The Proclamation of Jesus

John the Baptist said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). His words are fulfilled in the two verses we come to now in Mark’s Gospel. I invite you to turn with me to Mark chapter 1 verses 14 and 15.

Mark 1:14–15 ESV

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark thrusts us into the middle of Jesus' ministry in a matter of two verses. In between verse 13, when Jesus' temptation ended, and verse 14, when John the Baptist was arrested, 12 to 14 months have transpired.

We know that Jesus' ministry lasted for about three years. That means, 1/3 of Jesus' ministry goes unmentioned by Mark. This portion of Jesus’ ministry is appropriately called “the year of obscurity”. Matthew, Mark, and Luke record nothing about these 12 to 14 months of Jesus’ life. Only in John’s Gospel will you discover what Jesus did in this time frame. You may want to read John chapter 1 verse 35 through chapter 4 verse 42 after the service today and that will get you up to speed. John 4:43 concludes the Lord’s encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria by saying, “After the two days [He spent in Samaria], He departed for Galilee.”

That correlates with Mark 1:14 when the second year of Jesus’ ministry, which could be called “the year of popularity” began. It is during this year of His ministry when Jesus gained the bulk of His followers as He preached and performed most of His miracles. It was at the beginning of this time in Jesus’ ministry when John the Baptist was arrested. His ministry was drawing to a close. John has prepared the way for Jesus and now he gives way for Jesus to take center stage. John's candle was about to be snuffed out so that the Light of the World would shine all the more brilliantly. The promised messenger exits and the King enters.

And what an unexpected entrance this is! The expectation would have been for the King of Israel to come from and to reside in the city of kings, Jerusalem. Instead, this King came from and spent much of His ministry in Galilee of the Gentiles, just as Isaiah foretold in Isaiah 9.

90% of Jesus' life and ministry would be spent in Galilee. And for good reason. Jerusalem was full of the self-righteous, religious elite: those who did not believe themselves to need a Savior from sin, nor would their pride allow them to submit to their true King even as He stood among them. They were the masters of their fate; they were the captains of their souls. But, Galilee was a region filled with the sick, with the suffering, and with sinners. These were people who saw their need for a physician and Savior. These were people who would surprisingly submit to the King of the Jews, even if they weren't Jews themselves.

Verses 14 and 15 function not so much as a statement of what Jesus did on one occasion, but rather as an overall summary of what Jesus was continually doing in the region of Galilee. Before Jesus purchased salvation on the cross for sinners, He came preaching it to sinners. He came preaching "the gospel of God". Literally, the good news from God. The good news that finds its source in God, belongs to God, and flows from God.

It is an important message all about God’s kingdom. And this kingdom message is good news because it declares that undeserving sinners have gracious access to this kingdom through repentance and faith. That’s what these verses communicate.

Theme: Jesus proclaimed the good news from God about God’s kingdom, urgently calling sinners to repentance and faith.

To some here today, this proclamation of Jesus may be new news to you. Perhaps you’ve never heard about God’s kingdom, much less thought about entering it by turning away from the pleasures of your sin and turning to Christ, seeking Him as your Savior and submitting to Him as your King.

To others of you here today, this proclamation of Jesus may be familiar news. Perhaps you’re well acquainted with the message of the gospel. You know about God’s kingdom, you may even pray the Lord’s prayer saying, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done”. You’ve professed Jesus to be your Savior and bow to Him as your King.

But, I hope that Jesus’ message is far from being old news to any of you. It is called the good news after all! It is news that stands the test of time. Yesterday’s headlines in the newspaper will soon be irrelevant. Today’s headlines may leave us with a sour taste. But the proclamation of Jesus is ever sweet satisfying our deepest longings and supplying our most desperate needs for all eternity.

So, whether Jesus’ proclamation is new news or familiar news, may we find it today to be good news; the good news from God.

We’re going to take a look today at Jesus’ proclamation of the gospel in verse 15. I thought it best not to try to be clever with my outline and the fill-in-the-blanks this week and instead allow Jesus to speak for Himself. His sermon outline is rather straight forward and clear. You’ll find that His sermon content has four components, which I want to group into two parts. In the first half of His sermon, Jesus proclaimed two declarations. Then, in the second half of His sermon, Jesus proclaimed two demands.

