Mark 2:9

2:9 Which is easier, ¹  to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up, take your stretcher, and walk’?

Mark 4:21

The Parable of the Lamp

4:21 He also said to them, “A lamp ²  isn’t brought to be put under a basket ³  or under a bed, is it? Isn’t it to be placed on a lampstand?

Mark 14:44

14:44 (Now the betrayer ⁴  had given them a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the man. Arrest him and lead him away under guard.”) ⁵ 

[2:9]  ¹ sn Which is easier is a reflective kind of question. On the one hand to declare sins are forgiven is easier, since one does not need to see it, unlike telling a paralyzed person to walk. On the other hand, it is harder, because for it to be true one must possess the authority to forgive the sin.

[4:21]  ² sn The lamp is probably an ancient oil burning lamp or perhaps a candlestick. Jesus is comparing revelation to light, particularly the revelation of his ministry.

[4:21]  ³ tn Or “a bowl”; this refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151).

[14:44]  ³ tn Grk “the one who betrays him.”

[14:44]  ⁴ sn This remark is parenthetical within the narrative and has thus been placed in parentheses.