David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 1:14-15

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.”

As soon as Jesus had faced down the devil he begins his public ministry. He does so by announcing the presence of the Kingdom of God and calling people to repent and believe the gospel. On the one hand this is nothing new; it is a carry-over of John the Baptist’s ministry. There apparently had been quite a movement of people responding to his call, confessing their sins and being baptized. It is noteworthy that Jesus’ call to repentance did not result in a popular revival as far as Mark records.

It is even more noteworthy, however, that Jesus’ announcement of the presence of God’s kingdom comes on the heels of John’s arrest. This is not what most of us would equate with the Kingdom of God. It is more likely thought of as a failure of justice and perhaps even of God himself. Not only is the forerunner of Jesus arrested, but Jesus uses that as his cue to announce the Kingdom’s presence!

If Jesus is right on this we need to repent straight away! What may be obvious when it comes to greed, lust, anxiety, or anger is not so obvious when it comes to recognizing the Kingdom’s presence. But it is true: we all need to repent – both of the obvious sins and attitudes we can easily identify as evil and displeasing to God as well as of the more subtle sin of tying the presence of God’s Kingdom to happy circumstances and worldly favor.

We may identify God’s Kingdom with good things, but Jesus identifies God’s Kingdom with his presence. And Jesus is available to every circumstance in life. The first thing for us to do if we are to live under Christ in his Kingdom is to repent. The second thing is to believe the Good News: Jesus is present to redeem us and lead us in the paths of his Kingdom. First, however, we must repent – change our minds about God’s reign, his place in our lives, and his rule in the world. First we must look for Jesus in every circumstance and believe the Good News of his salvation.

Mark 1:14-28

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.

²¹ And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. ²² Andthey were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ²⁴ “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” ²⁵ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” ²⁶ And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. ²⁷ And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” ²⁸ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.