1. Two Declarations

Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming two declarations from God. The key word here is that He came proclaiming. It means “to make known important news publically and loudly.” It is the authoritative declaration of truth. Jesus did not pensively share the gospel, He publically stated it with divine unction and power. This sort of proclamation is what will later make the people in the synagogues astonished because He taught them “as one who had authority” (Mk. 1:22).

It is the same word that Paul would later use in Romans chapter 10 to declare how people will come to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved.

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

In other words, the Holy Spirit uses this sort of authoritative preaching to save souls. This is the sort of preaching we need in the pulpits of our churches in America today. This is the type of preaching we all need to hear. It’s the same sort of preaching we ought to be doing to our own souls. We need the authoritative declaration of God’s truth, His good news, to resound not just in our ears but in our hearts.

And it’s important to note that this sort of preaching was a defining action of Jesus’ ministry. Proclaiming is a present-active participle, meaning Mark wants us to know that Jesus was constantly preaching this news from God while in Galilee, with the same authority and power. That is how often we must hear the gospel, isn’t it? Continuously. Daily. It would probably be best if we heard it and preached it to ourselves moment by moment!

Martin Luther was once asked, “Pastor, why is it that week after week all you ever preach to us is the gospel?” Luther responded, “Well, because week after week you forget it.”

How true that is! We need to hear the gospel and we need to hear it preached often with authority, the very authority of God because it is God’s Word to us.

Alright, so what two things did Jesus continuously declare with authority?

A. The time is fulfilled

First, Jesus proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled.” Here is your weekly Greek lesson that I know brings you to the edge of your seat each week! There are two words in Greek for time. There is the word chronos, which is used to describe the moment by moment passing of time. Then there is the word kairos, which is used to describe a particular moment in time that is so significant that it defines everything that takes place after. The closest two words we would have in English to these two Greek words might be historical and historic. Everything in the past is historical in relation to time and space. But not everything in the past is historic in relation to time and space. For example, the fact that you ate a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch on some Saturday in 2020 was a historical event, but rather insignificant. However, the fact that COVID-19 swept through the world in 2020 was an historic event, which is significant as it defined the entire year and continues to define 2021.

So, what historic, life changing, defining moment of time is fulfilled according to Jesus? In the immediate context, one thing He could be referring to was John’s arrest, which meant that the way for the Lord has been completed. John’s ministry was over and Jesus’ was beginning. The long-awaited Messiah had finally come.

This would tie in with the broader testimony of Scripture as the unveiling of God’s redemptive plan. We can flip to Paul’s epistles which support this. In Galatians 4, Paul has been arguing that the Law of God has acted like a guardian over God’s people...

Galatians 4:4–5 ESV

4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

God sent His Son at the right time as the representative for sinners who would obey the righteous requirements of God in the law on their behalf and redeem them from the burden of the demands of the law making them children of God. If you are in Christ you are no longer under condemnation for disobeying God’s law. Instead, there is freedom to live righteously before God through the righteousness of Christ acquired by faith.

Again, Paul wrote in Ephesians 1 about God’s redemptive plan, which was revealed in the person of His Son.

Ephesians 1:7–10 ESV

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10 as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

At the right time, Christ Jesus appeared bringing redemption by His shed blood and forgiveness of sins by His super-abundant grace. In Him, God reconciles all things. Before, this had been a mystery hidden, but now is made plain in Christ.

And one more passage from Paul is in Romans 5. Having laid down the grounds for justification by faith, Paul wrote of the defining historic unveiling of God’s redemptive plan in this way:

Romans 5:6 ESV

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.

At the opportune time, Christ died to save weak, ungodly sinners from what they deserved.

But there is another facet to the time being fulfilled, which goes along with Jesus’ second declaration.

B. The kingdom of God is at hand

Jesus declared, “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Like the first declaration, this one also has to do with time and space. Because the time is fulfilled, this kingdom that Jesus proclaimed, is in terms of time, NOW, and in terms of space, NEAR. But what’s significant about that? What exactly is the kingdom of God and why exactly is it good news from God?

Let’s start first by considering the kingdom of God. While the word kingdom evokes geographical thoughts about land and set borders, fundamentally the kingdom of God is about God reigning as King. The kingdom of God to us is about a location. But biblically speaking, it would be more accurate to say the kingdom of God is about kingship. From the opening chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1, as Creator, God is exalted above all creation and rules over all things and orchestrates all things as He pleases. This theme of God’s kingship can be traced throughout the Bible, from the exodus to the time of the judges; from the rise of the Davidic dynasty to the deportation to Babylon; from the birth of Jesus Christ to the death of Jesus Christ; from the ascension of Christ to the return of Christ.

