The most unique feature of this book is its claim that the Gospel of Mark is a story told twice: once as the account of John the Baptist and Jesus, and again as the story of Elijah and the Son of Man. As a Twice-Told Tale, Mark resembles a parable and its interpretation. Therefore, the stories Mark told about Jesus are also parables. Anticipating martyrdom in the war between Rome and Judea, Mark called death a spiritual baptism and broken bread the body of the Son of Man. In the post war period Matthew and Luke re-interpreted Mark's story.