Mark 1:14–15

The signal for the start of Christ's preaching. There is "a time to keep silence and a time to speak" — a precept never shown so perfectly as by the Lord of all. The imprisonment of John the Forerunner and Baptist marked the time for Jesus to come forward into public service.

But in Mark all the credentials Matthew gives are just as beautifully absent. Suddenly, with no other preparation than John preaching and baptizing — the voice of one crying in the wilderness, "Prepare the way of the Lord" — we find the Lord Jesus at once: not born, not receiving homage, but preaching. He takes up the work that John himself laid down soon after, when he went to prison. That setting aside of the Baptist (v. 14) becomes the signal for the public service of the Lord.

It is significant that it was after John had been "put in prison" that Jesus came forth to serve. Nature might argue that if people reject the Forerunner, it will be useless for Jesus to go on with His mission. But God's times and ways of acting are very different from those of men. The ministry of John, and indeed the rejection of John, showed man's sin and need. But this only prepared the way for a ministry of grace which alone can meet that need. When the world proved its sin by rejecting John, God declared His grace by sending Jesus.

John was the last of the prophets, though he was more than a prophet. God withdrew him from the scene of public testimony, so that the Son might stand alone — an Object worthy above all others, and enough to fill the hearts of all mankind. How could God have a servant at the same time as His Son? As He has no equal, so this Servant needs no helper.

Unlike Elijah, the prophet he was modelled on, he was not carried up to heaven by a whirlwind. He was carried to a prison and to death under the power of an immoral king from Idumea… This was a fitting opening to the tragedy still to come, when "the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed."

Galilee, the despised region in the north of the land, had the privilege of more of His gracious and marvellous service, by word and sign, than any other place… "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light…"

This gospel is of course not the Gospel of our salvation. That was not preached until after He had finished the work the Father gave Him to do.

No one would ever say, The gospel of everlasting salvation is at hand. First, it would be meaningless. Second, it would be untrue. You can say, "The kingdom of God is at hand," because it was not yet established… But the gospel of our salvation is not something at hand. It is something accomplished.

Mark passes over the time when John's ministry and the Lord Jesus' ministry overlapped in Judea (compare John 3:22 to 4:2). He notes John's imprisonment in brief, then the Lord's going to Galilee to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God.

His words held two announcements and two appeals. The Servant-Prophet announced that the time was fulfilled, and that the kingdom of God was at hand. He called on men to repent, and to believe the gospel.

The Old Testament had spoken of the kingdom of God, above all in Daniel. Daniel 9 fixed a set time for the coming of the Messiah and for the fulfilment of the prophecy. That time was now fulfilled, and in Himself the kingdom was near to them. He called on men to repent and to believe this.

There was no more need for any delay. He does not bring in the law. John came in the way of righteousness to point people to Him. But once He appears on the scene Himself, no one else is needed to point to Him… "The time is fulfilled." There is no question of law now, and no reason for delay.

This kingdom will not be a fallen man ruling fallen men. When the blind lead the blind, the ditch must be where they end up. That, in fact, is the history of man's kingdoms, as the Old Testament shows in full. Now God's kingdom is to appear: it starts with God, it is governed by God, it is kept by God. Its reach is not limited to Israel; it will extend to all nations, to the ends of the earth. And not to man only, the head of creation — all suffering creation will be set free from its bondage to decay.

Here the King appears. How near, then, must God's kingdom be, when God's King was standing among them! … How sad that the King heard Himself denied by the wise men of Jerusalem… He was indeed crucified, and that had to change how the kingdom looked for the time. Yet even so, "the kingdom of God" is still to be set up on the earth.

But were the hearers ready for the gospel? To enjoy the blessing of God's kingdom as one should, whether in its moral or its material form, an inward change is essential. So the Lord calls on men to repent. He was not here to force men into submission by irresistible power. He came to "call sinners to repentance."

Some say it is sorrow for sin. Some say it is a change of mind, resting on the literal meaning of the word… In truth it is none of these, nor all of them put together… Scriptural repentance is nothing less than this: we side with God in His judgment of our sins, we take His part against ourselves, and so we bow in the dust before Him in true self-judgment… When we repent in this way, we justify God and condemn ourselves.

Matthew and Luke report the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom with the demand to repent. Mark adds the words "and believe in the gospel." This gospel is of course not the gospel of our salvation. No one preached that until He had finished the work the Father gave Him to do.

We have not only to proclaim that faith is the principle on which God justifies the sinner; we have to urge men to believe. Faith is the result of God's work in the soul… but that in no way stops the servant of God from being deeply in earnest and persuading men.