The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel

 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 reading Mark's Gospel.  That is, 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."  My study bible says that Mark's written emphasis on John being put in prison before Jesus begins preaching reveals that a key purpose of the old covenant -- preparation of the people for Christ -- had been completed (Galatians 4:1-5).  After Christ came, the time of preparation was fulfilled.  To repent is to do a total "about-face," it says.  The word in Greek means literally to "change one's mind."  It indicates a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart -- according to my study bible, a complete reorientation to a life centered in Christ.  

 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.   Mark's Gospel is the first to be written, and also the most brief.  Here, we assume that Mark's early audience was familiar with the story of how these disciples came to be already familiar with Christ; they had been disciples first of John the Baptist who had proclaimed to them that Jesus was the Christ, the "Lamb of God."  In John 1:35-50, the unnamed disciple is considered to be John Zebedee, author of the Gospel of John.

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.  My study bible points out the the word immediately occurs nearly forty times in Mark's Gospel.  Almost all of these uses occur before the Lord's entrance into Jerusalem.   It says that 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.

Just as Jesus' ministry began with the abrupt action of the Spirit, after His Baptism and revelation as Son in the Jordan, in which the Spirit "threw" (literally in the Greek) Jesus into the wilderness to prepare for His public ministry, so Jesus' ministry virtually explodes in "immediate" actions.  It is almost like watching a flower bloom in sped-up motion.  My study bible points out how frequently the word "immediately" is used in the full text.  In the Greek, the word for immediately indicates something that happens not only without delay, but without other unnecessary action, something that happens "straightaway," without detours on the way, a direct action.  There is no avoidance, no delay, no prevaricating.  These are strong, bold actions.  Let us note that all the things that contribute to this ministry happen thusly, as written here.  That includes not only Jesus' actions, such as calling the disciples, and going to preach in the synagogue on the Sabbath, but also the responses of the disciples who "immediately left their nets and followed Him."  These are decisive actions, signalling to us a sense in which once it is the right time for this ministry to begin, it happens with boldness.  There is no time to waste or to lose, no hesitation.  The entire ministry is one of seizing the right time, the right moment, acting on the true impulse which God the Father plants.  We get this sense about Jesus from all of the Gospels -- such as in John's Gospel, when Jesus states, "My hour has not yet come."  or "my time has not yet come" (John 2:4, 7:6-8), referring to the time of His Passion, death, and Resurrection.  The decision pattern of action at the right time is indicated when we read that Jesus "steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem" (Luke 9:51).  We are reminded of Jesus' words upon receiving the disciples of the imprisoned John the Baptist in Matthew's Gospel, that "from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force" (Matthew 11:12).  All of these actions, these manifestations of the work of the Kingdom in the public ministry of Jesus, "break in" upon the world with direct force and bold action.  They indicate to us that there is a right and proper time, a fitting moment for the works of God to manifest, to be revealed.  The word for "time" in Greek is καιρος/kairos, and one might frequently hear this word used in English to indicate the pregnancy of an opportune time, a precise moment for the birth of something into our world.  Jesus' very first statement which begins His ministry indicates all of this sense of time, as He begins by saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel."  From there, immediately, disciples are chosen and respond, Jesus immediately begins preaching with authority in the synagogue, and also His authority over the unclean spirits is revealed.   At this time of the year, we also have a proper and fitting time for reflection and consideration of our faith.  Our own decisive action at this moment is to do something that seems quite the opposite of a direct action, and that is to take this forty day appropriate and opportune period as one for reflection and prayer, a time to remember God.  We do so also by practicing a regimen of fasting according to whatever tradition we hold, or a kind of rule set to the best of our ability.  This is not a contest to see how much we can pray or how well we stick to any rules.  It is an appropriate time, instead, for drawing closer to God.   It is this time in which we are meant to refine and to develop a better sense of dialogue with God, a way of "listening" to God, and most importantly to develop our own capacity for discernment in so doing.  Without proper discernment, we can never really know "what time it is" spiritually, so to speak.   Perhaps most decisively, Jesus expresses this sense when He tells the multitudes, "Whenever you see a cloud rising out of the west, immediately you say, 'A shower is coming'; and so it is.  And when you see the south wind blow, you say, 'There will be hot weather'; and there is.  Hypocrites! You can discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it you do not discern this time?" (Luke 12:54-56).  There is a sort of play on language at work here, as the same word in Greek for "time" is also the word used for "weather."  It gives us a sense of time as not merely a mark of the hours, but also indicative of atmosphere, of a reality belonging to itself and proper to the time in which God acts in the world.  Let us concern ourselves at this "proper time" with learning to listen better in our prayer, even in a pregnant silence, to ask and to seek to know our own proper actions at whatever stage of life we are.  God calls us to pray, to listen in the silence ("Be still and know that I am God" - Psalm 46:10), to give of ourselves at the right time or opportunity, but always to be alert and awake as good servants following the commands with which we're left and awaiting our Master's return.  St. Peter also reminds us to be sober and vigilant to the things which seek to destroy or damage our communion with God (1 Peter 5:8).  Let us take the time to know our time as well, for the kingdom of God is at hand and awaiting our response to its presence.