Mark 1:15
1:15 He 1 said, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God 2 is near. Repent and believe the gospel!”
Mark 2:7
2:7 “Why does this man speak this way? He is blaspheming! 3 Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
Mark 7:9
7:9 He also said to them, “You neatly reject the commandment of God in order to set up 4 your tradition.
Mark 10:15
10:15 I tell you the truth, 5 whoever does not receive 6 the kingdom of God like a child 7 will never 8 enter it.”
Mark 10:18
10:18 Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? 9 No one is good except God alone.
1 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
2 sn The kingdom of God is a reference to the sovereign activity of God as he rules over his creation and brings his plans to realization.
3 sn Blaspheming meant to say something that dishonored God. To claim divine prerogatives or claim to speak for God when one really does not would be such an act of offense. The remark raised directly the issue of the nature of Jesus’ ministry.
4 tc The translation here follows the reading στήσητε (sthshte, “set up”) found in D W Θ Ë1 28 565 2542 it sys,p Cyp. The majority of mss here read τηρήσητε (thrhsete; א A L Ë13 33 Ï co) or τηρῆτε (thrhte; B 2427), both translated “keep.” It is hard to know which reading is best: On the one hand, τηρήσητε/τηρῆτε has much stronger external support, but στήσητε is a more difficult reading. What makes “keep” suspect is that it appears in two different forms, suggesting independent alterations of a difficult reading. Further, scribes may have been influenced by the preceding “commandment of God” to change the text toward “keep” (TCGNT 81), a common enough expression (cf. Matt 19:17; John 14:15; 1 Tim 6:1; 1 John 5:3; Rev 14:12). Thus, the more difficult reading is “set up.” Also, the more natural opposite of “reject” (ἀθεῖτε [aqeite], literally “you set aside”) is “set up.” However, the Western reading may have been influenced by Exod 6:4 or Heb 10:9, but this likelihood seems remote. Thus, “set up” is more likely to be the original wording of Mark here.
5 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
6 sn On receive see John 1:12.
7 sn The point of the comparison receive the kingdom of God like a child has more to do with a child’s trusting spirit and willingness to be dependent and receive from others than any inherent humility the child might possess.
8 tn The negation in Greek (οὐ μή, ou mh) is very strong here.
9 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.