Posts
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.
Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried, out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.
- Mark 1:14-28
Yesterday, we began Mark's Gospel: as he writes, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the Prophets: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You." "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.' John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose. I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.
Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." We note the shift: John is in prison, and Jesus preaches the gospel of the kingdom. The time is fulfilled. This is a much more radical shift than we imagine, a shift in the time -- into the "end times" in which we belong now. From the time of Jesus' announcement, the "kingdom is at hand." All that has come before is a preparation. John preached repentance, and so does Jesus. The Greek word for "repent" means "change of mind." The old covenant, symbolized in John the Baptist, a time of preparation, is complete, and the advent of the kingdom is here.
And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him. Jesus' call, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men" is, in its own way, a kind of paradigm of what Christ's whole mission will be. It gives us a picture of the power of the Spirit at work in His ministry. These men are fishermen by trade, but in the work for the gospel they will be "transfigured," so to speak, into fishers of men. If the call to repentance is a call to focus on Christ and His message, then the transformation in these who are called by Christ gives us an image of the work of the Kingdom. These men were earlier followers of John the Baptist.
Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried, out, saying, "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!" But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!" And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him." And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee. We note the use of the word "immediately" as used in this paragraph. My study bible points out that this word for immediately is used almost forty times in Mark's Gospel, nearly all of them before Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. It notes, "The sense of urgency and purpose as Christ journeys toward Jerusalem to fulfill His mission of redeeming the world helps make Mark's account not only the shortest but also the most direct of the four gospels." Here we see the immediate effect in the temple, and it indicates the "immediate" presence of the Kingdom: the coming out of the unclean spirit, the authority of Christ, who has not had formal training under a famous rabbi.
We see the "immediate" effects of the Kingdom, everything is happening very swiftly. Mark's Gospel is the first of the four to be written, and it gives us a flavor of this time, this advent of the Kingdom, this fulfillment of the time. Christ doesn't come into the world with a slow start to His public ministry. Those whom He calls are ready to be called, and they immediately respond to Him. The time of preparation is full. It's just time to return this compelling call, to respond to it. We see the shift at work immediately in the world, in the response of the unclean spirit openly in the synagogue. "Things hidden from the foundation of the world" are revealed, opened up (see Matthew 13:35). Considering how swiftly twelve apostles were to spread the gospel to the known world, it is an indication of the effects of this Kingdom. It seems to spread like fire, the image of the Spirit throughout the Old Testament, and also in the New, particularly at Pentecost. The people in the synagogue are astonished at all kinds of things manifesting to them at once: Jesus speaking with a kind of authority that hasn't been understood before, the appearance of the unclean spirit who speaks, Christ's power and command over the spirit. All these things are revelations brought about by the presence of something new and also full. The Kingdom is at hand. God's work in us is always done in the fullness of the Kingdom. It is we who are works in progress. So much depends, also, on our capacity to repent, to change our minds, to embrace what the Kingdom is offering and teaching. This change that turns fishermen into fishers of men is also at work in us, and depends on our "yes." To turn from fisherman into fishers of men may take awhile, but the Kingdom itself is present in its fullness for each of us. Embraced in the immediacy of His light and love, it is we who work on offering to Him what we are and allowing ourselves to find who we are in His light. Reserves of experience, of what the world would teach us, of demands we make on ourselves or from others come gradually, sometimes stubbornly to this light. But it is the light that is always full, always waiting and present in its work within us. Let us consider repentance as a lifetime act of becoming, of transforming, in the work of the Kingdom. Let us not forget its fullness and inexhaustible wealth of love and light, its personal connection with Christ, Father, and Spirit: the times are fulfilled. He is with us. And His kingdom is present within us.
