Welcome to Day Six of the Lenten Blobble Study of Mark’s Gospel. We conclude chapter two today. In chapter one we saw Jesus beginning his ministry with a clear assault on Satan’s kingdom with his baptism, temptation, teaching the truth and exorcisms.

Yesterday we saw how this leads into the issue of forgiveness of sins. When the paralytic is healed the sin and forgiveness question surfaces. The clash with the self righteous, legalistic scribes begins and so the chapter ends as Mark shows Jesus confronting head on the question of legalism. Do people please God just by obeying every detail of the law? No, it’s not less than that–it’s much more than that.

Don’t forget after you read the reflections to bounce back to the comment box and make your comments, observations and ask questions. A Bible study is a shared learning experience. Many of the comments and observations in the first few days were excellent. I wonder what you thought of yesterday’s insights about the title “Son of Man”? Did you know about the various levels of meaning? It would be good to hear from you.

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The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were accustomed to fast. People came to him and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”19Jesus answered them, “Can the wedding guests fast* while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them they cannot fast.20But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.21No one sews a piece of unshrunken cloth on an old cloak. If he does, its fullness pulls away, the new from the old, and the tear gets worse.22Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the skins are ruined. Rather, new wine is poured into fresh wineskins.”

The Disciples and the Sabbath 

23As he was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path while picking the heads of grain. 24At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”25He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions were hungry?26How he went into the house of God when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully eat, and shared it with his companions?” 27Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath.i28 That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

Go here to read today’s commentary and reflection.