Mark 2:12

Mar_2:12

We never saw it on this fashion.

The new fashion

I. Do not disbelieve the gospel because it surprises you.

1. Nothing stands in the way of real knowledge so much as prejudice.

2. Many things which we know to be true would not have been believed by our fathers if they had been revealed to them.

3. There are many things which are undoubted facts which certain classes of men find it hard to believe.

4. The fact that a gospel statement seems new and astonishing ought not to create unbelief in the mind.

II. There are very singular and surprising things in the gospel.

1. That the gospel should come to people whom it regards as incapable.

2. That the gospel calls upon men to do what they cannot do.

3. That whilst the gospel bids men do what they cannot of themselves do, they actually do it.

4. This paralyzed man was healed-

(a) at once,

(b) without any ceremony,

(c) perfectly,

(d) evidently.

So is it when the gospel saves the soul.

III. If it be so with you, then go and glorify god. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Prejudice a stumbling block

Theories are the nuisances of science: the rubbish that must be swept away that the precious facts may be made bare. If you go to the study of a subject, saying to yourself, This is how the matter must shape itself, having beforehand made up your mind what the facts ought to be, you will have put in your own way a difficulty more severe than the subject itself could place there. Prejudice is the stumbling block of advance. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

New things may be true things

When an observer first discovered that there were spots on the sun he reported it, but he was called before his father confessor and upbraided for having reported anything of the kind. The Jesuit father said that he had read Aristotle through several times and he had found no mention in Aristotle of any spots in the sun, and therefore there could be no such things. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The inconceivable may be true

If our forefathers could have been informed that men would travel at forty or fifty miles an hour, drawn by a steam engine, they would have shaken their heads and laughed the prediction to scorn. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Sense not to limit faith

Some time ago a missionary had told his black congregation that in the winter time the water in England became so hard that a man could walk upon it. Now they believed a good deal that he told them, but they did not believe that. One of them was brought over to England. The frost came at length, and the missionary took his black friend down to it; and although he stood upon the ice himself he could not persuade the Negro to venture. No, he said, but I never saw it so. I have lived fifty years in my own country, and I never saw a man walk on a river before. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Gods power not to be limited by human calculation

If you are longing for a great salvation you must not sit down and calculate the Godhead by inches, and measure out the merit of Christ by ells, and calculate whether He can do this or do that. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The most senseless limit of evidence is the limit of the senses

But there is a great proneness to fix just such limits as these. Said a shrewd pastor in Massachusetts, when a new method of church work was proposed to him by a visiting brother, No, no, that wouldnt go down with my people; its too novel. There are two objections which my people raise against any fresh thing which I propose to them; one is, We never tried that thing here: the other is, We tried that here once, and it didnt go. Either of these objections is fatal. Such people as that dont all live in Massachusetts, nor in Palestine. (H. C. Trumbull.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2:12 We’ve never seen anything like this before! Mark consistently records Jesus creating amazement (1:22, 27; 4:41; 6:50-51).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Mar 2:12 tells how the man did as bidden, to the astonishment of all spectators. πάντας , all, without exception, scribes included? (Kloster.) It might have been so had the sentence stopped there. For no doubt the scribes were as much astonished as their neighbours at what took place. But they would not join in the praise to God which followed. οὕτως οὐδέποτε εἰδομεν : elliptical, but expressive, suited to the mental mood = so we never saw, i.e. , we never saw the like.

N.B. The title “Son of Man” occurs in this narrative for the first time in Mk.’s Gospel; vide on Mat 8:20 ; Mat 9:6 .

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Word for word, past themselves, or out of their wits.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

And immediately he arose, took up the bed--"Sweet saying!" says BENGEL: "The bed had borne the man: now the man bore the bed."

and went forth before them all--proclaiming by that act to the multitude, whose wondering eyes would follow him as he pressed through them, that He who could work such a glorious miracle of healing, must indeed "have power on earth to forgive sins."

We never saw it on this fashion--"never saw it thus," or, as we say, "never saw the like." In Luke (Luk 5:26) it is, "We have seen strange [unexpected] things to-day"--referring both to the miracles wrought and the forgiveness of sins pronounced by Human Lips. In Matthew (Mat 9:8) it is, "They marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men." At forgiving power they wondered not, but that a man, to all appearance like one of themselves, should possess it!

Next: Mark Chapter 4

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 12. He - took up the bed] The words of PROSPER, on this place, are worthy of notice:-

"What is sin but a deplorable fall, a grovelling on the earth, a repose in the creature, often followed by a universal palsy of the soul; namely, an utter inability to help itself, to break off its evil habits, to walk in the ways of God, to rise or to take one good step towards him? Grace can repair all in a moment: because it is nothing but the almighty will of God, who commands and does whatever he commands."

