In this section, Mark narrates five stories in which Jesus exercises his unique authority as the Son of God. In each story, Jesus supersedes the authority of the law and rabbinic custom, and in each he incurs the opposition of Jewish leaders, especially the Pharisees and scribes. These five encounters demonstrate that Jesus is not the captive of any social or religious party; rather, he offers a word of both judgment and redemption to them all.

The first story, in 2:1–12, begins ostensibly as a healing story of four men who bring a paralytic to Jesus. So many people gather to hear Jesus “preach the word to them” that there is no room inside or outside the house. Finding the door to the house blocked by the crowd, the resourceful foursome digs through the mud plaster and thatch roof commo…