This entire section of Mark, furthermore, is bracketed by stories of Jesus healing blind men (8:22–26; 10:46–52), an inclusio that highlights the disciples’ need for spiritual enlightenment. With this background, what happens in the passion narrative is no surprise: Judas betrays Jesus (14:10–11, 44–45), Peter denies him (14:66–72), and the others all run away and desert him (14:50). Why would Mark tell the story this way? A number of theories have been proposed, but the dominant thesis is that he