Traditional Jewish depiction of the messiah were more or less viewed to be a figure of divinity, royalty, a symbol of the Davidic dynasty. Translated as the “anointed one”, usually a king, represented “Gods adopted son” who is signified by an act of anointing to symbolize an outpouring of God’s spirit. First century apocalyptic writings include predictions of the coming messiah as a political deliver who would restore the nation of Israel. Transitioning to the creation of Mark, the gospel opens up with the story of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus which ends with a heavenly voice coming from the heavens proclaiming Jesus is the Son of God. The baptism and descent of the spirit constitute his anointing following the messianic symbolism of the David dynasty. Through the gospel of Mark Jesus is portrayed as a suffering servant that surrounds himself with common folk, women, thieves, children, and the sick performing numerous miracles. Mark 10:45 says “For the Son of Man come not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many”. This version a messiah is unlike the king-like Messiah depicted in the Old Testament and in Jewish tradition.

Going off the repetition of the Jesus message in this section of Mark, it seems as if the people of God, disciples, and others didn’t fully understand what was meant by the coming of a new age and the kingdom of God. Jesus lays down criteria to gain entrance into the kingdom of God and states “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible (Mk 10:27)”. In other words, Jesus is saying that any followers of Christ are welcome into the kingdom of God.

Mark 10:46-52 tells the miracle story of when Jesus immediately healed the blindness of a beggar on the side of the road. The meaning behind this story represents the blindness of the disciples to the good news and arrival of their messiah. Jesus is trying to convey that the kingdom of God is open to anyone who will “get up” and follow him. The disciples continue to not understand who Jesus is as never once refer to him as the “Son of God” one time in Mark. Instead they address him as teacher, as if he is a prophet, or a Son of David.

The gospel writers were biblical scholars, so it is not surprising that the gospels use inclusio or “sandwiching” a key story within a larger parable. Jesus’ miracles in Mark 8:22-26 and 10:46-52 both have meaning and purpose but also function in the larger context. Both of these miracles involve Jesus curing a man of blindness and served to improve the disciples’ understanding of whom Jesus was. The surrounding text also has important meaning though, because this is where peter misunderstands who Jesus is. The healing of the blind man at Bethsadia, came immediately after the boat scene in which Jesus chastises the disciples for lack of understanding. The miracle serves as a set-up for peters dialogue with Jesus. It is clear that peter has some inclination to whom Jesus really is, however his rebuke that Jesus shouldn’t have to die, shows his understanding is incomplete (8:29). It is clarified further in Jesus miracle in 10:46-52, where a blind beggar called him son of David. This is the root of everyone’s misunderstanding, because they see Jesus as a Jewish prophet or messiah, not Son of God or Son of Man. It is presumed that because of the prevalence of past prophets, the people of this time expected him to be similar. the two miracles involving curing blindness, and their position in the text can be taken as symbolism for the disciples, or specifically peters, blindness. Past prophets such as Elijah or David did not show benevolence and divine power towards all.
Jesus’ benevolence is the key shift he’s trying to convey about the people of God and the kingdom. Political Judaism exclusionary foundations and maintained them through rules and rituals. However through these passages (9:33-37; 9:38-41; 9:42-48; 10:13-16; 10:17-31; 10:41-45) Jesus keeps reminding everyone that through belief in him all will be welcomed. But Jesus seems to be hammering this idea in them, because everyone at the time, including his disciples were heard headed. In 10:17-31, a man asked Jesus if he follows all of the commandments his whole life does that make him good? When Jesus obviously responds no one is good except God, he further asks what more he could do. Jesus has to specify to give all his possessions to the poor, and that money is directly in the way of the people entering the kingdom of heaven (10:23). He is so adamant about this because the conevntional norm was wealth acquisition was unequivocally good and had nothing to do with entering the kingdom of heaven because most of their prophets and role models were kings.

Two miracle stories in Mark act as bookends which work to provide insight into Mark’s view of Jesus. This Jesus is different from the Jesus that was understood by the disciples previously. This starts with Jesus healing a blind man and ends with him healing a different blind man. Mark is giving us an important view into the identity of Jesus. Mark uses this inclusio, and the verses between, as an attempt to reveal who Jesus really is. He is not a just a Messiah, nor just a “Son of Man” or even “Son of God”, but is all of these. Mark’s representation of Jesus’ in chapters 8-10 in which his suffering is made apparent, paints Jesus as the antithesis of the traditional Jewish and Roman view of “Sons of Gods” or “Divine Men”.

The inclusio here is depicting Jesus as different from other divine men. This is done in a number of ways. Mark’s narrative of Jesus in this section records instances of passion predictions and miracles, yet it is written that Jesus wanted the witnesses to keep quiet. Mark’s readers are therefore guided to understand the true identity of Christ as a new age Messiah.

The first miracle of the inclusio is said by some scholars to be a metaphor for the way that disciples and other persons in the Gospel of Mark see Jesus. They partially understand who he is, but not completely. In 8:22, a man is healed (not fully) by Jesus when Jesus spits in his eyes. Then he is fully healed when Jesus covers his eyes a second time. White argues that this is an allegory about how the disciples misunderstand Jesus as Messiah. They can only see parts of Christ, but not him in his entirety.

