Introduction
Every Sunday, in the Lord’s prayer, we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” What are we asking for in that prayer? What is the kingdom of God? That question is at the heart of our text this morning.
14 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.
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As we look at the beginning of verse 14, we have a time stamp. Namely, “after John was arrested.” Some commentators take this to mean that the ministries of John and Jesus don’t overlap, but it is clear from the gospel of John that they do. But then John is arrested, and Jesus’ main ministry moves from also baptizing in the Judean countryside, to being a ministry centered in Galilee.
Kingdom Come
Verse 14 tells us that Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming, which is to say, preaching, the gospel of God. That word gospel simply means good news. It’s good in that the content is joyful or happy, and it’s news in the sense the this is an announcement. It’s not a suggestion, or the beginning of a conversation, or simply an offer. Jesus is announcing the Good News of God. And what is the content of that Good News?
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.” (v15)
There are three aspects to this Gospel proclamation in verse 15. The first is the announcement of time, the second is the announcement of the kingdom, and the third is the call for a response.
Time
The idea of time is really building on what we’ve seen the past two weeks with the coming of John in the wilderness, and then the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, and his subsequent time in the wilderness. When Jesus came into the world it wasn't out of the blue, it is the culmination of hundreds and thousands of years of expectation, waiting, and longing.
The promise of a Messiah, a Redeemer, a conquering King - these go all the way back to the beginning.
Genesis 3:15-16 seed, Serpent crushed
Genesis 12:1-2 family, blessed
A dragonslayer was coming from the woman, and he would come from Abraham’s people
But as we rehearsed last week, the wilderness years in many ways set the tone for the history of Israel. Amazing experiences of God, followed by stunning periods of rebellion and lawlessness. These periods would be followed by times of discipline, after which God would then rescue the people again. After the last of these cycles, when the people were carried off into Babylon in 587 BC and the begin to return to the land after 70 years in captivity, God gives them good leadership for a period, and a few more prophets. But when Malachi closes his book around the year 400 BC, things go silent. No more prophetic voice, no more word from the Lord. Has he forgotten his people?
But then the wilderness prophet, John the Baptist, comes like Elijah in the wilderness, preparing the Way For the coming of Messiah. Making straight in the desert a highway for the coming of the great Davidic king. John is announcing that the time is nearly here. Jesus picks that up here in verse 15, and says the time is fulfilled. What you have been waiting for is now upon you. The apostle Paul says in Galatians 4:4-5 that “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” That is who Jesus is: he's the one who’s come at the proper time. God’s Son come into the world, the anointed one, the Messiah.
Kingdom
Okay, it’s time: but time for what? Jesus says, “the kingdom of God is at hand.” What is the kingdom of God? That is a question about which there has been much argument throughout the course of church history. Scholars of every stripe, from ultra liberal to ultra conservative and everywhere in between, have dumped gallons of ink trying to answer the question, “what is the kingdom of God.” Is it a spiritual reality? Is it an earthly reality? Is it both? Is it present? Is it future? Is it both?
In his book, The Greatness of the Kingdom, early 20th century scholar Alva J McClain offers this definition: “A general survey of the biblical material indicates the concept of kingdom envisages a total situation containing at least three essential elements: first) a ruler with adequate authority and power, second) a realm of subjects to be ruled, and third) the actual extra exercise of the function of rulership.” So, you got three things there: a ruler, a realm, and a reign.
In this sense, we can make the broad case - accurately, biblically - that all of Creation is God’s kingdom.
Does God have power over the entire creation? Well, he made it all - and sustains it. Hebrews 1:3 says all of creation is upheld by “the word of his power.” I’d say God has power over creation. He has the authority and right, as Creator, to rule.
What is the extent of that rule? Well, we just said, he made all of it. Not just the visible world, but the invisible as well. The kids and I were just reading in Colossians 1 the other day, and verse 16 says, “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Likely when Paul speaks of thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities, he’s probably talking about spiritual dominion and powers and authorities. Even demonic powers are underneath God’s rule.
