The Kingdom Is Near
There are certain opening lines that have become permanently etched into our collective memory.
“I have a dream…”
“Ask not what your country can do for you…”
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself…”
And then there are those lines that may not be quite as familiar, but still belong to the pages of history:
“Fourscore and seven years ago…”
“I am prepared to die.”
The first words spoken by some people become a window into what matters most to them. They tell us something about the moment, the mission, and the message that is about to follow.
Mark gives us something like that when he records the first words Jesus speaks in his Gospel.
After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit descending upon him, the Father’s declaration of love, and Jesus’ time in the wilderness, Jesus emerges and begins his public ministry.
And his opening announcement is remarkably simple:
“The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15)
That’s Jesus’ message.
The waiting is over.
God is doing something new.
The kingdom of God has come near.
The Waiting Is Over
For generations, Israel had been waiting.
They had lived through exile, occupation, political upheaval and disappointment. They had heard the promises of the prophets. They had hoped for the day when God would finally set things right.
They were waiting for the Messiah.
And now Jesus arrives and says, “The time has come.”
There’s something powerful about those words when you’ve spent a long time waiting for something that matters.
There is a difference between saying, “Someday this might happen,” and saying, “It’s happening now.”
Maybe you’ve experienced that in your own life. The day you finally brought your child home. The day you graduated after years of work. The day someone you loved finally returned after being away.
Waiting creates a longing in us.
And Jesus walks into the story of Israel and announces:
The waiting is over.
God’s promised reign is beginning to break into the world.
What Is the Kingdom?
The phrase “kingdom of God” can be confusing because when we hear the word kingdom, we tend to think about geography—castles, borders, territory, kings and queens.
But Jesus isn’t primarily talking about a place.
He’s talking about God’s reign.
The kingdom of God is what happens when God’s authority, God’s purposes and God’s good will are established in the world.
And as we continue reading Mark, we begin to see what that looks like.
When Jesus heals someone, God’s kingdom has come near.
When Jesus forgives someone, God’s kingdom has come near.
When Jesus welcomes someone pushed to the margins, God’s kingdom has come near.
When Jesus confronts evil, God’s kingdom has come near.
When Jesus feeds hungry people, restores the broken and gives hope to the desperate, God’s kingdom has come near.
Jesus doesn’t simply announce the kingdom.
He demonstrates it.
Wherever Jesus goes, the reign of God becomes visible.
And that’s why Jesus’ message is such good news.
God hasn’t forgotten his people.
God hasn’t abandoned his creation.
God is still at work.
The world may not yet be what it is supposed to be, but God isn’t finished.
Already, But Not Yet
There is an interesting tension throughout the New Testament.
Jesus says the kingdom has come near. And yet we are taught to pray, “Your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10).
So which is it?
Has the kingdom come, or are we still waiting for it?
The answer is both.
In Jesus, God’s kingdom has already begun. But it has not yet reached its fullness.
We see glimpses of it now.
We experience forgiveness, but there is still brokenness.
We see reconciliation, but people still hurt one another.
We experience healing, but people still get sick.
We see justice, but injustice remains.
We experience God’s presence, but there are still seasons when God feels painfully distant.
Christian hope isn’t pretending everything is fine.
Christian hope is believing that everything isn’t fine yet, but God isn’t finished.
Jesus is the beginning of that work.
And one day, the kingdom will come in its fullness. What Jesus began will ultimately be completed.
Until then, we are invited to live as people of the kingdom.
“Repent and Believe”
Jesus follows his announcement with two invitations:
“Repent and believe the good news.”
We’ve already encountered the word repent in the story of John the Baptist. It means to turn around—to change direction and reorient your life.
And that makes sense when we understand the kingdom.
If Jesus is announcing that God’s kingdom has come, then we have to ask:
Whose kingdom have I been living in?
Because whether we realize it or not, we’re all building some kind of kingdom.
For some of us, it’s the kingdom of success.
For others, it’s comfort.
Maybe it’s financial security.
Maybe it’s control.
Maybe it’s recognition.
Maybe it’s our own happiness.
We spend our lives organizing our time, money, relationships and priorities around what we believe matters most.
And Jesus comes along and says:
There is another King.
Repentance means being willing to say, “I’ve been organizing my life around something other than God, and I want to turn around.”
That’s not simply a one-time decision.
It’s discipleship.
It’s the daily process of choosing God’s ways over our own.
And then Jesus says, “Believe the good news.”
Belief isn’t simply agreeing that something is true.
We can believe something is true without allowing it to change how we live.
I can believe exercise is good for me and still spend an entire evening sitting on the couch.
