1:12-13 An abridged account of Jesus' temptation. 5 • Jesus faces the same ordeal that Adam and Israel endured in the OT (CCC 538-540). He is thus tempted by Satan among the wild beasts, as the first Adam was tempted amid the beasts in paradise. He likewise retraces the steps of Israel, being led into the wilderness by the Spirit and tested for forty days as the Israelites marched in the desert for 40 years of testing. In the end, Jesus succeeds where Adam and Israel failed by resisting the devil and proving his filial love for the Father. This initiates an extended campaign against demons, death, and disease throughout the Gospel (1:25, 31, 34; 2:11; 3:5; 5:13, 39-41). See note on Mt 4:1-11. • Morally (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in Matt. 13): Jesus endured temptation to train his disciples how to overcome the devil. No one should be surprised, then, that after our own Baptism the tempter assails us more aggressively than before. Victory is assured if, like Jesus, we commit ourselves to fasting, wait upon the Lord with patience, and have no desire for things beyond our need. Back to text.

1:14 John was arrested: A pivotal event turning the focus of Jesus' ministry to Galilee. Prior to this, Jesus had an earlier ministry in Judea that overlapped with John's (Jn 3:23). See note on Mt 4:12. Back to text.

1:15 the kingdom of God: God's sovereign rule over all nations through Jesus. • The kingdom of Christ is closely linked with the ancient kingdom of Israel that flourished under David and Solomon. Although David's empire soon collapsed, for a brief time it foreshadowed the glory of Christ's reign over the tribes of Israel (2 Sam 5:1-5; Mt 19:28) and other Gentile nations (1 Kings 4:20-21; Mt 28:18-20). The international kingdom of old is now resurrected and transfigured in the Church, where Christ rules as David's rightful heir (Mt 1:1; Lk 1:32-33) enthroned in heaven (Mk 16:19; Heb 8:1-2). Back to text.

1:16-20 The first disciples respond to Jesus immediately (1:18, 20). His compelling invitation to follow as a disciple is Jesus' initial step toward sending missionaries into the world as fishers of men (Mt 28:18-20). Christ chooses men of modest education to demonstrate to the world that the wisdom of the gospel stems directly from God and not the ingenuity of man. See chart: The Twelve Apostles at Mk 3. Back to text.

1:20 left their father: Such an abrupt break with family and livelihood was extraordinary then as now. The impulse to abandon everything and follow Jesus highlights the surpassing excellence of Christian discipleship over every worldly pursuit. hired servants: Suggests that the fishing enterprise of Zebedee and his sons was prosperous. Back to text.

1:21 Capernaum: Jesus' new home and headquarters in Galilee (2:1; Mt 4:12-13). It is located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. on the sabbath: The seventh day of the Jewish week set aside for worship and rest (Gen 2:3; Ex 20:811; CCC 2168-73). Since Jews number the days from sunset to sunset, the Sabbath begins every Friday evening and ends at sundown Saturday. synagogue: A small building used as a gathering place for prayer, worship, and instruction in the Scriptures. See note on Mt 4:23. Back to text.

1:23 an unclean spirit: A demon or fallen angel (3:11; 5:2; 6:7; 9:25). He confesses that Jesus is the "Holy One" (1:24) out of fear, not genuine faith (cf. Jas 2:19). Back to text.

1:27 With authority: Divine power is displayed through Jesus' word. While most exorcists of the day recited lengthy incantations or used odorous roots to expel demons, Jesus simply commands the spirits and they leave (CCC 550). The demons' inability to resist him is shown by their dramatic exhibition of "convulsing" and "crying" (1:26). Back to text.

1:32 That evening: i.e., after sunset on the Sabbath (Saturday). Bringing the sick and demon-possessed to Jesus was laborious and thus unlawful before the Sabbath day ended. See note on Mk 1:21. Back to text.

1:35 in the morning: Following Mark's chronology, Jesus prayed early Sunday morning following the Sabbath. His practice anticipates the liturgical prayer of the Church early on the first day of the week (CCC 2174). Jesus also practices what he preaches on the propriety of solitary prayer (Mt 6:5-6; CCC 2602). See note on Mk 1:32. Back to text.

1:40 a leper: Leprosy was a skin disease that made victims unclean, i.e., unfit to participate in the liturgical life of Israel (Lev 13:1-8). Because ritual uncleanness was considered contagious under the Old Covenant—infecting everyone who came in contact with it—lepers were isolated from society to keep those who were clean separated from those who were unclean (Lev 13:45-46). Jesus reaches across this divide when he touches the leper, and though others would be defiled by such contact, he conquers the uncleanness by the greater power of his holiness (1:41; CCC 1503-5). See note on Mt 8:1-9:38. Back to text.

1:44 say nothing to any one: The "messianic secret" is a leading theme in Mark. Jesus frequently enjoins silence on demons (1:25, 34; 3:12) and men (5:43; 7:36; 8:30; 9:9) to conceal his identity as the Messiah (CCC 439). Several considerations account for this strategy. (1) Jesus wanted to avoid a sensationalist reputation of being no more than a wonderworker. Publicizing his deeds by word of mouth comes with the danger that rumors will begin to disconnect his miracles from his saving message. (2) He wanted to sidestep popular expectations that the Messiah would be a political and military leader. (3) He did not wish to ignite the wrath of his enemies before the appointed time of his Passion. See introduction: Themes. show yourself: The Mosaic Law required Levitical priests to inspect lepers and determine their status as clean or unclean (Lev 14:1-32). With approval, an individual pronounced clean would offer sacrifices at the Temple to be reinstated in the worshiping community of Israel. See note on Mt 8:4. Back to text.

