Now we begin our Quest in the Gospels, those stories of Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, of his ministry and miracles, his confrontations and compassion, his teaching and his trials, his suffering on our behalf and then his victory in resurrection. We start with The Gospel of Mark, the first gospel written. In Mark, the action moves quickly, with excitement and drama. We see Jesus’ forerunner, his kinsman John the Baptist, with his expected traditional message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. But we also hear that John is preparing people for something new, the appearance of the Lord Himself: “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him” (Mark 1:3). We see Jesus submitting himself to John for baptism, and a Voice from heaven says, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11). A unique figure has come into the world, not like anyone ever seen before. And what is the first thing he says?
Unlike John, who preached a very traditional fire-and-brimstone message of repentance along the lines of the Old Testament prophets, Jesus comes with a message of good news! If you hung with us for the Old Testament portion of the Quest, you know how rare it was for a messenger from God to arrive with good news. There might be 20 chapters of dire consequences due to the people’s horrendous choices before there was even a touch of hope. Jesus says the time has come for good news, right away.
“The time has come!” he says. What time? Has the time of the Messiah finally come? Is it time for us to get off the endless cycle of sin? Is it time for us to be free of death and hell? YES! All of those have happened in Jesus. Jesus decisively brings in a new time of good news for everyone.
Then he says, “The Kingdom of God has come near.” It’s both here and not yet here. It’s almost here; it’s close. The kingdom is near because Jesus the King is near. Anyplace where God rules, where people acknowledge that Jesus is King, the kingdom appears in and around them. It began to happen as He spoke; and it happens today in you and me! What a miracle!
The time has come and the Kingdom is near! What response did Jesus ask for? He asked hearers to turn toward God and away from evil, and He asked us to believe in the good news. He would do the rest!
Do you believe that the Kingdom is near and that the time has come? Do you believe the good news that Jesus has come to accomplish all that we could not—our rescue, salvation and restoration? Only repent and believe!