The Time Has Come

Scripture:

Mark 1:14  Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Observation:

A critical moment in time has come. John was the one in the wilderness, preparing the way for Jesus, much like the children of Israel had spent time in wilderness preparation. Now, John is arrested and a new time has come and Jesus is released into ministry. 

Suddenly, it seems, Jesus is in Galilee, in the promised land, and he is proclaiming the good news of God. After his death and resurrection the message would change to the good news of Jesus, the resurrected Son of God, but throughout his entire life, he is ushering in a new time, a new era.

The time had come, and Jesus was proclaiming that all of time had now been fulfilled. The kingdom of God was not far away, it was now immanent — this was the time! It was in this time, in this moment, that the people were called to repentance, but one in which the good news was to be believed and embraced. This was a call to the reordering of one’s life because by repenting we give glory to God, our creator whom we have offended by our sins, and by faith we give glory to Jesus, the one who will save us from our sins. This is the good news presented by Jesus, bringing together repentance and salvation, now, in God’s activity through his kingdom. 

Application:

The time has come for all of us. This gospel was not just for an audience 2000 years ago, but for all who have the privilege of reading and receiving the good news. As we flip open the pages of the gospel of Mark we are confronted with the arrival of the kingdom of God. For us this is not some distant event, but rather it is a present reality. 

The present reality of the kingdom calls for preparation. We are to take the call of Jesus seriously for this will become life transforming. I don’t hear too many people talk about repentance these days. There seems to be an overwhelming emphasis on the language of love that becomes almost universalistic and requires no response on the part of God’s people. This is just as odd to me as assuming that someone could be in a marriage where one person loves the other, but no response is expected on the part of the spouse. Somehow that just doesn’t seem to match up with the Jesus we encounter here in Mark. Beginning with John’s proclamation and now the ministry of Jesus, there is always a call to repentance which is a reconciliation of our lives with the Creator. We have not been living in alignment to God’s will in our lives, but going our own way and justifying those activities in a way that waters down holy love. The invitation is into a reciprocal relationship of holy love. It requires action and response by both parties. 

To truly repent and believe is to reorder our lives with everything seen in view of our relationship with Christ. What we do on a daily basis ought to be done in light of our place as citizens of God’s kingdom. The time has come and the message has been placed before us. Will we join Christ in the kingdom by repenting and believing, following him by living in obedience every day? 

Prayer:

Lord. May I fully live in the time which you have given me. Amen.