1:14
John was imprisoned for his preaching, we will get a full account of his death in chapter 6. The Christians who would first read Mark’s work lived in a time when Christians were subject to arrest (as they are today in some parts of the world). After the imprisonment “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God. So to those Christians living in time of persecution this is an encouragement that the spread of the gospel continues despite what society and those in authority may be trying to do. Note also that here Mark refers to the “gospel of God”, in verse 1 he has “gospel of Jesus Christ”. There are places where Jesus and God are used interchangeably. Coming from a Jewish background they could not have done this unless they truly believed that Jesus was God.
1:15
“The time is fulfilled”, means the time of God’s promised reign. God’s rule is coming into the world. “The kingdom of God is at hand”. We see all around us the “kingdom of the world”, and it seems to be so dominant in many ways. But God’s kingdom is at hand, His kingdom can come into the lives of individuals or groups of people. So what are we to do? What are people in general to do? Repent! We need to appreciate that repentance is a fundamental part of the gospel, it God’s ordained response to the gospel. Repent and believe. We need to turn from our ways of living, and turn towards God. And we need to believe, we need to believe in the good news. The good news is that Jesus had paid the price for our sins, has set us free from sin, death and the devil. We need to believe in the Lordship of Jesus.
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