Jesus' first sermon

January 24, 2021 (Sunday)

 

Jesus’ first sermon was, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” [Mark 1 15 ESV] This is a four part sermon with an application coming later. Let’s examine this one line sermon.

 

First, “the time is fulfilled” is talking about the fulfillment of prophecy. Jesus came into the world, physically, during a specific time at a specific place in history. Paul understood it this way, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law.” [Galatians 4:4 ESV] Think about this for a moment. The Romans provided an empire that enabled people to travel freely. The Greek language was commonly understood across the empire. In a sense, this was the perfect time and place for Jesus.

 

Second, “the kingdom of God” was long anticipated by the Jewish people during Jesus’ day. Their expectation was that of a political leader. With this announcement, Jesus was telling us that He, the King of kings, had arrived. This announcement was formula for when Roman conquered a city. It announced the kingdom and gave the terms of surrender (the next two points).

 

Third, “repent” is the condition of surrender. To repent means to “change your hearts and lives.” [CEB] The Greek word is to change the mind (hearts). However, since this is the Bible, we need to consider the Old Testament word which means to change the behavior (lives). In the Roman world, the idea of the mind was symbolic for the whole of life. What was believed was lived and what was lived was what was believed.

 

Fourth, “Believe in the gospel.” The fourth part of this sermon is the condition of citizenship. We are expected to “believe.” Again, the idea of what is believed dictates every aspect of behavior. What we believe is consistent with how we live life. We may think there can be discrepancies but in truth, there are not.

 

What does all this mean? I am so glad you asked!!! Meeting with the first disciples, who were fishermen, Jesus invited, “And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” [Mark 1:17 ESV] We tend to think this means Jesus will make us evangelists. But there is a problem with this image. Fishing is never good for the fish.

 

Okay, maybe this stretches imagery a bit far. But consider this, when fishing imagery shows up in the Bible, it tends to be in context to judgement. Think about this image, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind.” [Matthew 13:47 ESV] Jesus explains, “So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” [Matthew 13:49 – 50 ESV]

 

I admit, I am trying to get us to think differently. Get us to pay attention to details. Get us to ask the Holy Spirit to show light on the text and ourselves. Get us to consider the plausibility of a different line of thought. Get us to connect the dots. Get us thinking what the text means, not what we think someone has told us.