January 6th, 2024

One of the names for this Sunday is the First Sunday after Epiphany, and the other name that is a bit more familiar is ‘The Baptism of Our Lord’. The season of Epiphany started with the visit of the magi, Jesus being made known to some significant others. And remembering the baptism of Jesus is a good component of that season, a reminder of Jesus’ desired proximity to the sinfulness of human flesh.

With the writings of this website, we are going through the Gospel according to Mark, according to our own pace. The brief description of Jesus’ baptism was covered a few weeks ago. And our own pace has us, with this week’s writing, beginning chapter two of the text. And we will come upon a word that shows for the first time in the first few words of our text, and it will stay with us until near the end of the book. It is the word translated as ‘again’.

Many people associate the word ‘again’ with boredom. But that is certainly not the case here. Things that are done ‘again’ are never EXACTLY the same. There is a benefit attached to repetition. And there is included with a repetition, some type of progression, a significant movement forward in some special way.

Jesus has a limited time on earth. There is still some time for repetition. You could say that there is a method to his … movement.

You may note that, with the first time the word ‘again’ appears, Jesus is going back to Capernaum, the same place where he was before, with the same disciples. But things are not the same.

You might want to make a note of the reaction of the people. Before this, the reaction of the people was that Jesus was popular and that he had power over the unclean spirits. But now the reaction of the people brings God into the issue. The question is a good one: Who is able to forgive sins, to release us from sins, except God? Bringing God into the conversation is a significant step forward. And both the paralytic and the tax collector will rise at the words of Jesus.

So, what follows is my attempt at a somewhat-literal translation of what is commonly known as the second chapter of the Gospel according to Mark, basically the first half of that chapter (and the historical presents—a present tense verb where a past tense is expected—will be in bold print; and you may wish to look in a study bible or other translations for a more detailed study of a particular part of this text, Mark 2:1-17):

And having entered again into Capernaum, through days, it was heard that, in house, he is. And, were assembled, many, so that, no longer, to have room, not even, the ones toward the door, and he was speaking to them the word.

And they come, bringing toward him a paralytic, being carried by four. And not being able to bring near to him, because of the crowd, they unroofed the roof where he was, and having dug out, they lower the mattress where the paralytic was lying. And having seen, the Jesus, the faith of them, he says to the paralytic, “Child, they are forgiven, of you, the sins.”

Now they were, some of the scribes there, sitting and dialoguing in the hearts of them, “Why this one, thus speaks? He blasphemes! Who is able to forgive sins, except One, the God?”

And straightway, having known, the Jesus, in the spirit of him, that thus they dialogue in themselves, he says to them, “Why these things you dialogue in the hearts of you? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘They are forgiven of you, the sins’, or to say, ‘Rise and take the mattress of you and walk’? Now that you may know that authority, he has, the Son of the Man, to forgive sins upon the earth,” he says to the paralytic, “To you, I say, ‘Rise, take up the mattress of you, and go into the house of you.’”

And he arose and straightway, having taken up the mattress, he came out before all, so as to be stood out, all, and to glorify the God, saying, “Thus, never, we saw.”

And he came out, again, beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming toward him, and he was teaching them. And passing beside, he saw Levi, the one of the Alphaeus, sitting at the tax office, and he says to him, “Follow me.” And rising, he followed him. And it happens, to recline, he, in the house of him, and many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with the Jesus and the disciples of him, for they were many, and they were following him.

And the scribes of the Pharisees, having seen that he eats with the sinners and tax collectors, they were saying to the disciples of him, “With the tax collectors and sinners does he eat?!”

And having heard, the Jesus, he says to them, “Not a need they have, the ones being strong, of a physician, but on the contrary, the ones bad having. Not I came to call righteous ones, but on the contrary, sinners.”

With the talk of doing things again, the following point, in all likelihood, was not the first thing that came to your mind, but a lion is known to be highly territorial and will cover only a certain amount of territory for its food and other needs. And as a lion will use its ability to roar to cover its territory, there is often the verb ‘to say’ to give some type of authority within the situation. Jesus will often use his ability to speak within the text to show his authority in a relatively gentle way. (The almighty God could choose a much more powerful way to get the attention of everyone.) And the response of people to Jesus’ words and actions is significantly increasing. And that will continue on next week.