Mark 4:41

4:41 They were overwhelmed by fear and said to one another, “Who then is this? ¹  Even the wind and sea obey him!” ² 

Mark 9:7

9:7 Then ³  a cloud ⁴  overshadowed them, ⁵  and a voice came from the cloud, “This is my one dear Son. ⁶  Listen to him!” ⁷ 

Mark 12:7

12:7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours!’

Mark 15:39

15:39 Now when the centurion, ⁸  who stood in front of him, saw how he died, ⁹  he said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”

[4:41]  ¹ sn Jesus’ authority over creation raised a question for the disciples about who he was exactly (Who then is this?). This verse shows that the disciples followed Jesus even though they did not know all about him yet.

[4:41]  ² sn This section in Mark (4:35-5:43) contains four miracles: (1) the calming of the storm; (2) the exorcism of the demon-possessed man; (3) the giving of life to Jairus’ daughter; (4) the healing of the woman hemorrhaging for twelve years. All these miracles demonstrate Jesus’ right to proclaim the kingdom message and his sovereign authority over forces, directly or indirectly, hostile to the kingdom. The last three may have been brought together to show that Jesus had power over all defilement, since contact with graves, blood, or a corpse was regarded under Jewish law as causing a state of ritual uncleanness.

[9:7]  ³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[9:7]  ⁴ sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.

[9:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “And there came a cloud, surrounding them.”

[9:7]  ⁶ tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).

[9:7]  ⁷ sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.

[15:39]  ⁵ sn A centurion was a noncommissioned officer in the Roman army or one of the auxiliary territorial armies, commanding a centuria of (nominally) 100 men. The responsibilities of centurions were broadly similar to modern junior officers, but there was a wide gap in social status between them and officers, and relatively few were promoted beyond the rank of senior centurion. The Roman troops stationed in Judea were auxiliaries, who would normally be rewarded with Roman citizenship after 25 years of service. Some of the centurions may have served originally in the Roman legions (regular army) and thus gained their citizenship at enlistment. Others may have inherited it, like Paul.

[15:39]  ⁶ tn Grk “the way he breathed his last”; or “the way he expired”; or “that he thus breathed no more.”