14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee,
proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
16 Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew
the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17
And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a
little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were
in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they
left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed
him.” (Mark 1:14-20 (ESV)
“Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God, and
saying “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and
believe in the gospel.”
So Mark gives us a summary of Jesus sermon, his message of
grace, good favor, the joyous and good news he preached to the people. News
that they received as good, that comforted their souls in the wake of John’s
imprisonment. That had to hurt, to see a man of God imprisoned, and everyone
knew it was just a matter of time before he was beheaded. Just isn’t the way we expect things to go for
God’s prophets. And yet it is the way it goes every time for his prophets! Most
dangerous job in the Bible. Jesus calls Jerusalem the city that kills the
prophets and stones those who are sent to you. It was a recurring theme. A
theme that not even Jesus will escape.
Yet no matter how many times, the natural inclination is, if
this person is sent from God it will go well for him, God will protect him from
the trials and tribulations of the world. And then it touches home, if a man
like John can be thrown in prison for speaking God’s word, if he can be put to
death for it, what will happen to me? You can imagine all the quiet of the land
who had gone down to the river to hear the man preach. Those who had confessed
their sins in the waters. A slap in the face, a knife to the soul as the news
was heard. The big question hanging over their heads, “now what?” The
confusion, and anxiety, the fear for the future. Their rulers turning on them
and shunning their religion. Perhaps they wondered how much more God would take
before he abandoned them all.
And then Jesus comes. Jesus comes preaching the gospel. The
good news. The time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand. The forerunner had gone, he who came to
prepare the way had been removed because the way was prepared, and now Jesus
was walking it. For John the way leads to a prison cell and a silver platter.
He bulldozed the path alright. The path to death, to martyrdom. And now Jesus
takes it follows the steamroller straight up Golgotha. Now the one for whom the
path was blazed, now he takes it. The kingdom of God is at hand. It’s ready for
the taking. The time is fulfilled. What seemed like bad news was good news,
because Jesus couldn’t really start until the way had been prepared, and now
the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe.
Repent and believe the gospel. See the thing that is being
said here, is repent for not believing the gospel. You repent by believing the
gospel. You repent by trusting God. You repent by listening to his word, his
joyous news, the forgiveness of sins. I mean this is at the heart of
repentance, and people hardly ever think of it this way. They always think
repentance is making amends for your life, walking the straight and narrow,
keeping your nose clean. They almost always think it is about them and what
they have to do. Sometimes even believing they aren’t worthy of the gospel
until they have managed to do it! That they don’t belong in church, unless they
have managed to clean up and walk the straight line. But it isn’t like that.
You don’t have to change to become a disciple of Christ, but when Christ calls
you your life will change. You may not even notice it at first. But it will
happen. No repentance is finally killing that old Adam, drowning him dead in
the waters of baptism, letting go of yourself and saying, I’m forgiven. Because
the kingdom of God, it isn’t found in what you do. It is found in what God does
for you. It is at hand. It is right here, in the church, where his word is
proclaimed, where he comes to you in bread and wine to give you the body and
blood he broke and shed for you on the cross at the end of the road, John had
prepared for him.
Now the peace of God that surpasses all understanding keep
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
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