Mark 3:12

3:12 But ¹  he sternly ordered them not to make him known. ² 

Mark 4:2

4:2 He taught them many things in parables, ³  and in his teaching said to them:

Mark 5:10

5:10 He begged Jesus ⁴  repeatedly not to send them out of the region.

Mark 6:13

6:13 They cast out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

[3:12]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:12]  ² sn Jesus did not permit the demons to make him known because the time for such disclosure was not yet at hand, and such a revelation would have certainly been misunderstood by the people. In all likelihood, if the people had understood him early on to be the Son of God, or Messiah, they would have reduced his mission to one of political deliverance from Roman oppression (cf. John 6:15). Jesus wanted to avoid, as much as possible, any premature misunderstanding about who he was and what he was doing. However, at the end of his ministry, he did not deny such a title when the high priest asked him (14:61-62).

[4:2]  ³ sn Though parables can contain a variety of figures of speech (cf. 2:19-22; 3:23-25; 4:3-9, 26-32; 7:15-17; 13:28), many times they are simply stories that attempt to teach spiritual truth (which is unknown to the hearers) by using a comparison with something known to the hearers. In general, parables usually advance a single idea, though there may be many parts and characters in a single parable and subordinate ideas may expand the main idea further. The beauty of using the parable as a teaching device is that it draws the listener into the story, elicits an evaluation, and demands a response.

[5:10]  ⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.