NewTestament Studies

The Gospel of St. Mark

By Robert C. Crowder

Lesson Four

Mark 1:14-15  Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Recapping the last study, we left Jesus in the wilderness.  The Spirit led into the wilderness for forty days and then Satan tempts him at least in three areas.  Jesus, being very God and very Man successfully passed all temptations.

We pick up our study as Mark continues his staccato approach to his historical narrative with the announcement that John was put into prison in verse 14 with “Now after that John was put in prison.”  He doesn’t give us a reason, just the fact that it happened.

John is put into prison and Jesus starts his ministry

We know that John was delivered up and was probably taken by the magistrate for telling Herod that his marriage to his wife whose husband was still alive saying “. it is not lawful for thee to have her.”

I want to digress just a little here.  I must tell you that I am troubled by some preachers, teachers, TV programs and churches that use the preaching of easy believism and the movement that “God only wants good for you” or “If God is not answering your prayers, there must be sin in your life.”  The movement is that no matter what, we can have financial rewards, great family environment and life here on earth will always be on the mountain top if we only have faith.

Let’s compare that to the life of John the Baptist.  He basically lived alone, ate locusts and wild honey and lived with the animals.  Was God punishing him since he didn’t have the nicest cloths, newest cart with thoroughbred donkey or ate at the nicest restaurants?

No instead we find John right in the center of God’s will, preaching and baptizing in the wilderness.  Just think, he knew his part and awaited the Messiah’s appearance.  Then one day Jesus shows up at one of his services and John receives the right to baptize the Christ.  He was on the mountain.  Then in Herod’s court John simply reproves Herod for his adulterous relationship with his wife.  What was John’s reward?  He was met face-to-face with the wicked world, he was hated, persecuted, and imprisoned for his courage in reproving sin:  Don’t fall into the trap of the glitter and big production TV or churches that teach that everything will be just fine.  Our days on this earth are short and will not always be without persecution and being hated for proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  If we follow their line, then John didn’t have enough faith or God would have found a way to release him.  Or maybe there was just too much unrepentant sin in John’s life that God just couldn’t work in him any longer.  I don’t want to get on a soapbox on this, but be careful when jumping on the bandwagon and casting the first stone at those around you that may be having a hard time.  We are not God, and therefore do not know what He has in store for each of His children.  Contrary to the notion that if we are filled with the Spirit and we pray and fast that all will be well, heed Jesus words in Matthew 5:11  "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.”  

Remember the admonishment in 2 Timothy 4:3, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears."  The Bible let’s us in on a secret with ”Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:"     1 Peter 5:8  

Before I leave this subject of if we give enough, have faith enough, go to the right church enough, read our Bible enough or pray enough that bad things wont happen to us is just not true.  Accidents, sickness, cancer, tornados, terrorism and death happen to good people too.  Matthew 5:45 says “That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”  John 16:33  “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”  It doesn’t say we will sail through this world unharmed and untouched by the devil and his imps.  But be of good cheer, Jesus has overcome the world on the cross and that should be enough for any Christian.  That is enough on this subject.

John was in prison, and remember that John was filled with the Spirit from the time that he was in the womb.  Also remember that John never did a single miracle.  He was to preach the Gospel and baptize the baptism of repentance.  In prison he was hindered from preaching, but Christ took up the cause and  began to preach the Gospel. Friends can you see the care that God shows towards His church, when one is taken, He has others prepared to take their place to keep the Gospel continuing?  Isn’t that exciting?  We sometimes forget that “.. even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.” Luke 12:7  

Jesus goes Home

Think about this fact.  From Genesis 1 verse 1 until now has been the preparation of this very incident, the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry.

Please note that there was no ticker tape parade to mark Jesus entry.  Trumpets didn’t announce his approach and singers and dancers didn’t catch the attention of the people, as Jesus would enter a city.  There was no point team that prepared the town for Jesus’ visit.  No advertising, posters on buildings or leaflets would notify the city that the Messiah was going to be there Thursday evening at 7:00 PM at the local synagogue or stadium.  The various musicians and choirs from the different areas weren’t notified that there were to be practices to make ready for the special meetings.  No special music was required.  No invitations were sent to the local religious leaders to take part in the services and their part on the program.  No, Jesus simply came into Galilee and started preaching

I am certainly not saying that preparation for say a Billy Graham Crusade coming to town is wrong or not biblically correct.  I am just saying a solitary figure in the center of God’s will can change things.  Jesus simply walked away from the area and started his earthly ministry.  With the announcement, "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the kingdom of God,” was all there was.  Aren’t we thankful that Jesus didn’t need anything other than the prophets to announce his coming?  Through the lens of the Bible, we see that all this happened, in the right time.

 “Jesus came into Galilee”, his birthplace, and Nazareth was his hometown.  The land of Canaan, in our Savior’s time, was divided into three principal provinces: on the south, Judea; on the north, Galilee; in the midst, Samaria.

Galilee was divided into the upper and lower Galilee; the higher was called Galilee of the Gentiles, because it was the utmost part of the land, and so next to the Gentiles. In this upper Galilee, Capernaum was the metropolis, or chief city and Chorazin a lesser city.  Now all this demonstrates Christ to be the true and promised Messiah; for according to prophecy, the Messiah was to have his presence and principal abode in the province of Galilee, Isaiah 9:1-3 cf.  Yet because he was of Galilee, the Jews would not believe him to be the Messiah, “Can any good thing come out of Galilee?”

Jesus simply started preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:  repent ye, and believe the gospel.

“The time is fulfilled.”

The word for “time” (kairos) implies a specific point in time and has a broader and narrower context.  The time was right in the history of the world to initiate the plan of salvation (Galatians 4:4-5 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.)  But more specifically, Jesus knew the time to begin His ministry was when John’s voice had been silenced.  He began to preach “the gospel of the kingdom of God.”

The sum of what our Lord preached, namely, a doctrine, and an exhortation.  His doctrine is, that the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; that is, that the time foretold by the prophets, when the kingdom of the Messiah should begin, was now come. Therefore repent, and believe the gospel.  It is important to note that the great doctrines of repentance and faith are taught only in and by the gospel, and accordingly ought in a special manner to be preached and insisted upon by the ministers of the gospel. The doctrine of Christ, and his ambassadors, is and ought to be the same; they both teach the great doctrines of faith and repentance to a lost world:  Repent, and believe the gospel.[1]

Remember, the Jews believed in two totally separate ages: the present age of sinfulness ruled by Satan and the age to come when God would destroy evil once and for all.  But in Jesus, the future age of God’s kingdom has already invaded this present age.  Although the Kingdom is present now in Jesus (Luke 11:20) and guaranteed by the Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:22 cf), it is still future and will not be completely realized until Christ returns and finally banishes evil.  In verse 15 Jesus announces the message, repentance.  Jesus’ kingdom is not a national one, it is a spiritual one, and the only way to belong to it is through the forgiveness of sins.[2]

Next Lesson

On the next study, we will be with Jesus as he interviews people for the position of “Disciple” as He has several openings.  Read ahead, we will be in Mark 1:16-20.  Enjoy!

[1] William Burkitt’s Expository Notes

[2] The New Testament Study Bible, Mark, The Complete Biblical Library, Springfield, Missouri

ã 2002 bobsbiblestudies