There is much confusion in and out of the church about Christianity—Jesus’ life, Jesus’ teachings, Jesus’ death and Jesus’ resurrection. Is confusion about the gospel of Jesus Christ new to the contemporary world? When did the confusion begin? What is the confusion about? How have people dealt with it? These are the questions that have guided this commentary on Mark.

As Jesus began His ministry He was met with much misunderstanding and disbelief. No one seemed to know what He was doing or talking about. His friends and family misunderstood Him. Even the twelve disciples failed to understand the gospel until Jesus returned in His resurrected form to explain it to them. We find story after story of Jesus being misunderstood or attempting to correct many popular misunderstandings that were in circulation at the time. Those stories and misunderstandings centered on the miracles and wonders that seemed to accompany Jesus wherever He went. People were tempted to make Him into a sort of magician. Crowds came, not to hear His preaching, but to see wonders and receive miracles. They came for what they could get for themselves or for their families.