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How would you feel if you were at work and some random stranger walked up and invited you to follow him to a world where justice, mercy, and communion with the sacred and holy was the norm not the exception? Join me, Rev Darcy (she/hers), a Universalist pastor from rural Alabama, on a journey with me through the Gospel of Mark. Come with me to learn about just how much you are loved, just as you are in this moment, as we spend the next eleven minutes in heaven.
Listen to what the Spirit is saying to you through this sacred word from the Gospel of Mark:
After John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee announcing God’s good news, saying, “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom! Change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news!” As Jesus passed alongside the Galilee Sea, he saw two brothers, Simon and Andrew, throwing fishing nets into the sea, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” he said, “and I’ll show you how to fish for people.” Right away, they left their nets and followed him. After going a little farther, he saw James and John, Zebedee’s sons, in their boat repairing the fishing nets. At that very moment he called them. They followed him, leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers. (Mark 1:14-20, CEB)
Welcome back to another episode of Eleven Minutes in Heaven where we journey through the Bible together taking note of all the Biblical drama without engaging in spiritual trauma. This week, we are back in the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark where we see the start of Jesus’ public ministry. Last week we talked about the impact John the Baptizer’s public ministry had on Jesus, Jesus’ baptism, and his wilderness time where he wrestled with what it mean to be God’s beloved son. This week we see John’s arrest as the catalyzing event that puts Jesus’ public ministry on the map.
Sermon Note: Want to dig deeper and/or check my claims? Here are the books I’m using and recommend to get a deeper understanding of Mark.
Marcus J. Borg’s The Gospel of Mark from Morehouse (ISBN: 978-0-8192--2339-5)
Jerry L. Sumney’s The Bible: An Introduction (3rd ed.) from Fortress Press (ISBN: 978-1506466781).
Ben Witherington III’s The Gospel of Mark: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary from Eerdmans (ISBN: 978-0802845030).
The World Behind the Text
Let’s jump into the cultural context. At the time of the Gospel story, absolute monarchy was the primary political structure of the day. Sure Rome was technically a “Republic” but it was ruled by oligarchs from the aristocratic class who were dominated by an Emperor. The Emperor had absolute power that increased with every passing year. Roman colonies were governed by appointed governors, and some regions were granted limited home rule through their own kingly rulers who were still subject to the Emperor through the governor of the Roman province where the region was located with each level holding absolute power over the level beneath them.
Sermon Note: The Jewish homeland was divided between two governors— Judea, whose governor at the time of Jesus’ ministry was Pontius Pilate, and Galilee, which was ruled by Herod Antipas under the watchful eye of the Proconsul of Syria—
If your experience of Roman rule was pleasant it was either because you were of the aristocracy, or less likely, because you had a wise and merciful ruler over you. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was the ruler of the region of Galilee— the northern part of modern-day Israel and part of the West Bank— and Perea— the region along the east bank of the Jordan River in the modern-day Kingdom of Jordan. He was a client ruler of these regions which meant he depended upon the sanction of the Roman Emperor, not the will of his people, for his authority.
Sermon Note:Remember, Herod the Great’s kingdom, which included all of the ancestral homeland of the Jews, was broken up upon his death into four quarters by the Roman Emperor to diffuse the power of the Jewish nation. If they did not have one state, and one leader, then it would be harder to organize a revolt.
Herod Antipas was a controversial figure. He divorced his own wife and married his ex-sister in law— spicy— and was known for pretty raucous and loose living— double spicy. He’s best known for the construction of his capital, Tiberias, which he named in honor of his benefactor the Emperor— suck-up— which would later become the center of Rabbinic learning after the Roman-Jewish wars that were taking place when Mark was written.
Sermon Note:Herod Antipas was later deposed and sent into exile in Gaul by the Emperor Caligula after his nephew, and successor, accused him of plotting against the emperor. So spicy.
Herod is best known in the Gospel narrative as the king who had John the Baptizer arrested and executed— traditionally because John publicly criticized him for his scandalous divorce and remarriage in defiance of Torah law…so spicy— and for the role he played in Jesus’ execution.
Sermon Note:Because Jesus was Galilean, he was Herod Antipas’ subject. Pilate, the Roman Governor, attempted to wash his hands of Jesus by sending him for judgement to Herod Antipas who he argued had primary jurisdiction over him. Herod Antipas sent him right back.
The World of the Text
Onto the linguistic and narrative structure of today’s passage. Let’s start with verse 15a: “Now is the time! Here comes God’s kingdom!” Kingdom to the readers of this first gospel represented rule by might not right, but cruelty not mercy. What Jesus describes as the Kingdom of God, therefore, is a stark contrast to what they perceive as kingdom. It is a kingdom ruled by righteousness not the threat of violence, of merciful, abundant grace not “my way or the highway.” What Jesus describes is heaven on earth, and I don’t mean that metaphorically. The Greek here could mean “coming soon” or “now’s the time,” and the translators of the Common English Bible we are using choose the latter interpretation. Jesus says “now is the time” this kingdom is literally “here.”
