Markus 1:27

1:27 They were all amazed so that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He even commands the unclean spirits and they obey him.”

Markus 1:45

1:45 But as the man ¹  went out he began to announce it publicly and spread the story widely, so that Jesus ²  was no longer able to enter any town openly but stayed outside in remote places. Still ³  they kept coming ⁴  to him from everywhere.

Markus 4:1

The Parable of the Sower

4:1 Again he began to teach by the lake. Such a large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there while ⁵  the whole crowd was on the shore by the lake.

Markus 4:32

4:32 when it is sown, it grows up, ⁶  becomes the greatest of all garden plants, and grows large branches so that the wild birds ⁷  can nest in its shade.” ⁸ 

[1:45]  ¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man who was healed) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:45]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:45]  ³ tn Grk “and”; καί (kai) often has a mildly contrastive force, as here.

[1:45]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verb has been translated iteratively.

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Grk “and all the crowd.” The clause in this phrase, although coordinate in terms of grammar, is logically subordinate to the previous clause.

[4:32]  ⁶ tn Mark 4:31-32 is fairly awkward in Greek. Literally the sentence reads as follows: “As a mustard seed, which when sown in the earth, being the smallest of all the seeds in the earth, and when it is sown, it grows up…” The structure has been rendered in more idiomatic English, although some of the awkward structure has been retained for rhetorical effect.

[4:32]  ⁷ tn Grk “the birds of the sky” or “the birds of the heaven”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated either “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context. The idiomatic expression “birds of the sky” refers to wild birds as opposed to domesticated fowl (cf. BDAG 809 s.v. πετεινόν).

[4:32]  ⁸ sn The point of the parable seems to be that while the kingdom of God may appear to have insignificant and unnoticeable beginnings (i.e., in the ministry of Jesus), it will someday (i.e., at the second advent) be great and quite expansive. The kingdom, however, is not to be equated with the church, but rather the church is an expression of the kingdom. Also, there is important OT background in the image of the mustard seed that grew and became a tree: Ezek 17:22-24 pictures the reemergence of the Davidic house where people can find calm and shelter. Like the mustard seed, it would start out small but grow to significant size.