A theme threaded through the gospel of Mark is the inability of men to recognize Jesus as the Son of God until AFTER his crucifixion, and even then, and most paradoxically, he is called the “Son of God” by the unlikeliest of persons, the Roman centurion on duty at his execution.

His self-identification as the suffering “Son of Man” made him unrecognizable to unregenerate men. He was and is the kind of Messiah no one expected, and his identity and mission cannot be comprehended apart from his sacrificial death.

After Jesus healed the blind man, for a fleeting moment, the eyes of Peter were opened to “see” just who he was – Mark 8:27-38.

Jesus queried his disciples while he was “on the way” to Jerusalem: Who do men say that I am?  At least nine times Mark declares that Jesus is “on the way.” His march to Jerusalem and his inevitable death was in fulfillment of Joh’s proclamation from the words of Isaiah: “I send my messenger before your face who shall prepare your way.”