Mark proceeds to move through several verses in which explain the “true nature” of Jesus as a new messiah. Mark depicts this new messiah as being different from Roman and Jewish tradition. Mark’s Jesus is only fully understood by certain characters in the story — frequently women.  These people are then rewarded by Christ as “models of faith” (White). He delights in the women in the story who show examples of unfaltering service and faith. Jesus defends the woman who washes his feet with oil — then — rebukes his doubting disciples.Whereas those in positions of power seem to only see parts of Jesus’ identity, never truly understanding who he is.

Marks passages ultimately help the reader to see a different picture of Jesus and what he is commanding. In 9:34-37 Jesus challenges the views of servants, and children by saying that the last will become first and that those who welcome children are welcoming God, too. This leads up to the last verse in Mark’s inclusio where another blind man is healed but this time Jesus says ” Go; your faith has made you well.” The Bible states that immediately the man regained his sight and followed him.

Throughout this passage, Jesus continuously rewards the faith of those he heals. Mark is creating a narrative in that not only is there a new Messiah, but the good news that Jesus comes to bring is that faith in him will not go without reward. It is written that Jesus’ rewards are available to the very bottom of society: gentiles, women, and children, homeless, etc. It appears that this may even be the focus and that the low-end of society receives Jesus and what he offers more easily than other members of society. Jesus has come to save the sick, poor, and marginalized as well as teach others to do the same. Ultimately Mark is depicting Jesus as a humble servant rather than a king — as many of the jews may have expected — or an almighty God as the Romans might have expected. Mark therein directs the audience to the conclusion that Jesus was more or less misunderstood.

           The classic image of the messiah is a wise man who was known and loved by all. He was expected to be and earthly king from the line of David (White 282).  Mark’s story of the messiah challenges this widespread view of the assumed messiah by evaluating Jesus’s other titles: “Son of God” and “Son of Man”.  The first aspect of Jesus that sets him apart from the other messiah’s is the name “Son of Man” which, according to White, is not a messianic title.  In fact, the term “Son of Man” is just another way of referring to a human being (283).  This term was in fact a new term that Jews were not familiar with.  The name “Son of Man” itself brings on the connotations that Jesus would not bring an earthly messianic kingdom (284). The term “Son of God” refers to Jesus’s adoption into heaven as the messiah. 

             The new age seemed to be something that people of the time, especially the disciples, did not understand. The people of the new kingdom are those that you wouldn’t typically expect to be included in the new kingdom.  Jesus even says “whoever is not against us, is for us” (Mark 9:40) which leads the reader to believe that those who aren’t Christ followers are invited to the kingdom of heaven; anyone is welcome.  This idea was very foreign to the disciples as they were brought up with the idea that the criteria of being a God fearing person was that they should have an exceptional faith, devote his/her life to God, and even experience persecution and death. 

           The story of the blind man at Bethsaida, at face value, appears that Jesus was unable to successfully perform the miracle the first time. However, this account is actually an allegory of how the disciples did not truly understand Jesus as the suffering savior.  This story is in parallel with how Peter’s understanding of Jesus was “blurry” and only partial, much like the blind mans sight on Jesus “first attempt” to heal him (White 278). 

Mark’s depiction of Jesus the messiah have many differences compared to the traditional Jewish perspective. In the Markean verses 8:27-33, 9:2-13; 9:31; 10:33; 10:35-45, the messiah is said to have had to suffer greatly, die, and rise again. Jesus proclaims many times that the “Son of Man” must be betrayed, rejected, arrested, killed, and ultimately rise again. Jesus’ claims largely fall on deaf ears as his disciples do not understand what he means when he says he will rise from the dead. They rarely question Jesus or his words but are silently curious as to what they may mean.

This new depiction of the messiah has some stark differences with the Jewish understanding of him. First, the traditional Jewish thought of the messiah was that he would be a king that would save the Jewish people. He was prophesied to lead the Jewish people to peace and save them from the unrelenting tyranny and oppression they faced. This view of the messiah can be seen when James and John request to sit in places of honor next to Jesus when he is on his thrown. It seems that even the disciples have a misunderstanding of who Jesus is and what he is trying to accomplish. James and John’s request emphasize their understanding of Jesus as the prophesied Jewish messiah. They still believe he will lead a revolution, leading the Jews to salvation. Jesus, however, planned on saving his disciples and his followers but not in the physical sense. It his hard for his followers to truly understand but Jesus does not plan to be anointed king and save the Jews from oppression but rather to save their spirit. Jesus wishes for people to have faith in him so that they may truly be in God’s kingdom. In order to achieve that, they must not seek glory and power but serve others.

Second, the traditional Jewish messiah does not rise from the dead. This was an innovation in the Christian tradition and explains why his disciples were so confused at Jesus’ resurrection statements. Their misunderstanding of Jesus as a savior bringing a new Jewish kingdom caused a deeper misunderstanding of Jesus’ mission.

The story of Bartimaeus is an important story regarding discipleship and faith in Jesus. This story teaches that faith in Jesus can cure the blind. In this story, Bartimaeus wholeheartedly believes in Jesus as the messiah and asks for his help with his blindness. Jesus immediately gives the man sight. He says “Go, for your faith has healed you”. This story demonstrates how faith in Jesus can save you but you must believe in Jesus as the son of God first. You cannot be wishing for things to happen to you but you have to have faith in him and he will save you. This can be applicable on a more spiritual level as well. For those who are spiritually blind must have faith in Jesus and he will save them. Bartimaeus, although he was physically blind, he was not spiritually blind like Jesus’s disciples and he had complete faith in Jesus. This story teaches that no matter your condition physically or spiritually, faith in Jesus will set you free.