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Don’t Follow the Crowd?
Don’t Follow the Crowd?
The gospel of Mark is one of contrast, not of imagery like light and dark in John, but of reactions of groups versus individuals. The latter fair better.
One of the most glaring contrasts might be the individual Herod versus the group called disciples. Surely, wicked, adulterous, murderous, Herod fairs worse than Jesus’s followers!? Right?
Concerning Jesus’s resurrection, the apostles are rebuked by Jesus post-resurrection for their unbelief: “Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen.” (CSB’17 Mark 16:14)
But notice, when Jesus’s fame starts to rise, people wondered who he was. Some, including Herod, thought he was John the Baptist risen from the grave: “When Herod heard of it, he said, “John, the one I beheaded, has been raised!”” (CSB’17 Mark 6:16)
Notice the stark contrast. Those who had followed Jesus and been instructed that Jesus would be resurrected, did not believe, at first. And yet wicked Herod believed in Jesus as John resurrected. Herod believed in the possibility of a resurrection more readily than Jesus’s apostles!
Personally, I don’t know what to make of Mark’s contrast between individuals and groups. One lesson might be, don’t follow the crowd, even when the crowd thinks it is following Jesus. Instead, follow Jesus
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