2:7

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

Isaiah 65:5

65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself!

Don’t get near me, for I am holier than you!’

These people are like smoke in my nostrils,

like a fire that keeps burning all day long.

Luke 15:2-7

15:2 But ²  the Pharisees ³  and the experts in the law ⁴  were complaining, ⁵  “This man welcomes ⁶  sinners and eats with them.”

15:3 So ⁷  Jesus ⁸  told them ⁹  this parable: ¹⁰  15:4 “Which one ¹¹  of you, if he has a hundred ¹²  sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture ¹³  and go look for ¹⁴  the one that is lost until he finds it? ¹⁵  15:5 Then ¹⁶  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning ¹⁷  home, he calls together ¹⁸  his ¹⁹  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’ 15:7 I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner ²⁰  who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people ²¹  who have no need to repent. ²² 

Luke 18:11

18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed about himself like this: ²³  ‘God, I thank ²⁴  you that I am not like other people: ²⁵  extortionists, ²⁶  unrighteous people, ²⁷  adulterers – or even like this tax collector. ²⁸ 

Luke 19:7

19:7 And when the people ²⁹  saw it, they all complained, ³⁰  “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” ³¹ 

Luke 19:10

19:10 For the Son of Man came ³²  to seek and to save the lost.”

Luke 19:1

Jesus and Zacchaeus

19:1 Jesus ³³  entered Jericho ³⁴  and was passing through it.

Colossians 2:15

2:15 Disarming ³⁵  the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ³⁶ 

Hebrews 12:3

12:3 Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.

[2:7]  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.

[15:2]  ² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[15:2]  ³ sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.

[15:2]  ⁴ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

[15:2]  ⁵ tn Or “grumbling”; Grk “were complaining, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:2]  ⁶ tn Or “accepts,” “receives.” This is not the first time this issue has been raised: Luke 5:27-32; 7:37-50.

[15:3]  ⁷ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ telling of the parable is in response to the complaints of the Pharisees and experts in the law.

[15:3]  ⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:3]  ⁹ sn Them means at the minimum the parable is for the leadership, but probably also for those people Jesus accepted, but the leaders regarded as outcasts.

[15:3]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “parable, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:4]  ¹¹ tn Grk “What man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

[15:4]  ¹² sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

[15:4]  ¹³ tn Or “desert,” but here such a translation might suggest neglect of the 99 sheep left behind.

[15:4]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “go after,” but in contemporary English the idiom “to look for” is used to express this.

[15:4]  ¹⁵ sn Until he finds it. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

[15:5]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:6]  ¹⁸ sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

[15:6]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215). It occurs before “neighbors” as well (“his friends and his neighbors”) but has not been translated the second time because of English style.

[15:7]  ²⁰ sn There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents. The pursuit of the sinner is a priority in spite of the presence of others who are doing well (see also Luke 5:32; 19:10). The theme of repentance, a major Lukan theme, is again emphasized.

[15:7]  ²¹ tn Here δικαίοις (dikaioi") is an adjective functioning substantivally and has been translated “righteous people.”

[15:7]  ²² tn Or “who do not need to repent”; Grk “who do not have need of repentance.”

[18:11]  ²³ tn Or “stood by himself and prayed like this.” The prepositional phrase πρὸς ἑαυτόν (pros eauton, “to/about himself”) could go with either the aorist participle σταθείς (staqeis, “stood”) or with the imperfect verb προσηύχετο (proshuceto, “he prayed”). If taken with the participle, then the meaning would seem at first glance to be: “stood ‘by himself’,” or “stood ‘alone’.” Now it is true that πρός can mean “by” or “with” when used with intransitive verbs such as ἵστημι ({isthmi, “I stand”; cf. BDAG 874 s.v. πρός 2.a), but πρὸς ἑαυτόν together never means “by himself” or “alone” in biblical Greek. On the other hand, if πρὸς ἑαυτόν is taken with the verb, then two different nuances emerge, both of which highlight in different ways the principal point Jesus seems to be making about the arrogance of this religious leader: (1) “prayed to himself,” but not necessarily silently, or (2) “prayed about himself,” with the connotation that he prayed out loud, for all to hear. Since his prayer is really a review of his moral résumé, directed both at advertising his own righteousness and exposing the perversion of the tax collector, whom he actually mentions in his prayer, the latter option seems preferable. If this is the case, then the Pharisee’s mention of God is really nothing more than a formality.

[18:11]  ²⁴ sn The Pharisee’s prayer started out as a thanksgiving psalm to God, but the praise ended up not being about God.

[18:11]  ²⁵ tn Here the plural Greek term ἀνθρώπων (anqrwpwn) is used as a generic and can refer to both men and women (NASB, NRSV, “people”; NLT, “everyone else”; NAB, “the rest of humanity”).

[18:11]  ²⁶ tn Or “swindlers” (BDAG 134 s.v. ἅρπαξ 2); see also Isa 10:2; Josephus, J. W. 6.3.4 [6.203].

[18:11]  ²⁷ sn A general category for “sinners” (1 Cor 6:9; Lev 19:3).

[18:11]  ²⁸ sn Note what the Pharisee assumes about the righteousness of this tax collector by grouping him with extortionists, unrighteous people, and adulterers.

[19:7]  ²⁹ tn Grk “they”; the referent is unspecified but is probably the crowd in general, who would have no great love for a man like Zacchaeus who had enriched himself many times over at their expense.

[19:7]  ³⁰ tn This term is used only twice in the NT, both times in Luke (here and 15:2) and has negative connotations both times (BDAG 227 s.v. διαγογγύζω). The participle λέγοντες (legonte") is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[19:7]  ³¹ sn Being the guest of a man who is a sinner was a common complaint about Jesus: Luke 5:31-32; 7:37-50; 15:1-2.

[19:10]  ³² sn The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost is Jesus’ mission succinctly defined. See Luke 15:1-32.

[19:1]  ³³ tn Grk “And entering, he passed through”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[19:1]  ³⁴ map For location see Map5 B2; Map6 E1; Map7 E1; Map8 E3; Map10 A2; Map11 A1.

[2:15]  ³⁵ tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.

[2:15]  ³⁶ tn The antecedent of the Greek pronoun αὐτῷ (autw) could either be “Christ” or the “cross.” There are several reasons for choosing “the cross” as the antecedent for αὐτῷ in verse 15: (1) The nearest antecedent is τῷ σταυρῷ (tw staurw) in v. 14; (2) the idea of ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησία (edeigmatisen en parrhsia, “made a public disgrace”) seems to be more in keeping with the idea of the cross; (3) a reference to Christ seems to miss the irony involved in the idea of triumph – the whole point is that where one would expect defeat, there came the victory; (4) if Christ is the subject of the participles in v. 15 then almost certainly the cross is the referent for αὐτῷ. Thus the best solution is to see αὐτῷ as a reference to the cross and the preposition ἐν (en) indicating “means” (i.e., by means of the cross) or possibly (though less likely) location (on the cross).