The kingdom of God is all about God’s loving, sovereign rule over His world and His people. This was the central emphasis of Jesus’ preaching of the gospel. Mark’s Gospel mentions the kingdom of God fourteen times. Thirteen of those instances are found in the preaching of Jesus.

Why was the kingdom of God so central to Jesus’ gospel proclamation? Well, like I’ve said, redemptive history centers on God’s kingdom! From cover to cover, the Bible is about God’s kingdom. Allow me to cover all of redemptive history in four brief points. Essentially, this is the message of the entire Bible.

Point number one: history began in Genesis with man under God’s rule and man serving over everything else. Having created man in His image, God gave man dominion over all creation as His visible representatives. Everything belonged to God, but He ordained for man to be faithful stewards.

Point number two: man was not content with the position God placed them in. Although they were over everything in creation, they were not content with what God gave them to rule. So, man fell into sin because man wanted to be like God. We fell into a state of sin and misery by reaching up for a higher state of authority and glory. God’s punishment for this was physical and spiritual death.

Point number three: the gospel, the good news, is about how God, in Christ, left His throne in heaven to come down to man in their state of sin and misery. He became like us. He came in the likeness of sinful flesh for the purpose of condemning sin in the flesh, “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us” (Rom. 8:3-4). He came to take our penalty for sin, which is death, and He conquered death through His resurrection. In so doing, Christ brings many sons and daughters to glory.

Which brings me to point number four: The gospel ends with sinners in glory by God’s grace in Christ. Redemptive history concludes, or should I say is consummated and continues, with us back under God’s rule and with Christ we are made co-heirs over everything in the new creation. The curse of sin is reversed and our position restored.

So, why is the kingdom of God good news from God? Because it’s all about Jesus rescuing, redeeming, restoring, and reigning. Jesus Christ, the King of Glory, came to rescue us from death, redeem us from sin, restore us to God, and reign over us as King. That’s really good news for miserable sinners deserving only to be cast out of the kingdom!

As King, Jesus Christ is the manifestation of God’s kingdom. So, when Jesus declared, “The kingdom of God is at hand”, He meant that the kingdom was near with regard to space. The kingdom was so close that any Galilean could have touched Jesus and they would have been touching the kingdom of God.

But also, when Jesus declared, “The kingdom of God is at hand”, He meant that the kingdom was now with regard to time. One helpful way of thinking about the kingdom of God with regard to time is to associate it with two phrases: grace now, glory later. Grace now means that Jesus redemptively rules as King over the hearts of His people presently. God’s kingdom is already here and Christ is already reigning. It is a present spiritual reality.

Greg Gilbert in his book, “What is the Gospel?”, wrote an entire chapter called, “The Kingdom”, which is of course about the kingdom of God as it relates to the gospel. In this chapter, Gilbert writes:

“The kingdom of God is here [talking about Jesus]… What an awesome thought that is! Jesus’ incarnation was much more than just a kind visit from the Creator. It was the launching of God’s full and final counteroffensive against all the sin, death, and destruction that had entered the world when Adam fell.”

In a very real sense, believers are experiencing present blessings because the kingdom has come in Christ’s first advent.

At the same time, however, God’s kingdom is not fully here, but awaits a future revelation in glory later in Christ’s second advent. That’s a reoccurring theme in Scripture, the already, but not yet. Gilbert continues in his book writing,

“The kingdom of God is not yet completed, and it will not be completed until King Jesus returns. Despite all that Jesus did to overthrow the powers of evil, He did not fully and finally establish God’s rule on earth— at least not yet. The strong man was bound, but not destroyed. Evil was defeated, but not annihilated, and the kingdom of God was inaugurated, but not brought to full and final completion.”

He goes on a little later, saying:

“The great hope for Christians, the thing for which we long and to which we look for strength and encouragement, is the day when our King will part the skies and return to establish His glorious kingdom, finally and forever. That glorious moment is when everything in this world will be set right, when justice will finally be done, evil overthrown forever, and righteousness established once and for all.”

This is why Jesus’ proclamation of these two declarations is good news. The appointed time for the mysteries of God’s redemptive plan have now been revealed in Christ. In Jesus Christ, the King, the kingdom of God has come and is being established even now! The good news of the kingdom is that God has not abandoned or given up on sinners who fully deserve to be abandoned and given up on. The doors of God’s kingdom are swung wide open in Jesus Christ.

