When posing the question of how Mark’s story or interpretation of
Jesus in his gospel confirms or denies whether or not Jesus was
truly a divine man, there is much to consider.  You first must look at the characteristics Mark depicts Jesus with. You also must understand what it meant to be a wise man in the first century. Mark’s gospel starts out with John the Baptist baptizing Jesus
in the Jordan River. Mark suggests Jesus’ significance by stating in verse
11 that a voice from heaven spoke the words, “You are my beloved son;
with whom I am well pleased.” This statement could possibly give the reader the interpretation that Jesus could be a divine man, a prophet, and one who speaks with God. Mark may have started his gospel this way to set the spiritual tone for the rest of his account. He suggests that God is well pleased with Jesus.
In Chapters 1-4 of the gospel of Mark, Mark starts to tell the miracles and sayings of Jesus. Whether or not these chapters would have met the expectations of ancient readers and what they considered a truly divine man is up for debate. The original Greek word for divine one, or ruler was “elohiym.” Whether or not Jesus lived up to this title during the early centuries is an ongoing debate. Mark states in his gospel that Jesus seemed to waiver on whether or not he wanted people to know his identity.  We see this all throughout the early chapters of the Gospel of Mark. In the first chapter of Mark, verse 34 states, “and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.” This brought about the question of whether or not Jesus truly had the authority of a ruler or divine being. Ancient readers saw Caesar as a divine being, a man with an authoritative tongue, one who spoke words into actions, and who had oversight of money, land and people. A question arises about how Jesus was to live up to this title during his early ministry. Contrary to verse 34 in chapter 1 of Mark, Jesus states in verse 5 of chapter 2, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” The scribes were appalled at what Jesus had said because who can forgive sin but God alone. Jesus was stating and making it known that he was a man of authority. Mark essentially is suggesting that Jesus was God in the flesh, because according to the gospels, only God can forgive sin. Whether or not ancient readers would have thought Jesus was a divine man is an ongoing debate without an easy answer.
There are many theological messages that Mark is attempting to portray about the name and person of Jesus Christ in the beginning of his gospel. One characteristic that Mark states is the ability and power Jesus has to heal. In chapters 1-4 Mark mentions numerous accounts of Jesus healing people. For example, Mark claims he healed a man with an unclean spirit, a leper, a man who was paralyzed, and a man with a withered hand. Mark brings up an essential theological message in chapter 4 verses 12-20. Mark begins to elaborate on why Jesus described the purpose of the Parable of the Sower. In verses 12-20, Mark quotes Jesus, informing the twelve disciples about the sower and sowing the word and seed. It seems that Mark implies in verse 14 that Jesus is the sower, and if you plant your seed, (which some early New Testament scholars believed was a person’s heart) in good soil (which could possibly mean a life following after Christ) you would inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. But Mark says in verse 15-16, if one plants one’s seed on rocky or thorny ground, a person will be choked up by Satan himself. This is a very elaborate theological message that Mark is portraying about the authority of Jesus.

The overarching theological message Mark is portraying in his gospel is that Jesus is a divine man. However, this idea becomes contrary due to the fact that Jesus doesn’t come from a divine family. But yet, Jesus is only divine due to his adoption of God, not by him being an heir of a righteous family. Mark notes that Jesus’ family was not in full support of his ministry, so this contrary theme of Jesus being a divine but yet, not coming from a righteous family brings many speculations to Jesus’ divinity. Mark however preps readers in his prologue (Mark 1:1-15) that he (Jesus) was going to be a divine man.
Elaine Wainwright talks about the contrary topics of Jesus and his character. Wainwright states that Jesus describes an empire like the Roman Empire but an Empire not of this world but rather, “one of the sky.” However, Wainwright states that the Church becomes an empire during the 4th century, so this contrary empire that Jesus says that he is apart of, becomes the norm during the 4th century. Furthering these contrary topics of Jesus, Elaine Pagels talks about the sayings of Jesus and about his “soon-to-be coming Kingdom”. Pagels talks about how Jesus alludes to the fact that during the lifetime of his disciples, his kingdom would come reigning to earth. But yet, his sayings that the kingdom was coming soon, ended up not being “right away” as some of his early followers thought.
According to the gospel of Mark, Jesus and his divinity wasn’t an established theme that he admitted to throughout the entirety of his gospel. Jesus professed his divine nature to some, but to others he asked for secrecy and discreteness. This brings up a difficult discussion. However, Mark persistently claims throughout his gospel the many miracles and sayings of Jesus and his authority of demons, sickness, death, and physical ailments.