The Galilean Ministry Begins

GOLDEN TEXT: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel.” —Mark 1:15

MARK 1:14-22

IN OUR Golden Text two aspects of the Gospel are presented. (1) “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand”; and (2) “Repent ye, and believe the Gospel.” Time is a very important element in the outworking of God’s plan. There is a “due time” for every feature of his plan. The first advent of Jesus was in the time appointed. The same is true of the second advent. In Ephesians 1:10 we read of the “dispensation of the fullness of times,” when all things will be gathered together in Christ. This is one of the time features of the divine plan yet to be accomplished.

God has revealed some of the time features of his plan. Others he still holds in his own power. The time of the first advent of the Messiah was foretold in the prophecy of Daniel, chapter 9, verses 24-27.

In this prophecy a period of “seventy weeks” is mentioned, which, actually is 490 years. It was at the beginning of the seventieth week that the Messiah would come; seventy weeks, that is, from the issuing of a decree authorizing the rebuilding of the city and walls of Jerusalem following the nation’s captivity in Babylon. This time measurement reached, not to the birth of Jesus, but to “Messiah the prince,” and Jesus did not become the Messiah [meaning anointed] until he was anointed by the Holy Spirit at the time of his baptism.

So, as our Golden Text states, the time was now “fulfilled,” and the kingdom of God was at hand. The Greek text emphasizes that it was the King in this kingdom who had appeared. But this meant also that the kingdom was at hand in the sense that its preparation had commenced. For example, Jesus there began the selection and calling of his apostles. The completed kingdom is pictured in Revelation as a “holy city,” with twelve foundations, “and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”—Rev. 21:2,14

In today’s lesson, mention is made of the selection of some of these apostles. But they all had to be selected and trained for the high position designed for them in the kingdom—and not only the apostles, but all the footstep followers of Jesus. They are all promised joint-heirship in his kingdom. They are all to live and reign with him, and the work of selecting and proving all these was assigned to the Gospel age. It is still in progress, but it began with Jesus, when he, as the King, came at his first advent.

The Gospel of the kingdom called upon the people to repent and to believe. First this Gospel was confined to the Jewish nation, but later it was extended to all nations. In his sermon on Mars’ hill Paul said, “God … now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” (Acts 17:30) Repentance means a change of heart or mind, a determination to lead a new life. In the case of the Israelites who were under the bondage of the law, it meant to cease trying to justify themselves through the works of the Law, and to turn to Christ, by faith accepting the merit of his shed blood to cover their sins and make them acceptable to God.

To the Gentiles, repentance implied a change of heart or mind, turning from their idols and their sinful revelries, to seek to serve the true and living God. With both Jew and Gentile repentance means the acknowledgment of sin—that, through Adam, the whole world is born in sin, and misshapen in iniquity. It means a recognition of Jesus as the great sin-bearer, the One who has provided atonement through his blood. And true repentance means not only the recognizing of these truths, but a hearty acceptance of them.

True repentance is closely allied to belief. But full belief in Jesus and his atoning blood is more than a mental assent to this great truth. It is through faith that one believes, and faith without works is dead. In other words, where there is full belief there is a complete surrender of oneself to all the conditions upon which the merit of the Redeemer is made available. In this Gospel age those conditions are to deny self and follow in the footsteps of the Master.

These are the terms of discipleship. This is what the Gospel of the kingdom implies to those who would be Jesus’ disciples in the present age. Jesus made this plain in his own ministry, and later his disciples continued with the same message. It is later on that the blessings of the kingdom will flow out to all mankind.

QUESTIONS

What two aspects of the Gospel are mentioned in our Golden Text?

In what sense was the kingdom of God at hand in Jesus’ day?

What is involved in full repentance and belief?

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