2. Two Demands

However, Jesus’ proclamation is urgent. The good news is that the kingdom of God is at hand, but it won’t always be. The gates are open, but at any moment they may close. Jesus demanded His listeners to respond. He has two demands for entering and enjoying this kingdom.

Essentially, the good news about this kingdom means nothing to someone who refuses to adhere to Jesus’ demands. As King of the kingdom, Jesus has the only right to demand how people will enter and live in His kingdom. To refuse the King of this kingdom is to refuse the kingdom. To those who refuse the King, the kingdom of God is not good news.

Many people want the blessings and benefits that the kingdom of God has to offer without them having to bow the knee to the King. When the rich young ruler approached Jesus to ask Him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus eventually ended His answer by saying, “Follow me.” For this man, this would have meant turning away from his trust in wealth to depend upon Christ’s wealth. And so, the man goes away troubled because he wanted the benefit of eternal life without giving up his independence and self-centered lifestyle. (Mk. 10:17–22)

Jesus would have us know that the good news declaration about the kingdom of God requires us to unreservedly obey His demands as King. Let’s look at each of His demands. They are rather familiar to most of us, I would guess, but familiar or not, these demands deserve our attention.

A. Repent!

If anyone is to enter and enjoy the kingdom of God, Jesus demands sinners to: Repent! I add the exclamation point because this is an imperative command. It is a nonnegotiable demand to be met with urgency.

We pretty well covered repentance a few weeks ago, so I’ll only recap it for you. Repentance means “a turning or a change.” To repent is to have a change of mind. You finally see God as He truly is: Holy and Righteous. And you finally see yourself for who you really are: unholy and unrighteous because of sin. To repent is also to have a change of heart. You have a conviction of your sin, recognizing it as cosmic treason against God which required His Son to die in your place. And to repent is to have a change of will. No longer will you pursue sin and a life of sin. It is a volitional 180 degree turning in the opposite direction of your former way of life.

Repentance means that you finally stop trusting in whatever you have been trusting in. That might be self, wealth, power, job security, skill, a spouse, parent, or child, whatever or whoever it is you remove your allegiance from that object and stop serving it as your god. You cease from sinning because you now know God hates sin and will judge it to the fullest extent of His law.

Repentance is much attacked today, even by those who profess to be believers. Many think repentance to be totally unnecessary or at least non-essential to salvation and entering the kingdom of God. They argue, “Doesn’t God love me for who I am? Why do I need to change or why should I change, then?” What they fail to understand is that God does love unlovely sinners, but He loves them so much that He sent His One and Only Son to die on their behalf so that they wouldn’t remain sinners! He graciously loves the unlovely to make us gloriously lovely in His Beloved Son.

And if that isn’t enough proof that we must repent, here is the Scriptural proof.

First, God commands repentance. It is an imperative command here in Jesus’ proclamation, but also restated by the apostles.

Acts 17:30 ESV

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

Second, Peter connects repentance to forgiveness when he preached:

Acts 3:19 ESV

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

The implication is that sin keeps people out of the kingdom of God. People therefore need their sins blotted out. And the gracious means from God for that forgiveness is for people to repent of their sins.

Third, Paul states what the consequence of repentance is.

2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Repentance not only results in forgiveness, but in true salvation to eternal life.

And fourth, Jesus promised that:

Luke 13:3 ESV

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

In other words, a lack of repentance leads to eternal destruction.

Ultimately, Jesus’ demand of repentance is the demand for all people to submit to His sovereign and saving rule as their King. This submission must be in all areas of a person’s life, not just some. All. Repentance means you give up all claims of ever being your own king.

That’s Jesus’ first nonnegotiable demand: Repent!

B. Believe!

His second is: Believe! Again, this is an imperative command. Fail to adhere to this command and there is no entrance to the kingdom. You cannot enjoy the kingdom without faith. And this command is to be obeyed alongside of the first command. Faith is worthless without its partner, repentance. Likewise, repentance is empty without faith. It is not enough to turn away from sin, to just leave your allegiance to what displeases God. The human heart is not a vacuumous space. It will always be filled with something. Remove one thing and another thing will occupy that space.

The question becomes then, what are you filling that space with? You’ve repented, now what?

Jesus demands that faith fill that space. Biblical faith is the active turning toward and trusting in Jesus Christ. Repentance means you stop trusting self and aligning yourself to sin. Faith means you start trusting Christ and pledge your allegiance to Him as Savior. You cease clinging to your sin and you choose to embrace Christ.