And God exercises his rule. Matthew 10:29 says that not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the care and the knowledge of the father. Even those who are not Christians, who are not godly, are still governed and ruled by God. Speaking of Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, quoted by Paul in Romans nine, God says I harden whom I harden. I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy, and have compassion upon whom I will have compassion. And he will harden whom he hardens. Psalm 115:3 says, “our God is in the heavens he does all that he pleases.” God has authority over everything that everything includes everyone. That's the scope of his reign. Nothing happens apart from the will of God
But. If that's what Jesus means by kingdom in Mark 1:14-15, then he's not saying anything, right? “God’s always present rule is at hand, it's here - but it's always been here.”
But there's another way that “kingdom” is used in the Scriptures. While we can speak of gods being the king over everyone and everything, and that's obviously true, there is also a more technical or specific sense of his rule and his kingdom. In Exodus 19:5-6, God says, “Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
God brought the people out of Egypt to represent him. Their nation was to be the place where his rule and his authority was made clear, made visible to the world. They were to make visible the rule and reign of God in the world. Israel was to be distinct from the nations in this way, a place where the tabernacle and then the temple stood at the center, and worship took center stage. A place where God's laws were to be read and studied by the king, and then obeyed by the king and the people.
But again and again, Israel failed in that role. She did not live up to her calling to be a light to the nations. Jesus comes, he says the time is fulfilled now the kingdom of God is at hand. You, Israel, were supposed to be that visible kingdom. You didn't do it. But now it's here.
What does Jesus mean by it “here”? The first thing that he means is the king is here. God, who's always present everywhere, not restricted by physical space as we are, became incarnate. The eternal Second Person of the Trinity, the Word, the Son, took on flesh. And in doing so, he came to a particular time in a particular place in history. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, grew up in Nazareth, and now at this point in Mark one, he's walking around in Galilee. He came to a specific place at a specific time in history, speaking to the people. The Almighty God of the universe, walking around with Galilean dirt under his toenails.
And his message is, the king is here! “The kingdom the king has come!” This is good news because it means the visible rule and reign of God is breaking into the world. The people of Israel expected that he would come and set up a visible earthly throne there in Jerusalem, kick out the Herods, and then kick out the Romans writ large. They expected that he would set up a kingdom, centered in Jerusalem, that would take over the world. Well, did he? Not the way they expected.
Remember what we talked about last week. The fundamental problem for the people of Israel in Exodus was not their bondage to Pharaoh. Their primary problem in the first century was not Roman oppression. That’s not to say those problems weren’t real; but they weren’t the deepest problems. Their primary problem was their bondage to, and oppression by, sin.
And as Mark’s gospel unfolds, we will see that Jesus is the one who died for our sins, he is the one who paid the price for us so that we could be right with God. But starting right here at the beginning of Mark chapter 1, and carrying on all the way through this gospel and through the New Testament letters and into Revelation, what that means is not just to believe in Jesus as the Savior who gets me out of the hell I deserve. It also means to believe in him as the Lord, the King, the One who deserves my worship and my service. Jesus is the one who calls you to follow him. To believe the gospel is to embrace Jesus not only as a Savior, but as your Ruler.
Response
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.
It’s worth noting here this is, almost certainly, not the first time that these guys have interacted with Jesus. John 1:35-42,
35 The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, 36 and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” 37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. 38 Jesus turned and saw them following and said to them, “What are you seeking?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. 40 One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. 41 He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). 42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
Those things probably took place before what we're seeing here in Mark 1. Peter and Andrew are probably fairly religious men. At least in the sense that there's something wrong with them, they need to repent of their sins and look for the Savior. Andrew at least has been baptized by John, and when he sees Jesus there, and John says, “follow him”, Andrew follows him and then he goes and gets his brother and they spend time with Jesus. But they've apparently gone back to their work. You’ve gotta earn a living, right? So they’re fishing, back here at the sea of Galilee. They’re probably still in the boat, and Jesus calls to them, “follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Jesus calls them to lay aside their nets and become his disciples, which meant literally laying aside their livelihood and following him. Part of what it means to repent and believe the gospel, the good news of Jesus, is to believe that he is King. Thus, I must be willing to follow him.
