It’s Kingdom Time! - Sermon On Mark 1:14-15 Series

Mark 1:14 After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”

Introduction: Jesus Won

You’re traveling with a friend, walking north from Jerusalem and you see off in the distance this guy climbing up out of this steep canyon, scrambling up the side on all four’s. The other side of that canyon is the desolation, and your friend says out loud the very thing you were thinking: What was that guy doing out there? From the looks of him, you figure he’s been out there for some time, which makes you wonder how he even survived.

And not to sound prejudiced or anything, but you can tell he’s not from Judea. He’s a Jew, but he looks kind of Galilean – if you know what I mean. But you’re not going to hold that against him. So you put out your hand and help him up onto the road, and you can feel the bones in his hand. He’s frail and weak and looks to be on the brink of starvation. His clothes are filthy, he’s filthy, sunburned – this guy’s a wreck. And you just say it: “Man, you look like you’ve been to hell and back.” The Galilean gives you a wry smile and says, “You should see the other guy.”

Now, of course, none of that is in the Bible. I made it all up. I don’t know who the first people were to see Jesus when he returned from his 40 days of fasting and battling Satan out in the devastation. Mark doesn’t tell us anything about the moment of his return. He doesn’t even tell us if Jesus won or lost. He just says Jesus went out there to be tested by Satan for 40 days. So how did he do? Did he pass the test? Did Jesus win or did Satan win?

Instead of just telling us, Mark lets Jesus tell us in v.14-15, which begin the body of the book of Mark. The first 13 verses were the introductory prologue, where Mark tells us the preliminaries – John the Baptist preparing the people, Jesus’ baptism, his coronation as the Messiah, and his testing in the desert by Satan. That’s all introduction; now we’re ready to get down to business and hear the story of Jesus’ ministry. And look how it starts – these are the first words we hear out of Jesus’ mouth in the book of Mark.

Mark 1:15 "The time has come," he said.

What time?

"The kingdom of God is near.

The time of the kingdom! The time promised throughout the OT. The waiting is over. The decisive moment in history has arrived. All of history from the creation on has been marching forward inexorably right up to this climactic moment: the kingdom has arrived!

What kingdom? The great messianic kingdom promised in Psalm 2 where all the kings of the earth bow the knee to the Son of God. It’s the kingdom of Daniel 7 where the son of man is given authority, glory, and sovereign power and all peoples, nations and men of every language worship him and his dominion is an everlasting dominion and his kingdom one that will never be destroyed. It’s the kingdom of Daniel 2:44 where the Messiah crushes all the evil kingdoms and brings them to an end.

That’s the kingdom the people have been waiting for, and Jesus says, “It’s here! The time has arrived. The kingdom is here because I am here, and I am the messianic King.”

So if you’re wondering how the battle in the desert turned out, there you go. At the end of the 40 days, is it Satan claiming victory, and Jesus in the background hanging his head in shame? No, it’s Jesus who comes out of that combat in the devastation, and he comes out proclaiming great news of victory, and now he’s moving ahead with setting up his kingdom.

The Mystery of the Kingdom

Now, in light of all that – in light of what Jesus says in v.15, v.14 is a strange, bizarre, head-scratching verse. Look what Mark says about when Jesus kicked off his Messianic reign:

14 After John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God.

Wait a minute, what? When did you say Jesus proclaimed the arrival of his glorious, dominating kingdom? Mark says, “Oh, it was right around the time John the Baptist got arrested.” Do you see why I say that’s a bizarre, head-scratching verse? How is John getting arrested? Jesus was just crowned Messiah by God the Father and the Holy Spirit. The voice spoke from heaven. He battles Satan in the desert and comes out proclaiming, “The time of waiting is over. It’s kingdom time!” And while he’s announcing that, they are slapping the cuffs on John the Baptist? If the Messiah is this awesome, dominant head of a great kingdom, how does his #1 guy get arrested by some gentile ruler? And not even by Caesar, but by this petty, local yahoo named Herod?