Although Jesus became a prominent figure among the religious following of John, Jesus refrained from being assertive. He longed for the message of a God of unconditional love, but he could not promote that under John the Baptist who preached of a God of vengeance. Due to the threat that John the Baptist caused the Romans and Jewish leaders, he was put to death. Following the death of John the Baptist, his disciples now turned to Jesus and conjured an image of Jesus leading them to independence just as they envisioned John would. This false pretext of following Jesus would lead him to the same fate as his predecessor. .
Jesus now began his own proclamation at the Lake of Galilee. Here Jesus opened the Kingdom of God to the people by portraying the love of God through miraculous actions such as curing blind and healing the lepers. Unfortunately, the people were only there to gain the physical aspect of healing that Jesus was offering. On the other hand, Jesus main goal was to promote the spiritual love of God. Jesus" new found popularity struck fear in the heart of the Sanhedrin leading them to appoint inquisitors to watch and question Jesus. However, Jesus was able to respond to them in a manner that left them without a cause for arresting him. In Jesus" Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stood before a crowd of thousands in Galilee who anticipated that Jesus would rise and begin the revolution. To their dismay, Jesus held steadfast to his principles of love and peace, thus leaving his followers to question him. Jesus lost the support that he so recently built up. Only a few of his disciples still held hope in Jesus. This paved the way for Judas" betrayal of Jesus leading to his crucifixion. Jesus" unconditional love, even after betrayal, signified to the disciples that they had made a mistake. The resurrection of Jesus now reinstated the spirit of Jesus in the disciples.
The one character that stood out was John the Baptist.