How do you do that? What must you believe if you are to trust in Christ and give your allegiance to Him? There are four things you must believe, and this gets to the heart of the gospel.

First, you must believe that you are a sinner in need of a savior. Until you believe you’ve sinned against God and realize the trouble that has put you in, you cannot be saved. That’s the most difficult part of evangelism, convincing people that they are lost and dead in sin. But, the simple fact is, everyone is born a sinner, because everyone is in Adam and therefore all have sinned. And outside of Jesus Christ, everyone will be judged by how they kept God’s law. If you’re depending on your own works and obedience to God’s law to get you into heaven, then realize that God demands perfect obedience or else you stand condemned. Have you ever used God’s name in a way that did not honor Him? Have you ever disobeyed your parents, even in the smallest of ways? Have you ever told a white lie or even thought about another person with hatred or lust in your heart? If you say yes to only one of these then you stand before God condemned as if you had broken all of His commands. The horrifying consequence is death. Cast out into the darkness instead of included into the Kingdom of Light.

Second, you must believe that Jesus is the only Savior for sinners. This is a sinner’s only hope. God has done something to rescue sinners. He sent His Son to take all the sins that sinners are guilty of and He judged Jesus in the sinner’s place on the cross. He experienced all the wrath, death, and hell sinners deserve so that sinners who believe in Him would experience only grace, life, and heaven through His righteous life.

Third, you must believe that Jesus is your Savior from your sin. You are saved from God’s judgment for sin when you personally trust in Christ alone and what He alone has done. Your sin must be judged by God. And either you will be fully judged for your sin in hell for all eternity or your sin was fully judged on Jesus at the cross. Have you gone to Jesus for salvation? Have you prayed like the publican, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner”? God’s promise in the gospel is that when you look to Christ for salvation you will be saved and be given eternal life. But, God’s warning in the gospel is that if you don’t or won’t look to Christ for salvation you will be lost for all eternity.

And fourth, you must believe Jesus is your King. When you enter into the kingdom of God by grace through faith it means you have a new king. Before, you acted as the king of your life. You did what you wanted, when you wanted, how you wanted. You lived for your glory and praise. But now you’ve been transferred from the kingdom of self, sin, and Satan to the kingdom of God. And this kingdom has a King to whom all His citizens must bow. You’ve repented of your rebellion to Him and now you live for Him. You abdicate the throne of your heart and Jesus takes His rightful place. Now it delights you to do what He wants, to go where He sends you, to do things as He desires them to be done, when He wants it to be done; all for His glory and praise!

If I were to sum up these two demands of Christ in a sentence it would be this: Remove yourself as king of your life through repentance and by faith submit to Jesus as your King. And there is no more urgent demand to heed in this life than this. None of us are promised another moment in this world. This life is too short to be wasted and the next life is too long if you’re not right with God.

Repent and believe in the gospel. Turn from sin and trust in the Savior.

Conclusion

Let me bring this all to a close and make myself as clear as I can.

If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, repent and believe in the King. The very fact that you are still breathing today means God has given you the golden opportunity to be rescued from your terrible rule as lord of your life to the terrific rule of the Lord of lords. I can confidently say that you have every good reason to repent and believe in Him and no good reason not to.

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, continue to repent and believe in the King! These two imperatives from our Lord’s gospel message are in the present tense. The very first of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, which he nailed to the church door in Wittenberg, reads,

“When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, 'Repent’, He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

Repentance and faith are to be our continuous lifestyle under Christ’s Kingship. Often we stray and submit to other things as our masters and rulers. Today is given to us to turn from those and to turn again to our true King that we may enjoy His loving sovereignty.

We may experience the blessings of the kingdom today when we bow to Jesus as our King. Now that IS good news!

Prayer

Glorious Father,

We confess that we don’t deserve to enter or enjoy Your kingdom.

We don’t deserve eternal life or salvation at all.

We don’t deserve anything but death and hell forever.

But You are gracious and merciful.

It is by Your grace alone that any of us are saved,

that any of us can enter and enjoy the kingdom of God!

Your grace has done everything for us

and Your grace gives everything needed to us.

May Your grace never cease to amaze us.

Cause our hearts and souls to stretch to take in more and more of You and to rest in Your grace this day;

For the sake of Your Son,

in whose name we pray.

AMEN.

Related Media

Related Sermons