either left unfinished or accidentally cut short (Mk 16:9–20 is not in the earliest manuscripts)? We simply do not know for certain. THEOLOGICAL THEMES The dominant theme of Mark is Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God, who proclaims the kingdom and acts it out in ways that express who he is. In the first part of the narrative, the identity of Jesus as the Messiah is gradually recognized; in the second part, it is intimated that the Son of Man must suffer and be raised from the dead, and this intimation