Jesus in Mark: Who Knew?

In my previous post I pointed out that Jesus’ mother (and brothers) don’t seem to know who he really is in Mark.  This is part of a broader theme distinctive to Mark’s Gospel, a theme that is considerably downplayed in the other Gospels (and almost completely done away with in John).  Mark wants to emphasize, repeatedly, that no one seemed to understand who Jesus was throughout his entire ministry.  Here is what I say on the theme in my textbook on the New Testament, in the chapter on Mark.

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