The moral fabric of the narrative

As the narrator, Mark embeds a moral fabric — standards of judgment, beliefs and values — throughout his story over against which he leads the reader to evaluate the characters of the story. 

The positive way is a matter of living "on God's terms" — having faith and courage, undergoing persecution for the Good News, being least and servant in a life for others, and not lording it over others. By contrast, the negative life is living a destructive life "on human terms" — being without faith and fearful, saving one's self, acquiring the world, being great, and using power over others. 

The characters in Mark largely embody one or the other of these two ways:

• Jesus and the minor characters [for the most part] embody what God wants for the people 

• the authorities embody what people want for themselves

• the disciples vacillate between the two ways