The “Kingdom” According to Mark 1:14-15

Is the Kingdom of God overrated? Does it get too much attention by Christian authors and the pastors in the pulpit? What does it have to do with life and being a faithful follower of Jesus? Does a level of understanding with regard to the Kingdom of God help me in being a disciple?

Question: Does a map help when traveling? Does an understanding of a sport as a whole help in the moment of training or competition? Does a five year plan help when decisions need to be made today? Yes, yes, and yes.

I was just talking to my wife the other day about how the BIG themes of scripture are worth getting familiar with because they help us navigate the whole of scripture well. Such themes are God as Creator/Re-Creator, God as life/light, God’s people, sin/redemption, judgement, and on the list goes. The long list of themes varies in frequency. Sometimes they intertwine like a tapestry so that we cannot divide them up, and other times they are clearly laid out by themselves. The more frequent the theme the more weight it has in how we read the Bible.

The Kingdom of God is one of the heaviest themes in scripture. Attention to it helps inform our regular reading of the Bible, and impacts how we think about both history and the future.

Springboard into the “Kingdom” (Mark 1:14-15)

This text is a springboard in two ways:

1. It is the first plain reference to the Kingdom in Mark’s narrative, so then it becomes a key text as we consider Mark’s other teaching on this topic.
2. In the text itself we read of how a person is “springboard-ed” into the Kingdom: by repentance and faith.

Back to the “Beginning”

To appreciate what Jesus says in 1:14-15 we must go back to 1:1-3, and from there quickly overview 1:4-13.

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

Behold, I send my messenger before your face,

who will prepare your way,

the voice of one crying in the wilderness:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make his paths straight,’”

Mark 1:1-3

I need to make two quick observations on these verses before we make our way to 1:14-15.

1. As it is Written: What Mark is going to write out over the next sixteen chapters is not merely a record of recent events involving Jesus and his disciples. It is in fact a record of how the gospel that was promised in the Old Testament and foretold has begun to unfold with the first coming of”Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
2. My Messenger: Who is this messenger? As the text continues we would say John the Baptist (1:4). And that is true but it is not all. Mark 1:2-3 is a bridge from 1:1 to 1:4. As we enter from 1:1 into 1:2-3 Jesus is in sight, yet Mark structures the quote in such a way as to very smoothly bring us to consider John the Baptist as we exit 1:2-3 and enter 1:4. We know this because Mark 1:2-3 is a merging of Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1; & Exodus 23:20. Each of these texts touches on, in one way or another, the preparing for God’s presence. In this we see both Jesus and John spoken of here. John prepared for God’s presence as experienced by the coming of Jesus into the world. To speak generally yet honestly a thread of continuity between these three texts is how the preparation for God’s presence is followed by redemption and retribution. Jesus came to bring redemption, yet also retribution (Matt. 23; Luke 10:13-15; 19:41-47; John 8:39-47). John came “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins”(1:4) to prepare “the way.” At the end of the day we see redemption to the repentant and retribution to those who rejected.

Mark 1:4-13 as the context to 1:14-15

In typical Mark fashion we get a blog post about the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. For a fuller view of what I am about to say go read Matthew 3:13-4:25 & Luke 3-4. The events of 1:4-13 are crucial to understanding what Jesus says in 1:14-15.

1. We read a brief narrative of the preparation by John which was prophesied by Isaiah and quoted by Mark. Therefore we have set before us the preparer for the presence of God (Jesus) by which comes redemption and retribution.
2. Then in the baptism of Jesus we see what will become clearer as Mark’s narrative continues, that being how the presence of God in his Son has come to earth: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
3. Finally what we read about the temptation is so much more than Jesus giving us an example of how to resist the devil. There we have the first act of God’s presence being worked out in the ministry of his Son. This was alluded to in Isaiah and Malachi, and here clearly seen, but it was also foreshadowed in Exodus 23:20 as mentioned above. In Exodus 23:20, which Mark is referencing, God sends his messenger ahead of Israel into the Promised Land to remove the enemy. What God did in Exodus on a comparatively small level is done in a greater way here as Jesus begins to over throw the great Enemy, Satan.

John prepares the way as the final Old Covenant prophet preaching repentance. God’s presence then arrives to begin His work in the person of His Son.

Mark 1:14-15 as a Declaration of God’s Reign

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Two Questions: 1) What story immediately preceded this declaration? 2) What does “gospel of God” mean?