I can believe saving money is wise and still find myself staring longingly at a first edition in a used bookstore.
Hypothetically, of course.
The point is that knowing something and trusting something aren’t always the same.
Biblical faith is trust that changes the way we live.
As Proverbs reminds us:
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him.” (Proverbs 3:5–6)
Faith is sitting down in the chair because you trust it will hold you.
It is allowing what we believe about Jesus to actually shape the way we live.
“Come, Follow Me”
And Mark immediately gives us a picture of what that looks like.
Jesus walks along the Sea of Galilee and sees Simon and Andrew fishing.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus says.
And Mark tells us:
“At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Mark 1:18)
A little farther along, Jesus calls James and John.
They leave their father, their boat and their livelihood behind.
And they follow.
I love that Jesus begins with ordinary people.
He doesn’t assemble a team of experts with impressive résumés.
He finds fishermen.
People who are working.
People who are living ordinary lives.
People who don’t understand the whole story yet.
They don’t know about the cross.
They don’t know about the resurrection.
They don’t know everything Jesus will ask of them.
They simply hear an invitation:
Follow me.
And they take the first step.
That’s good news for ordinary people like us.
Because most of us are just living ordinary lives.
Going to work.
Raising kids.
Going to school.
Paying bills.
Maintaining relationships.
Trying to figure out what we’re doing with our lives.
And right in the middle of all of that, Jesus still says:
“Follow me.”
But following Jesus isn’t simply adding another activity to an already crowded calendar.
It is allowing Jesus to reorder our lives.
What happens to the way I handle money when Jesus is King?
What happens to my relationships?
What happens when someone hurts me?
What happens to my ambitions?
What happens to my calendar?
What happens to my politics, my priorities, my definition of success and my understanding of what makes a good life?
The kingdom doesn’t simply give us another belief system.
It gives us a new way of living.
A Kingdom That Brings Freedom
Mark then takes us into a synagogue in Capernaum.
Jesus teaches, and people are amazed because he teaches with authority.
Then a man troubled by an unclean spirit cries out. Jesus confronts the spirit and commands it to leave.
Mark is showing us that Jesus doesn’t simply talk about God’s reign.
Jesus carries God’s authority.
Where Jesus goes, things begin to change.
People experience freedom.
People are restored.
People are given back their dignity.
And that’s important for how we understand the kingdom today.
Whatever form evil takes, Jesus consistently moves toward people who are being diminished and brings freedom.
People can be trapped by shame.
Fear.
Greed.
Resentment.
Prejudice.
Addiction.
Pride.
Systems that diminish human dignity.
And Jesus keeps showing up with the same message:
This isn’t what God intended for you.
The kingdom of God has come near.
There is another way.
There is freedom.
There is healing.
There is restoration.
Living the Kingdom
So what does it look like for us to live as people of this kingdom?
Sometimes it looks surprisingly ordinary.
Maybe it means forgiving someone you’ve been holding something against.
Maybe it means becoming more generous.
Maybe it means choosing humility when you’d rather prove you’re right.
Maybe it means slowing down enough to actually be present with the people around you.
Maybe it means changing the way you talk about people who are different from you.
Maybe it means admitting that you need help.
Maybe it means releasing your desperate need for control and learning to trust God.
Every time we choose forgiveness over revenge, we give the world a glimpse of God’s kingdom.
Every time we choose generosity over greed, we give the world a glimpse of God’s kingdom.
Every time we welcome someone who feels like an outsider, we give the world a glimpse of God’s kingdom.
Every time we choose service over status, we give the world a glimpse of God’s kingdom.
The kingdom of God isn’t simply something we talk about on Sunday.
It’s something we practice on Monday.
The King Has Arrived
Jesus begins his ministry with three simple movements:
The King has arrived.
The kingdom is near.
Come, follow me.
And those three things belong together.
Christianity isn’t simply believing that Jesus existed.
It isn’t simply attending church.
It isn’t simply knowing the right answers.
It is recognizing that Jesus is King and learning to live under his reign.
And that’s the challenge for us as we continue through Mark.
Don’t simply ask, “What do I believe about Jesus?”
Ask:
“What would change if I actually lived as though Jesus were King?”
What would happen to my calendar?
My money?
My relationships?
My priorities?
My anger?
My ambitions?
My neighbour?
My enemies?
My understanding of success?
The kingdom of God has come near.
God is not finished.
The King has arrived.
And Jesus is still extending the same invitation he gave those fishermen on the shores of Galilee:
Come. Follow me.
May we be people who don’t simply believe the good news, but live it.
May our lives become a glimpse of the kingdom that Jesus came to bring.
And may we become increasingly Marked by the Messiah.