“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
With these words, Jesus begins his public ministry in Galilee and in essence announces his mission statement. As I have mentioned before, Jesus has not come to abolish Torah, the Law or the Teachings, the foundational principles of Judaism formed and passed on from Moses to this point. Jesus came to fulfill and take the teachings of the Law and the Prophets to a new and higher level. Jesus’ proclamation happens at a specific time and place within history, this is what we call in the Greek, chronos, or chronological time. While at the same time what is breaking into the ordinary course of daily events is the kingdom of God, which is not limited to chronos time, but is the eternal present of God the Father, the realm of heaven, which is kairos time.
Jesus is making known the revelation of his Incarnation, that the time of fulfillment is this very moment where the human course of history meets with the eternal reality of heaven. There is a communion of the human and divine present now and for all ages, for the kingdom of God is at hand in the presence of the God Man, Jesus the Christ, who is fully human and fully divine. This kingdom is not a static, sedentary of place, as past kingdoms, but an active reign of transformation. Nature, the very finite reality of creation has now been infused with the grace of God. What Jesus is proclaiming is that humanity and all of creation will be redeemed in him through the fullness of his Paschal Mystery, his life, suffering, death, Resurrection, and Ascension into heaven.
All who hear the wonder and glory of this pronouncement can participate in this new kingdom and eternal reign of God. The way to be a part of this new way is to: “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Andrew and Simon, James and John, did just that. Repentance is more that just following this rabbi, learning a new philosophy or theology, engaging in an intellectual endeavor. They were being transformed from within, reaching a higher pitch, or frequency, they were being divinized, made to be participants in the very life of Jesus.
What appears to be a dismal failure on the part of the Apostles throughout the Gospel of Mark, are really just the recordings of the growing pains of their transformation. For as long as they fall short of the reign of God, but continue to repent, to accept their mistakes, sins, and failures, and continue to turn back to God and away from their own ego and self as their focus, they continue to be transformed.
Simon, the fisherman, answered the invitation of Jesus and he followed him. He would make mistakes, wrestle with doubts, sin, deny Jesus, and even give up for a time and walk away, but he continued to say yes, continued to repent, to believe in the gospel, the good news of the one who called him. Simon would experience and participate in the reign of God here on earth, such that in the Book of Acts 3:6 we can read the account of no longer Simon, but Peter, the rock, who would say to the crippled beggar, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, [rise and] walk.” The beggar did so through the power of Jesus working through Peter.
We too, as with Peter, are invited to hear and respond to the same words of Jesus announced at the beginning of his ministry: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). We too can participate in God’s kingdom and reign here and now, by realizing that Jesus is still close at hand, he did not jettison off like a rocket at his Ascension, but is now present to us at a higher pitch or frequency of existence, that we can participate in, as did his Apostles. We do so by saying yes to Jesus’ invitation and placing ourselves in a posture of repentance daily by being open to surrendering our will, our ego, our selfish desires and temptations, to the Father’s will, giving ourselves, mind, body, soul, and strength to Jesus, through dedicated time of prayer, listening to and reading his Word, receiving his Body and Blood, and acting and serving his broken and wounded Body through the guidance and the Love of the Holy Spirit in our every day experiences. In this way we participate in his very life, and so too become divinized, transformed into God’s very existence of divinity. We will become through God’s free gift of grace what we have been created to be, a part of his eternal reign, in communion with God and one another.
Photo credit, Deacon Michael Miller: Saying yes to Jesus’ invitation September 7, 2013, the transformation continues!
Link for today’s Mass readings for Sunday, January 21, 2018:
Spiritual Stepping Stones 