This is why our church mission statement is that “Remsen Bible Fellowship exists to help people become followers of Jesus, and grow and likeness to him, for their joy and for God’s glory.” Look again when Jesus says. He tells them to follow him. And if they follow Jesus, he says, “I will make you become fishers of men.” So we exist to follow Jesus, if we're following in the footsteps of Jesus and Andrew and Peter, then we exist to be fishers of men as well. Those who follow Jesus should be casting our nets after others, trying to pull them toward Christ.
“And they immediately left their nets and followed him.” Again, remember that they had spent time with Jesus before, they know who he is. Andrew already called him the Messiah. Now the Messiah gives them a clear-cut command: “follow me.” Leave what you are doing, and follow. We see the same thing in verses 19-20:
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.
Presumably it’s pretty early in the morning, and now as Peter and Andrew have followed, they’re walking down the shore a little farther, and he sees James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, who are in their boat mending the nets. They're probably done fishing for the night, taking care of things like maybe patching up any places in the nets that are ripped, washing up their rigging, getting stuff ready for the next day. He called them immediately. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
What does it mean for us today to respond to Jesus like that? If Jesus really is the king of all the universe, and he really did enter human history to be the Messiah the one who brings God's kingdom near, how do we respond?
The first response, if you do not know Jesus, is to repent of your sins. Your sins separate you from God, and your sins condemn you to hell apart from him forever. Repent of those sins, hate those sins, turn from those sins and trust in Jesus. Trust that his death on the cross paid for all of your sins and believe in him. Trust in the power of his resurrection life, and the promise to give you that life if you will trust in him. And if you really believe that he did that for you, then you will do this third thing: you will follow him. You will repent, believe, and follow. What does that mean, what does it not mean?
To start with, what it doesn't mean is it does not necessarily mean he's calling you, like these guys, to leave your job and go into full-time ministry. God has given us each roles to play in fulfilling the creation mandate, the cultural mandate, to fill the earth and take dominion. Humans, men and women, are to exercise God's creational rule over everything. So work is a part of what we are given. Jesus wasn't telling these guys that it was wrong to be a fisherman. He is saying for that time and place he's calling them to something different. So following Jesus doesn't necessarily mean quit your day job. But here's what it might mean: quit your day job.
Or it might mean being willing to suffer fractures in your human relationships. Or upsetting family members. Or putting yourself in danger. We don't know how Zebedee felt about his sons walking off the job to follow this traveling Rabbi. We don't know how Peter's wife felt about him leaving their source of income to follow Jesus. We do know how the religious authorities felt about the people who follow Jesus: and it wasn't good. Following Jesus will be costly.
2 Timothy 3:12 says that “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” All. There are no exceptions. Luke 9:23-25, “And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. 25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” The call to repent and believe, the call to follow Jesus, is a costly call. It is demanding. It is also the most rewarding thing in the world. Because it means submitting yourself to reality.
Jesus is the Lord. Jesus is the ruler of heaven and earth. Jesus did appear on this planet 2000 years ago to announce that rule and that reign and to accomplish the work of redemption on the cross. Revelation 20 still pictures a future visible rule and reign of Christ on the earth. The people of Israel in Jesus’ day weren't crazy to think something like that was coming. You read the OT prophets and a visible reign of God in and over the world, not just in a creation of sense but in a sense the people will be flocking to him and worshiping him gladly, this is a right expectation. They were just skipping over all of the stuff about the suffering in the death of the servant of the Lord. They were skipping over what Jesus said must come first: first the cross and then the crown.
But before we get there, the kingdom is nonetheless near. And it's near to the world in the presence of the church. We are the place where the rule and the reign of God is made manifest, we are to make it clear to the world that Jesus is the king - right now! - and that he is worthy of being followed. We show this by being willing to do whatever he calls us to do. So that's the challenge for each of us this morning, the challenge for us as a church: are we willing to follow him wherever he calls us? Are we willing to do whatever he says to do? Are we willing to repent of all the sins, to quit clinging to them and lay them at his feet? Are we willing to be fishers of men? This is what he calls us to do. Repent of your sins, trust in Jesus, join him on his mission, and submit to his authority. Do everything he tells you to do. That's what we're called to as Christians, and we need his help.
