The Lion of St Mark

The Gospel of Mark

Overview: Mark 2,1-3,6

In 2,1 there is a new beginning as Jesus returns to Capernaum. Then in chapter 3 at verse 6 we can see that there is a strong climax and conclusion with the statement that the Pharisees and Herodians began to plot to kill Jesus. That is why we need to look at 2,1 to 3,6 as the next unit for our reading and to discover what leads up to this climax.
We can also notice how this unit is framed by comments on Jesus' popularity with the crowds (1,45 and 3,7-8).

Hopefully, you will have found five incidents in this unit:

With that in mind, we can see that the characteristic of 2,1-3,6 is that Jesus is in controversy with the scribes and Pharises in every incident. This builds up to the climax in 3,6 as I have just mentioned. These controversies gives us a marked change of tone from the first chapter.

They begin quite mildly in the first incident - the scribes are asking themselves (2,7). In the next incident, we find that they are talking to the disciples (2,16). Then we have people questioning Jesus directly (2,18). By the fourth story, it is the Pharisees who are speaking directly with Jesus (2,24). Finally they remain silent (3,4) before going out and plotting his death with the Herodians (3,6). We can see therefore a clear progression in the confrontations towards the climax.

But there is more. With five episodes, one will be at the centre. Here that will be the third which we find in 2,18-22. Whilst the overall theme of that episode may be fasting, the central and key statement is what Jesus says about the bridegroom and the new wineskins. More on that when we look closely at the story.

We can then note how that the two outer stories (2,1-12 and 3,1-6) are both healings whilst the two inner stories (2,18-22 and 2,23-28) both concern the disciples. This gives us a circular arrangement of the incidents. These are often recorded as A B C B A.
That is why I suggested writing these on a piece of paper so that the two A's are opposite each other, then the two B's opposite each other with C placed at the bottom between the two columns.

I also suggested spotting a common theme in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th story. The two B's are based on eating while C, the centre story, is based on fasting. I say "based" because for all three the real message lies elsewhere, as we shall see.

Circular arrangements such as this are common in the Gospels and as I noted on the main page arise from the oral culture behind the Gospels. For most people and for many centuries, the written Gospel would have been heard, not read. Repetition as always leads to a deeper appreciation of the nuances of the stories and the art of the storyteller.

We have therefore seen both a linear development and a circular arrangement in this group of five stories.
We are now ready to return to the main page. We can then begin our look at each of the five episodes in more detail.