The Gospel of Mark depicts the disciples of Jesus as people who do not fully understand that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. In Mark 4:41 the disciples are in awe of what Jesus can do and say “”Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?” Jesus performed the miracle of calming the sea, which historically would be viewed as a divine act by the people of Jesus’ time because only the gods have control over nature. Yet the disciples who have been told by Jesus himself that he is the Son of God do not understand. Then in chapter 6 the disciples are told to share the gospel and do this by healing the sick, performing exorcisms and telling people to repent. Even as they continue their ministry they are still astounded by the actions of Jesus and do not understand how he does all these great things (Mark 4:51). The disciples again do not understand what Jesus is saying in regards to the cleanliness of the sprit rather than the body and the importance thereof. Jesus becomes baffled at the lack of understanding of the disciples and their desire for the physical world when they are in Jesus’ presence. The disciples seem to be overly concerned about their physical needs rather than their spiritual needs. Mark is arguing that the disciples were too focused on the physical world and not their spiritual growth and that is the key to their misunderstanding of who Jesus is and what he was doing for them.

Mark characterizes Bartimaeus as a blind man who has faith in Jesus as the Son of God and that he can do anything because he is God. When Bartimaeus asks Jesus to cure his blindness, Jesus said to him “Go your way; your faith has made you well” (Mark 10:52). The unnamed women who pours oil over Jesus head and anoints him before his burial (Mark 14:8). Both of these people in the Gospel of Mark are very different from the disciples understanding of Jesus. Both of these people realize the divineness of Jesus and that he can do great things. They see his significance had believe in him even without seeing him. The faith in Jesus is different from the disciples who still to not understand who Jesus is.

Based on the parable of the sower I would put the disciples in the category of the rocks. They get behind Jesus quickly leaving all they have behind and like the seeds spring up quickly. They do not fully understand Jesus and his role in the world so they wither away quickly because they do not have the good soil beneath them. The unnamed women and Bartimaeus are the good soil because they believe in their hearts that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah. Therefore they are able to yield their understanding and grow spiritually not just physically as the disciples in Mark’s portrayal. Jesus is trying to highlight the importance of faith and believing in him as the Son of God focusing on the heart rather than the body.

Discipleship for Mark is the spiritual following of Jesus. Bartimaeus and the unnamed women excel at this because they believe in Jesus and recognize his importance. The disciples of Jesus do not recognize this and therefore are truly the disciples of Jesus. Instead anyone who believes and shares the good news of Jesus would be considered a true disciple of Jesus.