Mark, says Tolbert, intends to sow abroad the good news of God's imminent coup d'etat over the murderous authorities of his generation, thus disclosing the good earth of God's kingdom before the final devastation of the cosmos and the coming of the Son of Man. Mark's purpose, she says, is not to provide data about Jesus or to debate ecclesiastical controversies but rather to persuade its hearers to have faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ, to follow the way he forged into inevitable persecutions, and to become themselves sowers of the good news of God's kingdom.
