being. Paul and other early missionaries had pointed to the cosmic story of the preexistent Christ who became a human being, suffered, died, and was raised, with a bare minimum of reference to the life and teaching of Jesus of Nazareth. Mark is the first New Testament author to express Christian faith through the narrative medium of a comprehensive story of the earthly Jesus. Many of the incidents and sayings that make up the content of Mark had been proclaimed and taught previously. Mark writes