Sermon Note: The word used here is ἐγγίζω (engizō): “to cause to approach.”
Why do they make this selection? Well the idea that what Jesus is preaching is about is the afterlife simply is not supported by the textual evidence. Jesus is literally telling us that heaven can exist on earth, proceeds to show us what that kingdom looks like through his earthly ministry, and empowers his disciples to imitate him in that work.
So how do we, twenty centuries later, bring this heaven to earth? Well, in the same way that they did in the first century. Verse 15b holds the key. Jesus says, “change your hearts and lives, and trust this good news” which is often translated as “repent and believe.” The Greek word often translated as repent really is talking about going beyond where you are now.
Sermon Note: The word translated here as “change your hearts and lives” or commonly as “repent” is μετανοέω (metanoeō): Literal beyond (meta) understanding, comprehension, or understanding (noeō) “To undergo a change in frame of mind and feeling.”
In keeping with Mark’s theme of “the Way” and the larger narrative of the Bible about the transition from exile to homecoming, bondage to liberation, we can interpret this word as “follow me into a new way of thinking and living. Then we get to what is commonly translated as “believe” but in the Common English Bible is rendered “trust.”
Sermon Note: The word translated here as “trust” or commonly as “believe” is πιστεύω (pisteuō):“To believe, give credit to, trust.” According to Marcus Borg, until the 1600s the verb for believe was not conceptualized in the Bible as an adherence to any particular set of beliefs but rather with an allegiance to something.
What Jesus is saying is “trust me, put your faith in what I’m telling you and showing you to be the kingdom.” This interpretation of the verbs “repent and believe” is supported by textual evidence the verses 16-20 as Jesus journeys back to Galilee and invites one-by-one Simon (Peter), Andrew, James, and John to follow him. His ministry opens with a proclamation of God’s kingdom, instructions as to how to get there, and moves forward with people doing just that.
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The World in Front of the Text
So how was this alternative view of reality— a world transformed as a kingdom of God where that done on earth is as is done in heaven— received? Basically at this time every Jew longed for a world transformed by God, a kingdom of God as it were. Some thought the world would be transformed through God’s work alone, while others saw human agency as the key either by living the Torah faithfully or through a revolution against Rome. Then there were those who look to a messiah to bring the kingdom of God. Lastly, there were those who hoped for a transformed world without any real convictions on how it would come about.
Sermon Note: According to Borg, some Jews looked to two messiahs— a priestly messiah and a royal messiah— to bring the kingdom of God.
The earliest Christians saw Jesus as the messiah who is a prophet who proclaims God’s truths, a priest who mediates between us and God, and a king who leads us in living the kingdom of God in this life so that we may enter the next life as faithful subjects of God. Like Peter, Andrew, James, and John they left the life they knew for a new life centered on community-building by inviting people to follow the Way of the Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus. Over time, however, this Christ-centered view of the Kingdom and how to get there would become perverted by Empire. After the council of Nicaea defined “orthodox Christianity” in the Nicene Creed in the late fourth century, the marriage of church and state sought to bring about a literal kingdom of God that looked more like Rome than Christ.
Sermon Note: The Nicene Creed, in the words used in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church of the United States states: “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one being with the father. Through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary, and was made man. For us and for our salvation he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one holy catholic [universal not Roman] and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
This is where we are today. Our invitation as we re-discover the Bible together is to co-create the kindom of God through the imitation of Christ.
Sermon Note: I say kin-dom, not kingdom, because what Jesus describes us as is one big family where he is our elder brother and God is our holy parent.
In a time where we hope kingdoms are no longer relevant and human beings long for genuine and meaningful and mutually affirming intimate relationships, reimagining the kingdom of God as a family provides a much better picture of that which Jesus proclaimed two thousand years ago.
Last Things
Next week on Eleven Minutes in Heaven we will watch Jesus astonish the people of Galilee as he provides free healthcare to the sick and suffering.
If you are enjoying Eleven Minutes in Heaven I invite you to join me on Zoom on Monday at 7pm central time for guided meditation. This is open to both free and paid subscribers during the month of January, so subscribe to get that link at www.revdarcy.com/subscribe
Beloved, go about your day knowing you are loved more than you could ever ask or imagine. Be kind to yourself and to one another. Have a snack, and take a nap. Above all, dwell in peace. May it be.
This episode of Eleven Minutes in Heaven was written and produced by Rev. Darcy Corbitt and is © Copyright 2025 Darcy Corbitt, LLC, PO Box 23, Camp Hill, AL 36850. All rights reserved.
All scripture quotations come from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE which is © Copyright 2011 COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.CommonEnglishBible.com).
Music included in this podcast is by Julius H used under the Pixabay Content License.
