As Etienne Trocmé has observed, “in Mark, more than any of the other gospels, Jesus is everywhere in the company of his disciples.” Summoned at the outset of his ministry, those who “come after” Jesus repeatedly bear witness to activities that characterize his earthly mission. But they are also, in this gospel story, more than mere bystanders, as they benefit from Jesus' private counsel and even participate actively in his demonstration of God's dominion breaking into the human sphere. In light of their narrative significance, then, John Donahue goes so far as to claim that, while Mark “has an obvious Christological thrust … the story of the disciples occupies a strong second position.”

Yet in addition to their narrative prominence, the disciples in Mark have garnered such vigorous exegetical interest partly due to another, and less salutary, Markan emphasis: the motif of the disciples' incomprehension. Precisely the evangelist's willingness to highlight the failures of those most closely aligned with Jesus has stimulated the imaginations of a host of interpreters who have attempted to decipher Mark's increasingly negative portrayal of the disciples.

To propose yet another study of Markan discipleship – and the incomprehension motif in particular – may seem like the retracing of well-worn tracks along the path of NT research. The literature in the field is vast, yet, as I shall demonstrate, its findings remain unsatisfactory. This study thus returns to Mark's complex depiction of the disciples to inquire about the nature of their incomprehension.