Markus 6:11

6:11 If a place will not welcome you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off ¹  your feet as a testimony against them.”

Markus 8:35

8:35 For whoever wants to save his life ²  will lose it, ³  but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.

Markus 9:1

9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, ⁴  there are some standing here who will not ⁵  experience ⁶  death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.” ⁷ 

Markus 9:42

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 ⁸  tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea.

Markus 12:36

12:36 David himself, by the Holy Spirit, said,

‘The Lord said to my lord, ⁹ 

“Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ ¹⁰ 

[6:11]  ¹ sn To shake the dust off represented shaking off the uncleanness from one’s feet; see Luke 10:11; Acts 13:51; 18:6. It was a sign of rejection.

[8:35]  ² tn Or “soul” (throughout vv. 35-37).

[8:35]  ³ sn The point of the saying whoever wants to save his life will lose it is that if one comes to Jesus then rejection by many will certainly follow. If self-protection is a key motivation, then one will not respond to Jesus and will not be saved. One who is willing to risk rejection will respond and find true life.

[9:1]  ⁴ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[9:1]  ⁵ tn The Greek negative here (οὐ μή, ou mh) is the strongest possible.

[9:1]  ⁶ tn Grk “will not taste.” Here the Greek verb does not mean “sample a small amount” (as a typical English reader might infer from the word “taste”), but “experience something cognitively or emotionally; come to know something” (cf. BDAG 195 s.v. γεύομαι 2).

[9:1]  ⁷ sn Several suggestions have been made as to the referent for the phrase the kingdom of God come with power: (1) the transfiguration itself, which immediately follows in the narrative; (2) Jesus’ resurrection and ascension; (3) the coming of the Spirit; (4) Jesus’ second coming and the establishment of the kingdom. The reference to after six days in 9:2 seems to indicate that Mark had the transfiguration in mind insofar as it was a substantial prefiguring of the consummation of the kingdom (although this interpretation is not without its problems). As such, the transfiguration was a tremendous confirmation to the disciples that even though Jesus had just finished speaking of his death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33), he was nonetheless the promised Messiah and things were proceeding according to God’s plan.

[9:42]  ⁸ 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.

[9:42]  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.

[12:36]  ⁹ sn The Lord said to my Lord. With David being the speaker, this indicates his respect for his descendant (referred to as my Lord). Jesus was arguing, as the ancient exposition assumed, that the passage is about the Lord’s anointed. The passage looks at an enthronement of this figure and a declaration of honor for him as he takes his place at the side of God. In Jerusalem, the king’s palace was located to the right of the temple to indicate this kind of relationship. Jesus was pressing the language here to get his opponents to reflect on how great Messiah is.

[12:36]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.