Mark 3:23

3:23 So ¹  he called them and spoke to them in parables: ²  “How can Satan cast out Satan?

Mark 6:7

Sending Out the Twelve Apostles

6:7 Jesus ³  called the twelve and began to send them out two by two. He gave them authority over the unclean spirits. ⁴ 

Mark 10:18

10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? ⁵  No one is good except God alone.

Mark 12:37

12:37 If David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” ⁶  And the large crowd was listening to him with delight.

Mark 15:35

15:35 When some of the bystanders heard it they said, “Listen, he is calling for Elijah!” ⁷ 

[3:23]  ¹ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of previous action(s) in the narrative.

[3:23]  ² sn Jesus spoke two parables to demonstrate the absurdity of the thinking of the religious leaders who maintained that he was in league with Satan and that he actually derived his power from the devil. The first parable (vv. 23-26) teaches that if Jesus cast out demons by the ruler of the demons, then in reality Satan is fighting against himself, with the result that his kingdom has come to an end. The second parable (v. 28) about tying up a strong man proves that Jesus does not need to align himself with the devil because Jesus is more powerful. Jesus defeated Satan at his temptation (1:12-13) and by his exorcisms he clearly demonstrated himself to be stronger than the devil. The passage reveals the desperate condition of the religious leaders, who in their hatred for Jesus end up attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to Satan (a position for which they will be held accountable, 3:29-30). For an explanation of what a parable is, see the note on parables in 4:2.

[6:7]  ³ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:7]  ⁴ sn The phrase unclean spirits refers to evil spirits.

[10:18]  ⁵ sn Jesus’ response, Why do you call me good?, was designed to cause the young man to stop and think for a moment about who Jesus really was. The following statement No one is good except God alone seems to point the man in the direction of Jesus’ essential nature and the demands which logically follow on the man for having said it.

[12:37]  ⁷ tn Grk “David himself calls him ‘Lord.’ So how is he his son?” The conditional nuance, implicit in Greek, has been made explicit in the translation (cf. Matt 22:45).

[15:35]  ⁹ sn Perhaps the crowd thought Jesus was calling for Elijah because the exclamation “my God, my God” (i.e., in Aramaic, Eloi, Eloi) sounds like the name Elijah.