Mark's prologue functions to give the reader special insights, hidden knowledge, that is unknown to all the other characters in the gospel narrative, excepting Jesus himself. In this prologue we get an explanation of John the Baptist's predicted appearance and mission, which the narrator reveals is the key to correctly understanding John's identity. Whereas scholars initially included only these eight verses as Mark's introductory material, more recent scholarship has concluded that the prologue extends to verse 13, with some studies pushing this literary boundary all the way to verse 15.

It has been suggested by some recent Markan scholars that the thrust of this gospel is its focus on the struggle to understand Jesus' identity. Indeed, a large portion of Mark seems dedicated to demonstra…