Two distinct miracle passages in Mark seem to act as literary “bookends” and offer an insight into Mark’s view of Jesus’ “true identity”: a Jesus that is different from the Jesus that was understood (or misunderstood) by the disciples themselves. Beginning with Jesus’ healing of a blind man and ending with his healing of a different blind man, the Gospel of Mark is giving us important insight into the identity of Jesus. This type of literary technique is referred to as an inclusio and functions as both a signal of the end of a unit and a deeper understanding of the material in between the similar stories. Mark uses this inclusio, and the verses in between, to reveal who Jesus really is: not a Davidic Messiah, not a just a “Son of Man” or “Son of God”, but rather all 3. Mark’s representation of Jesus’ suffering predictions in chapters 8-10 paint Jesus as a stark contrast from the Jewish and Roman perceptions of “divine men” and “Sons of Gods” .

The inclusio attempts to depict a Jesus that is different from other “divine men” of the day in a number of ways. Mark’s description of Jesus attempts to reveal him as a different messiah than the one the Jews are expecting. In fact, Mark’s Jesus preforms miracles and passion predictions yet he commands the witnesses to “keep quite”- but the audience of Mark’s Gospel is made to understand the true identity of Christ. Mark’s Jesus is not completely Davidic Messiah as many of the characters in the Markan passages proclaim him to be (although Mark’s understanding of Jesus is more in line with Jewish traditional messianic thoughts than the other gospels). One of Jesus’ passion predictions is offered when Jesus states that the “Son of Man” will be betrayed into human hands and they will kill him, and three days after being killed, he will rise again. (9:31) However, the disciples can’t understand what Jesus is saying. When he said it earlier in the passage Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that he must suffer, and Jesus in turn rebukes him. Countless times in this passage Jesus’ true identity is misunderstood. Cetain characters are given insight into his identity but only partially. Peter is one of these characters, along with Judas (an overly zealous disciple who fails to see Jesus as more than a “political” messiah. These misunderstandings are key features in Mark’s gospel and help him to depict who Mark believes Jesus actually is.

The first miracle of the inclusio is believed to be a metaphor for the way that disciples and other figures in the Gospel of Mark can partially understand who Jesus is, but not fully. In Mark 8:22, a man is partially healed by Jesus when Jesus spits in his eyes and then fully healed when Jesus covers his eyes a second time. White believes this is an allegory about how the disciples misunderstand Jesus as Messiah: they can see parts but not the whole picture of who he is. Mark then moves through many verses explaining the true nature of Jesus and his role as a new age “messiah”: one different from Roman and Jewish tradition. Mark’s Jesus is only fully understood by marginal characters in the story- often women. These people are rewarded by Jesus as “models of faith” and “model disciples” (White). Men with high positions often only see facets of Jesus’ identity. Jesus refers to himself as the “Son of Man”, while his disciples see him as a Davidic “Messiah” and the roman soliders, pilate and the centurion utter that he is “God himself” often in mocking tones. During his batism though God claims Jesus as his son as well.

Jesus however, claims none of these until the end of the book when he is called all three names by the high priest in which he replies “I am”.

Marks passages therefor help us see a different picture of Jesus and what he is commanding of Mark’s audience. In Mark 9:34-37 Jesus challenges traditional views of servants, and children. By saying that the last will become first and that whoever welcomes children is welcoming God himself. Mark is alluding to Jesus as a servant and and a child of God, and leads us to believe the same. We also are commanded not to “put a stumbling block” (9:42) between people who want to believe in God. In this case, Jesus is referring to people of lower status in the world. He also delights in the women in the story who show acts of faith or servitude. For example Jesus defends the woman who washes his feet with oil and rebukes his doubting disciples.

All of this leads up to the last verse in Mark’s inclusio where another blind man is healed but this time Jesus says ” Go; you faith has made you well.” The Bible goes on to say that immediately the man regained his sight and followed him on the way. Throughout this passage of Mark, Jesus constantly rewards the faith of the people he heals. The good news Jesus comes to bring is that faith in him won’t go unrewarded. But even more that that Jesus claims his rewards are open to even the lowest parts of society: women, children, and gentiles alike. In fact, these people can often receive these rewards the easiest! He has come not to overthrow the government, but to tend to the sick, poor, and marginalized (the lowest members of society) and teach others to do the same. Jesus comes as a humble servant rather than a Davidic king as many of the jews expected or God himself as Romans might expect. Mark brings the audience to the conclusion that Jesus was completely misunderstood.