Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 1 Study # 6
June 25, 2019
Moss Bluff, Louisiana
(084)
1901 ASV
6 But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts,
7 Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, [
even] God?
8 And straightway Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?
9 Which is easier, to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and take up thy
bed, and walk?
10 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath authority on earth to forgive sins (he saith to the sick of the palsy),
11 I say unto thee, Arise, take up thy
bed, and go unto thy house.
12 And he arose, and straightway took up the
bed, and went forth before them all; insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
- I. Mark's Focus Upon the Reaction by "Some of the Scribes".
- A. He says they were "there" and that they were "sitting" and "reasoning" in their hearts.
- 1. That they were "there" simply reinforces the record that the people were flocking to Jesus (Mark's term is "gathered together as if at a service of the synagogue").
- a. The people's "attraction to Him" was rooted in a hodgepodge of motivation.
- 1) His message ("...He was speaking The Word to them...") doubtlessly drew some because it offered "Hope" in a way that the "synagogue" did not. There are roots in this motivation in Mark's record of John who attracted "all Judaea" (1:4) without the pull of exorcisms and healings.
- 2) His demonstration of His identity as "The Mighty One" sent from God was potent: He cast out demons and healed all manner of physical ailments, so that those who sought "relief" on these two levels sought it from Him. Some (perhaps many) were drawn by their desire for relief without any serious interest in His message.
- b. The scribes' presence was compelled by their "investment" in the doctrines of the synagogue for the purpose of gaining/maintaining their place as "spokesmen for God".
- 1) Mark has a strong presentation of "scribal behavior" in his over-all record (he refers to them in 22 texts as a basis for comparison to Matthew's record which is almost twice as long and only refers to them 24 times and Luke's record which is also far longer and he only refers to them 15 times and John only mentions them once).
- 2) Mark's initial reference is 1:22 where he denigrates their "style of teaching" as not having any "authority".
- a) This is remarkable in that "authority" in the synagogue was one of their chief desires (12:38).
- b) This is a classic example of the inherent reality that the methods of those who seek false goals are actually the root of their inability to achieve them. The pompous scribes think they are "impressive" in their "teaching" while, behind their backs eyes are rolling.
- 2. That they were "sitting" is a subtle statement by Mark regarding their "assumption of status" so that, though everyone was crowded in like sardines, the scribes had taken "seats" as a mark of their presumption (12:39).
- 3. While "sitting" "there", they were "reasoning" in their hearts.
- a. The issue of "reasoning" is pretty much automatic when something is not understood (8:16-17). However, this "reasoning" is at the "heart" level and is occurring because of the problem of a "hardened heart" (8:17) in that an unhardened heart would have picked up on the truth almost automatically. Truth is not hard to recognize except when the "heart" is obstinately resistant. In Jesus' "Good Shepherd Discourse", He simply declared that His sheep hear His voice (John 10:27). This means that there is a kind of immediate understanding in the "hearts" of those who belong to Jesus (this explains how the four disciples responded so immediately and comprehensively to Jesus' summons to discipleship in chapter one). However, the 8:17 text does also declare that those "sheep" do not have a "thoroughly softened" heart so that certain "pockets of hardness" exist and frustrate comprehension.
- b. With the scribes, there is an undercurrent of "sitting to judge" involved (they quickly accused Him of blasphemy).
- 1) There was no real problem with them "reasoning in their hearts" as that is what every person does when they hear something that runs contrary to everything they have believed in the past. The real "problem" is that they immediately jumped to a "biblical" conclusion before they could process everything that was involved. The immediacy strongly suggests a kind of over-commitment to what one has always "believed" so that the willingness to be "taught" has died along the way.
- 2) This attitude indicates that they are not very curious as to the roots of Jesus' teaching as it was buttressed by His "powers". In the very next chapter, Mark declares that it was "scribes from Jerusalem" that set forth the argument that His "powers" of exorcisms and healings came from Beelzebub (3:22). This reveals that they knew that those "powers" were the strongest argument for His identity as "The Mighty One" so that they had to have an answer for the charge that they were ignoring them.
- 3) Rather, they seem to be looking for a way to take Him down a peg or two because of the adulation of the crowd.
- B. He reveals the main "point of contention".
- 1. Jesus came upon the scene on the wave of John's "preparatory" impact with his "If you will repent, God will forgive you" message.
- 2. The participants in the synagogue realized that this "message", which Jesus reinforced, was not standard fare in the synagogue; it was, rather , "new".
- 3. And now Jesus moves His "message" to another level: "If you believe in Me, your sins will be treated as non-Judgment issues (in the sense of eternal condemnation) in that they "are being forgiven" to those who have become "children".
- a. No longer is the issue whether, or not, you wish to "relate to God" by means of repentance.
- b. Now the issue is whether, or not, you will relate to God by ways which Jesus declares to you.
- 1) To do this, the "old" teachings of the synagogue will have to be rejected.
- 2) To do this, the "new" teaching will have to be embraced, and its "parts" will have to be embraced as they are revealed (such as the addition of "faith" to the summons to "repentance").
- C. He puts the thoughts of the hearts of the scribes into a series of direct quotes.
- 1. The first "quote" of the thoughts is the question: Why is He thusly making these noises?
- a. They do not directly accuse Him of "setting forth doctrine" (lego, the more widely used verb in Mark's record -- 187 verses) but they recognize that His "speech" (laleo, the lesser used verb -- only 17 verses) carries some serious "doctrinal" problems.
- b. Their question as to "Why" He is speaking thus has to do with their assumption that His speech would be counter-productive if His goal was to gain a large following for His message. Almost everyone would have heart-burn over a visibly human person claiming the prerogatives of God. They apparently are wondering how He expects to go forward from here.
- 2. The second "quote" is a declaration: He is blaspheming.
- a. This is a "conclusion" type of statement; there does not seem to be much question in their minds.
- b. This accusation is of a capital crime in Jewish law and is rooted in the concept of a man saying of God something that is absolutely not true.
- 3. The third "quote" is another question: Who is able to "forgive" sins except One, The God?
- a. This question is not a question, per se; it is a rationale for the "conclusion". It is given in the form of a question in a kind of "everyone knows this and would have to agree with us" argument.
- b. Their argument is pretty sound: "forgiveness" as an on-going process is, pretty much, something only God can do. The reason is not hard: "forgiveness" involves breaking the hold "sins" have on the sinner because of the Justice of God. For anyone to "forgive", they have to have control over the application of "justice" [Note: even in the Matthew 18 teaching about the "Church's" ability to "bind" sins to someone, or to "loose" them from someone, the text declares that "heaven" had already taken those actions (the verbs in Matthew 18:18 in respect to Heaven's part in the process are in the Perfect Tense). The point is that the actions taken by the Church were taken in Heaven before the Church got into the act. In an omniscient environment like Heaven, we would expect this.]