The Messianic Secret in Mark

The key point in Mark comes at the halfway point in chapter eight. Jesus has been doing all these things and he's been asking the disciples, don't you understand yet? And then finally, he does this weird miracle. The reason it's weird is because it's the only miracle in the gospels that happens in stages. A man gets healed gradually comes to see the disciples recognize Jesus as the Messiah but they don't know what it means.