Mark 1:14-15 - After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
We are only 15 short verses into Mark and already, prophets foretelling
the coming of the Messiah have been quoted. John the Baptist’s ministry begins
and ends. Jesus is baptized, anointed by
God the Father, and then spends forty days in the desert. John is put in prison and Jesus first message
is preached. Mark is definitely an
author committed to using as few words as possible! No wonder people generally like the other
three gospels better – they have a lot more juicy details!
However, what this economy of words does for us is give us
the gospel of Jesus in outline form.
Almost every paragraph is a headline.
Today the headline is this:
“The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the
good news!”
It has been at least a few hundred years since the last Old
Testament Prophet has spoken. Israel
lives under the thumb of the Romans. Most
of the Israelites lived in poverty and oppressive taxation. Place yourself in that position. Imagine living in those circumstances. Don’t read any further until you have taken a
mental field-trip to first-century Galilee.
Then imagine some preacher walking out of the desert and announcing
that the Kingdom of God has arrived. He
is not saying that the Kingdom is coming.
He is saying that the Kingdom is already here. He invites you to turn from (repent) your way
of life and believe that what he has just announced is actually true. Would you believe Him?
I’m an avid Tampa Bay Rays baseball fan. I have an app on my phone that sends me
updates from the Rays’ games so that while the game is going on, I can get
quick updates when runs are scored, someone makes an amazing catch, or some
other significant moment during the game.
This is fun for me when I’m not watching the game. However, when you’re watching a game on TV,
there is enough of a delay between when the home run is actually hit in the
stadium to the moment that you see it happen on TV that the app can actually
notify you on your phone before you see it.
The other day, I got a notification, looked down at my phone and read
that Ji-man Choi (one of my favorite players) had hit a home run. I quickly look back up at the TV and watch the
home run on the “live” TV broadcast. I now tend not to look at my phone while I’m
watching games.
Jesus is giving us that same kind of notification. The Kingdom of God has arrived. Only 15 verses into Mark, you might not have
seen it yet, but it has happened. If you
turn from what you’re doing right now and pay attention, you will see it and
believe it. Mark is trying to get you
and me, the readers to pay attention and look for the reality that has already
happened. We will re-visit this theme throughout
the gospel, but for now, look up and see that it is true. Our orientation is to be constantly looking
for what God has already done.
Questions: Do you actively
look for signs that God’s Kingdom is active in the world? In your neighborhood? In your family? In you?
Prayer: God . . .often.
. . when we look around, we see nothing but bad news. Give us eyes to see the evidence that your
Kingdom is here. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray
for me today. No particular reason. I
just know that I need people praying for me.
Come to think of it. . . you should ask people to pray for you today
too. We all need it.
Song: Secret Kingdom
- Newsboys
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