Mark 1:15 … Believing the Good News (05/03/17)
“The Time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand;
Repent & Believe in the Good News.” ~ Jesus (Mark 1:15)
This verse (and all others like it – see Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 10:7, Mark 1:15, Luke 10:9, Luke 11:20, John 3:3-9 et al) is an extremely important one, in that it makes it quite clear that when Jesus speaks of Salvation or Heaven, he is not speaking of a place that is elsewhere or a status that comes in the future, but rather is speaking of a state of being that is already “at hand” – a state of being that is already available; available to every sentient being in every moment of his or her life (see Luke 17:20-21 – a passage which happens to be the only time in the entire Bible Jesus speaks directly to Heaven, which he also called “the Kingdom of God”; see also Mark 21:28-34, John 18:36 & the parables in Matthew 13 et al) …
Secondly, note as well that “Repent” was a life-encompassing verb for Jesus, with the Greek words “metanoia” (Strong’s #3341) and “metanoeo” (Strong’s #3340) both meaning not to self-condemn or self-criticize one’s past actions, but rather to completely alter one’s entire present life; in Jesus’ case to fully shift from a self-centered life of sin to a selfless life of service …
Thirdly, note too that “Believe” was an action for Jesus as well, with the Greek word “pisteuete” (Strong’s #4100) meaning not to mentally align with a creed or intellectually adhere to a concept, but rather “to be entrusted with”, “to have faith in” &/or “to actualize” …
Fourthly, note that the other Greek words from this verse support the aforementioned as well, with the Greek for “the Time” being “kairos” (Strong’s #2540) — meaning “ an opportunity” or “a fitting season”, with the Greek for “fulfilled” being “peplerotai” or “pleroo” (Strong’s #4137 – the same “fulfilled” found in Matthew 5:17-18) — meaning “honed”, “perfected” &/or “brought to completion”, and with the Greek for “at hand” being “engiken” (Strong’s #1448) — meaning “has been brought near” (i.e. having an immediate imminence).
Finally, note that the “Good News” mentioned here was not Paul’s “gospel” (i.e. was not the belief that Jesus was the only Son of God, and was not the dogma that stated that Jesus must be worshipped as such — see 1 Corinthians 15:1-4 + Romans 10:9), but rather was the two-pronged Truth of The Gospel of Christ; the two-pronged Truth that resonates perfectly with this very verse – namely, A) that the Kingdom of Heaven was already “at hand” (Matthew 10:7 et al), and B) that the only way to access the same was through persistent acts of selfless Love shown to others (see Matthew 24:12-14 & John 13:15-17 et al).
Amen … Let it be so.
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