6:14–29 It is striking that so much space is devoted to the death of John the Baptist in Mark, more space than in any of the other Gospels (cf. Matt. 14:1–12; Luke 3:19–20; 9:7–9). This suggests that this episode had a special significance for Mark, as we shall see, prefiguring the death of Jesus. We must remember that at several points in Mark, Jesus and John are closely connected. Jesus begins his ministry after John’s arrest (1:14), and Jesus links the message of John with his own ministry in 11:27–33. Further, it appears likely that the Elijah figure Jesus speaks of in 9:10–13 is John the Baptist, and in this last passage the fate of this “Elijah” is linked with the fate of the “Son of Man,” Jesus. Indeed, 9:10–13 is to be taken as the commentary on 6:14–29.

The similarities between J…