2:1-12 The healing of the paralytic reveals Jesus' identity through his actions: he claims to forgive sins as only God can forgive and to channel that forgiveness to the world as only the Jerusalem Temple and priesthood were authorized to do under the Old Covenant. Back to text.

2:5 their faith: i.e., the faith of the four men who carried kilkJ the paralytic (2:4). • The forgiveness that Jesus confers upon the helpless paralytic in response to the faith of others (the four men) mirrors the effects of Infant Baptism, where he continues to regenerate helpless children through the intercessory faith of their parents (CCC 1250-53). Back to text.

2:6 the scribes: Scholars of the Mosaic Law and its traditional interpretation. With the exception of one episode (12:2834), they are cast as Jesus' adversaries in Mark. Back to text.

2:7 it is blasphemy!: The scribes are incensed that Jesus claims for himself a prerogative that belongs only to God: the power to remit sins (Ps 103:3; Is 43:25; CCC 1441). They have misjudged the matter as blasphemy, which was a capital crime in ancient Israel (Lev 24:16). Note that Jesus manifests his divinity both by absolving the man's sins and by exposing the unspoken disapproval of his critics (2:8). Back to text.

2:9 Which is easier: Forgiveness is easier to claim than to accomplish, since its effects cannot be verified by observation. For this reason, Jesus restores the man's body as a visible demonstration of what he has already done invisibly in his soul. See note on Mt 9:8. Back to text.

2:14 Levi: Also called "Matthew" (Mt 9:9). He abandoned his occupation to follow Jesus and was later named an apostle (3:18). the tax office: The Pharisees despised tax collectors as "sinners" (2:15) for several reasons. (1) Collecting revenue in Galilee involved frequent contact with Gentiles. By Pharisaic standards, this meant that collectors were exposed to the ritual defilement of the pagans. (2) Since taxes were collected for the unwelcome Romans, who ruled Palestine, collectors were branded as traitors to Israel's hope for national independence. (3) Collectors were sometimes guilty of extortion, exacting personal commissions above the required tax amount. Back to text.

2:15-28 Three controversies between Jesus and the Pharisees. In each, the Pharisees try to discredit Jesus as a spiritual leader (2:16, 18, 24). They consider his behavior questionable and even dangerous, as though Jesus were leading Israel away from true covenant holiness. (1) In 2:15-17, the Pharisees are scandalized by those with whom Jesus eats (tax collectors, sinners). (2) In 2:18-22, they question why he eats with his disciples instead of fasting like John's followers. (3) In 2:23-28, the issue concerns when his disciples pluck and eat grain (on the Sabbath). These tensions reach the breaking point with the Pharisees' conspiracy to eliminate Jesus (3:6). Back to text.

2:16 eating with sinners: Table-fellowship was symbolic of personal acceptance and mutual friendship in the ancient Near East. Jesus' open association with outcasts thus violates the standards of the Pharisees, who regarded sinners and tax collectors as inappropriate company for the religious Jew. They clung to Old Covenant standards of holiness that required Israelites to separate themselves from all sources of uncleanness, including fellowship with Gentiles (Acts 10:28). Jesus exemplifies New Covenant holiness, which extends mercy to everyone in imitation of the Father (Mt 5:43-48; Lk 6:36; CCC 545, 574). See essay: Who Are the Pharisees? Back to text.

2:17 no need of a physician: A well-known proverb. Jesus adapts it to imply that table-fellowship is central to his healing mission. Just as doctors do not avoid the sick, so Jesus cannot avoid those wounded by sin. not to call the righteous: Jesus did not come to prolong the Old Covenant with the nation of Israel. This was an imperfect, provisional covenant designed to separate Israel from the Gentiles and their sins (Lev 20:26) while Israel was not ready to love God from the heart (Jer 11:8; Mt 19:8). Jesus inaugurates the New Covenant to transform the hearts of his people (Jer 31:31-34; Mt 5:8) and so welcomes all into God's covenant family. Whereas the Old Covenant quarantined Israel from the world, the New Covenant embraces the world within God's mercy (Rom 11:32). Back to text.

2:19 the bridegroom: Jesus uses marital imagery to kilkJ reveal his divinity. • His words recall several OT passages that depict Yahweh as a groom wedded to Israel (Is 54:5; Jer 3:20; Hos 2:20). The NT transfers this covenant relationship to Christ as the divine spouse of the Church (Mt 25:1-13; Eph 5:25; CCC 796). they cannot fast: Since fasting symbolizes mourning and separation, it was inappropriate while Jesus was present among the disciples. • Christians fast before celebrating the liturgy, i.e., before Christ comes among them in Word and Sacrament. The arrival of Christ then makes it a time of feasting, when the divine Bridegroom gives himself in love to his bride, the Church. Communion with Jesus in the Eucharist is a foretaste of the heavenly "marriage supper of the Lamb" (Rev 19:9). Back to text.

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