Taken together, the two panels demonstrate Jesus’ power over illness and demonic oppression and his authority to teach, to forgive sins, and to reinterpret scripture. Throughout, a negative comparison is made with the priests, scribes, and Pharisees, whose religious leadership the author of Mark rejects as inadequate for the coming reign of God. God’s reign clearly does not involve religious business as usual, only on a grander scale. The continuity that Mark sees between God’s dealings with the