The gospel of Mark tells us the stories and healings that Jesus preformed during his life, it tells us of how there was a man who loved all and forgave others of their sins, it touched base a little bit on how people reacted, for example in chapter two verse six it says that some of the scribes were calling it blasphemy and then Jesus knew they were thinking these things about him but chose to forgive them anyways. From my point of view if I was a member of Marks community during this time period and Jesus showed up and started to perform the miracles that he did I would be astounded. I compare it to that of a rising star in a professional sport or a new singer who few people know about. Where they come from out of nowhere and they win over person by person until they have a fan base of millions. Jesus did the same thing, he started from essentially nothing and performed miracle after miracle until his group reached thousands of people. During that time, I would be hesitant to join the “bandwagon” so to speak. I would hear of what he had done and probably not believe it, and think that what he is doing is impossible, only until I saw it firsthand. To see something like that actually take place firsthand I feel I would have no choice but to believe that what he is saying is true.

Going off of the words and deeds of Jesus in the gospel of Mark, God’s rule in this new age is that of a merciful ruler. Unlike the romans it is not a “follow me or die” kind of dictatorship. His rule is that of an all-loving father, that it doesn’t matter what kind of past you have or what sins you have committed as a person, if you so choose to believe in this God then you are eternally saved. In Mark chapter four verse thirty Jesus talks about what God’s kingdom is like by comparing it to a mustard seed and how that seed starts out as the smallest in the world, but when sown it becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade. This type of kingdom is different than anything people in this time of experienced and I think that resulted in a lot of people choosing to believe in this type of lifestyle.

Ryan Adams