First, these two verses are immediately preceded by the story of Jesus overcoming the devil and his temptations. He goes into the wilderness (a place of testing in the Bible) and comes out having not faltered. The devil tested him yet he came out triumphant.

Secondly, the “gospel of God” in short means “the good news of God”. But what kind of good news are we talking about? The Greek word for gospel is euangelion, a word which often in the ancient world had a specific use with regard to good news. In times of war when a city was victorious in the battle that was “euangelion” (good news of military victory).

With these two questions before us what we begin to see is that Mark is leading us to understand that Jesus’ proclamation upon coming from the wilderness temptation is this: The reign of God has become more manifest than ever before and is seen in the victory of Jesus against the devil’s temptations.

We could rightfully read the concept behind 1:15 as follows: The time that the prophets spoke of has come, and with that the reign of God is more present than ever. Therefore respond in repentance and trust in the news of his military victories.

Clarification and Conclusion

I know that I may have some disagreeing readers with regard to the working out of the kingdom of God. Due to different understandings and starting points we may have about the Kingdom of God I fear that some may think me to be saying that the fullness of God’s kingdom arrived on earth 2,000 years ago. I assure you I do not believe that. Yet, what I believe about Mark 1:1-15 is that God’s kingdom arrived more potently than ever before in Christ’s coming 2,000 years ago (Luke 11:20-22; 17:20-21). In Christ there is the presence and power of God: the reign of God. Yet one day Jesus will return to this earth physically and his kingship will be physically manifest.

One further point of clarification on the view I hold, which if you differ in perspective may help in understanding future blogs I write. Generally the difference of views on the kingdom is based on one general distinction on how the kingdom arrives in the end: In segments or smoothly. Those words may not be the best but hopefully that will make the concepts easy to remember. A segmented view is that of God’s kingship being seen and exercised in specific unites which have little or no overlap with other ways he reigns as king:

• The way he is spoken of as King in the Psalms is one type.
• A different type is God as King of our personal lives.
• Then there might be King as Creator, since the Creator is over all.
• Among other things would be the final performance as King in his Kingdom being established physically on earth.

On the other hand, the “smooth” view that I and others would hold to is that of seeing much overlap and continuity between the different biblical texts on the reign of God. This view is better represented by thinking of this topic as the kingship (reign or rule) of God instead of Kingdom (which sounds more like a domain). In this I view the kingship of God as real in creation as is his rule over the Old Covenant people and the New, corporately and personally. And I, with you, wait for that wonderful day when is glory is revealed from heaven in his manifest kingdom.

To be sure this is painting with a broad brush so we must think of these things as being on a spectrum with many brethren being placed at various points.

The coming of Jesus to this world 2,000 years ago was not just another step toward “the end” and God’s kingdom established on earth, but it was a leap forward unlike ever before. The presence of God in power had become present on earth, and as we will see in weeks to come those events were fulfillments of kingdom prophecies from the Old Testament.

Two Applications

• Christmas is about Covenants: Here we are in December, the Christmas season has begun. As December 25th approaches take two days per week to read Old Testament promises (aka prophecies) about the birth of our Savior and King. Consider Genesis 3:15. Read Genesis 15 along with Galatians 3:1-18. Two passages to be read together: Genesis 49:8-12 and 2 Samuel 7. We also have the classics from Isaiah 7:10-14 (Matt. 1:23); 8:11-15 (1 Pet. 2:6-9); & 9:1-7 (Matt. 4:15-16). And we cannot forget Micah 5:1-5. Throughout these texts are echoes of the great covenant promises made to Abraham, David, and Israel. In Jesus all of God’s promises find their yes.
• Effective Evangelism: Mark 1:14-15 and its context shows us the great progression of God’s plan. With that comes content and confidence for calling people to come into this kingdom by faith and repentance. Mark 1:14-15 is the heart of the evangelical message of Jesus in Mark. This message was constant in the preaching of Jesus. If we ask how do we evangelize? What do we tell others? This text is a biblically ideal place to start: 1) We proclaim Jesus as King. This calls for a persons submission to his rule in their life. 2) We explain that the first step of responding is to repent and trust. We call to mankind on the basis of holy scripture to turn from sin and toward God in faith. My brethren we ought to have confidence in this message for Christ did and because the very content of the message reminds us of who it is who holds all authority: Jesus. Based on and with this text proclaim Jesus and King and Savior.