9:42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone 7 tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.
12:28 Now 13 one of the experts in the law 14 came and heard them debating. When he saw that Jesus 15 answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
14:43 Right away, while Jesus 16 was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, arrived. 17 With him came a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent by the chief priests and experts in the law 18 and elders.
1 sn Wineskins were bags made of skin or leather, used for storing wine in NT times. As the new wine fermented and expanded, it would stretch the new wineskins. Putting new (unfermented) wine in old wineskins, which had already been stretched, would result in the bursting of the wineskins.
2 sn The meaning of the saying new wine is poured into new skins is that the presence and teaching of Jesus was something new and signaled the passing of the old. It could not be confined within the old religion of Judaism, but involved the inauguration and consummation of the kingdom of God.
3 sn The strong man here pictures Satan.
4 sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.
5 tn Grk “he had often been bound with chains and shackles.” “Shackles” could also be translated “fetters”; they were chains for the feet.
6 tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
7 tn Grk “the millstone of a donkey.” This refers to a large flat stone turned by a donkey in the process of grinding grain (BDAG 661 s.v. μύλος 2; L&N 7.68-69). The same term is used in the parallel account in Matt 18:6.
sn The punishment of drowning with a heavy weight attached is extremely gruesome and reflects Jesus’ views concerning those who cause others who believe in him to sin.
8 tn Grk “throw it out.”
9 tn Grk “than having.”
10 tn The words “the money” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.
11 sn The call for sacrifice comes with a promise of eternal reward: You will have treasure in heaven. Jesus’ call is a test to see how responsive the man is to God’s direction through him. Will he walk the path God’s agent calls him to walk? For a rich person who got it right, see Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10.
12 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
13 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.
14 tn Or “One of the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.
15 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
17 tn Or “approached.” This is a different verb than the one translated “arrived” in Matt 26:47 and below in v. 45, although in this context the meanings probably overlap.
18 tn Or “from the chief priests, scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 1:22.