The Story of the Twelve in the Gospel of Mark

Abstract

The disciples of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark exhibit certain characteristic traits which we do not find in the other Gospels. The picture that Mark paints of their personality and identity is deliberate, tending towards negativity due to their lack of understanding and hardness of heart. The author of this article concedes this fact. But is it not possible to see beyond this negative image and discover in the Twelve an authentic search for the meaning of discipleship? The author attempts to elaborate just how this interpretation is possible through a narrative reading of the texts related to the Twelve., What he leaves us with at the end is the fact of human resistance to the call of Christ, which the Twelve struggled with, and which we continue to struggle with today.