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(12) We never saw it on this fashion.—St. Matthew gives the substance but not the words. St. Luke, “We have seen strange things to-day.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. immediately] Observe the suddenness and completeness of the cure, and contrast it with the miracles of an Elijah (1Ki_17:17-24), or an Elisha (2Ki_4:32-36).

before them all] Now yielding before him and no longer blocking up his path.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he went forth again by the sea side,.... The sea of Galilee, where he had met with, and called Peter and Andrew, James and John; and not far from which were the solitary place, and the desert places, where he was before he entered into Capernaum:

and all the multitude resorted unto him; who had been with him at Peter's house, and about the door, and those who could not get near him:

and he taught them; the word of God, the Gospel, and the doctrines of it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

12 And immediately he arose, 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.

Ver. 12. We never saw it on this fashion] Or thus, ουτως: Bullinger observeth of this evangelist, quod facum saecularis sapientiae et eloquentiae, rei per se alioqui splendidissimae, nusquam allevit, that he cares not to gild gold, or muddle over a topaz, but sets down things plainly without welt or guard of worldly wisdom or eloquence. Truth is like our first parents, most beautiful when naked.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This paralytic is not the same as that mentioned in St. John; for that distressed man had no one to assist him, whereas this person had four; the former was by the side of the Probatica, but the latter in a house at Capharnaum. (Theophylactus)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

The words are spoken, and the paralytic arose, and straightway took up the bed (hgeryh kai euyu) such is the most approved reading and went forth before them all. There is a spiritual application of this miracle which it is well to notice. The paralytic lifting up himself is a figure of him who, in the strength of Christ, has lifted himself up from the lethargy of sin. He has first applied to Christ, perhaps by his own sense of his need, perhaps with the help of others. He may have had difficulty in approaching him. A multitude of sinful thoughts and cares may have thronged the door. But at length, whether alone or with the kind assistance of faithful friends, he has been brought to the feet of Jesus, and has heard those words of love and power, "Thy sins are forgiven thee." And then he will rise and walk. He will take up that whereon he lay. He will carry away those things whereon he has hitherto found satisfaction his love of ease, his self-indulgence. His bed, whatever it may have been whereon he lay, becomes the proof of his cure. When the intemperate man becomes sober, the passionate man gentle, and the covetous man liberal, he takes up that whereon he lay. Thus does each penitent man begin a new life; setting forward with new hopes and new powers towards his true home, eternal in the heavens.

We are not informed of the effect of this miracle upon the scribes and Pharisees. But it is too evident that, though they could not deny the fact, they would not acknowledge the power; while the mass of the people, more free from prejudice, and therefore more open to conviction, united in giving glory to God. Faith in Christ as sent by God was in fact increasing amongst the mass of the people; while unbelief was working its deadly result of envy and malice amongst those who ought to have been their guides and instructors.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They were all amazed - Even the scribes themselves for a time.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

12. ἠγέρθη, καὶ εὐθὺς ἄρας … ἐξῆλθεν ἔμπροσθεν πάντων. Lk. substitutes three words, each of which is characteristic of his style, παραχρῆμα ἀναστὰς ἐνώπιον, of which ἀναστάς is an improvement, showing that the man raised himself and was not raised by others, which ἠγέρθη might mean. See on Mar 5:29, Mar 10:52. Both Mt. and Lk. emphasize the suddenness of the cure (cf. Mar 1:42); and, like Simon’s wife’s mother (Mar 1:31), the person healed gives proof of the completeness of the cure. He not only can use his limbs, but he has strength to carry his pallet. The crowd would gladly make way for the exit of so interesting a person, and some would come with him.

ἐξίστασθαι πάντας. Does this include the Scribes? Mt. says οἱ ὄχλοι. It was natural that amazement should be the first feeling (Mar 5:43, Mar 6:51); Mt. calls it fear; Lk. gives us both, and tells us that the healed man led the way in glorifying God. Lk. is fond of mentioning this effect of Christ’s miracles.

δοξάζειν. Note the tense; continued glorifying.

εἴδαμεν. Both Mk and Lk. represent them as impressed by what they had seen, viz., the healing. Mt. thinks of the authority to forgive sins. On the mixture of first and second aor. forms in εἴδαμεν, ἐπέβαλαν, ἦλθαν, κ.τ.λ., see Winer, p. 86; W.H. App. p. 164; Blass § xxi. 1; Deissmann, Bib. St. p. 190. As in Mat 9:33, οὔτως = τοιαῦτα: it may be a Hebraism.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12. Καὶ ἠγέρθη, καὶ εὐθὺς ἄρας … ἐξῆλθεν ἔμπροσθεν—And he arose, and immediately having taken … went out before.

καὶ εὐθὺς, instead of εὐθέως, καὶ Tisch. Treg. WH. RV. אBC*L 33, Memph. ἔμπροσθεν, instead of ἐνάντιον, Tisch. Treg. marg. WH. א BL 187 marg.

The ἔμπροσθεν πάντων, before all, is introduced to show the publicity attending Jesus’ proof of his power. There was a great crowd of people, Jesus had performed his miracle in distinct answer to a challenge of his authority, and the cure was therefore purposely public. It contrasts therefore with Jesus’ ordinary reserve in the performance of his miracles, and with his depreciation of their testimony to his mission. And one significance of the event lies in this indication of his varying method, and of his power to include all the facts in the broad range of his action. ἐξίστασθαι—were amazed.1 δοξάζειν τὸν Θεόν—glorified God.2 εἴδαμεν—we saw.3

εἴδαμεν, instead of εἴδομεν, Tisch. Treg. WH. CD. The unusual form determines the probability of this reading.

CONSORTING WITH SINNERS

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.