Jonah 3:1-5, Jonah 3:10, Psalm 62:5-12, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, Mark 1:14-20
A). THE EFFECT OF REPENTANCE.
Jonah 3:1-5, Jonah 3:10
When Jonah at last arrived in Nineveh after his circuitous journey, his message was simple: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (JONAH 3:4).
People may laugh at messages of doom and gloom, but not the people of Nineveh. The people of Nineveh, from the greatest to the least “believed God and proclaimed a fast” (JONAH 3:5). The twin graces of faith and repentance were found in that wicked city, and even the king got off his throne and humbled himself.
People may ask, ‘Why should I come to Christ for my salvation? What if I am not one of the elect?’ Yet the king of Nineveh, even under the threat of God's utter condemnation, saw things differently: ‘Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?’ (cf. Jonah 3:9).
Nineveh was full of wickedness (cf. Jonah 1:2). God pronounced judgement (JONAH 3:4). Nineveh repented (JONAH 3:5), and God relented (JONAH 3:10).
‘It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness’ (cf. Lamentations 3:22-23).
The LORD is merciful to those who repent (JONAH 3:10).
‘If you, LORD, should mark iniquities, who would be able to stand? But there is forgiveness with you, that you may be feared’ (cf. Psalm 130:3-4).
B). FAITH AS TRUST.
Psalm 62:5-12.
1. Context
David asserts in Psalm 62:1, that, “Truly” his soul waits upon God, from whom comes his salvation. The Psalmist claims, in no uncertain terms, that his trust is grounded in God (Psalm 62:2). This is a statement of faith which he has reached through the medium of persecution and affliction (Psalm 62:3-4).
“Selah” = stop and think on this.
2. Text
The Psalmist exhorts himself to patience in adversity (Psalm 62:5).
‘You have heard of the endurance of Job,’ encourages our Lord’s brother, ‘and the end thereof you saw: that the Lord is full of tender pity and compassionate’ (James 5:11). Even when Job was challenging God in the midst of his awful trials, his main disposition was still towards God. The secret of Job’s perseverance was an unwavering trust in God, no matter what (Job 13:15).
Likewise David survives, taking refuge in his refrain (Psalm 62:6-7; cf. Psalm 18:2). There is a multiplicity of martial words used here, not unfamiliar from some of the other songs of the Old Testament, and brought to our attention again in some of the songs of the Nativity.
Before such a God as ours, it is in fact our enemies who are reduced to ‘a bowing wall, and a tottering fence’ (Psalm 62:3), not ourselves. The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:18).
Having set out his own testimony and experience, the Psalmist exhorts the congregation to trust God, AT ALL TIMES (not just the good times). Pour out your heart before Him, for He is a refuge for us (Psalm 62:8). There is a shift here from singular verbs to plural.
“Selah” again = pause for thought.
Such is the nature and extent of human frailty, when we are weighed in the balances, that - without God - we are each lighter than air (Psalm 62:9). This anticipates the words of Ecclesiastes 1:1-2 - ‘All is vanity!’ Furthermore, we are not to set our hearts upon that which is not God (Psalm 62:10).
The false objects of devotion epitomised by wealth and power (Psalm 62:9-10) are contrasted with God’s power and constant love (Psalm 62:11-12). Therefore we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33).
In this we can trust: “To you, O Lord, belongs mercy” (Psalm 62:12). The Lord’s grace is sufficient, and His strength is manifest in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).
3. Conclusion
The Lord will render to every man according to his deeds (Psalm 62:12; cf. Romans 2:5-6). This is not justification by works, but having been justified by God’s free grace, works should follow (Ephesians 2:8-10; James 2:26). We will receive according to what we have done, whether good or bad (2 Corinthians 5:10).
C). A SHORTENED TIME, A PASSING WORLD.
1 Corinthians 7:29-31.
This is one of Paul’s ‘I say, not the Lord’ passages (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:25), meaning that he is not here directly quoting a word from Jesus.
Not that his comments are uninspired, as some contend. The Apostle goes on to qualify himself, without meaning to cast a doubt on it: ‘and I think I also have the Spirit of God’ (1 Corinthians 7:40).
Paul is addressing ‘the present distress’ (1 Corinthians 7:26). When he wrote this (around 51 A.D.) there was a severe shortage of grain around the Greek world, mentioned also by other writers of the time, and in inscriptions uncovered by archaeologists. Grain was the staple food of the region.
“The time is straitened” (1 Corinthians 7:29) speaks of a season environed with trials, restricted by poverty.
Translated like this, it reminds us of ‘the strait gate’ which we must strive to enter (Matthew 7:13-14).
It may also speak of a shortness of time: “the time is shortened.” This could imply, ‘the famine won’t last for ever.’ But it also reminds us of how furious the devil is because he knows that his time is shortened (cf. Revelation 12:12).
However, the word used for time speaks of a set time, rather than just the passage of time. The events that would eventually lead to the evangelisation of the world, and to the end of the age, had already been set in motion (cf. Matthew 24:14). The time of Jesus’ return was, even then, drawing ever nearer.
It also opens out the possibilities into our own era: for, surely, we are closer than ever before to the return of Jesus. In that case, perhaps it is a wake-up call, like that of Romans 13:11-12, for ‘now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed’.
Indeed, at the other end of today’s short reading we have: “the scheme of this world passes away” (1 Corinthians 7:31).
Another Apostle warns, ‘the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of the Lord abides forever’ (1 John 2:17).
And another, ‘the end of all things is at hand’ (1 Peter 4:7).
The string of verbs in the centre of today’s passage are not necessarily exhortations, but the grammar would allow a reading of,
“Since the time is shortened: those who have wives will be as those who have not; those who are weeping as those who are not weeping; those who are rejoicing as those who are not rejoicing; those who buy as those not possessing (what they bought); those who are using this world as those who are not using it to the full” (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).
Things will not always be as they are. There will inevitably be circumstances when Paul’s instruction, ‘remain as you are’ (1 Corinthians 7:20) will be evidenced, as a matter of fact rather than of enforced obligation, by an equalising of the various statuses mentioned in the centre of our present passage.
The early Christians were accused of ‘turning the world upside down’ (Acts 17:6).
In fact, Jesus came to fulfil, to turn things the right way up (Mark 1:15; Matthew 5:17).
Even legitimate things in the order of this world pale into insignificance with the inbreaking of the holy. Our new priority is ‘the kingdom of God and His righteousness’ (Matthew 6:33).
As for the kingdom of this world, it will be dissolved: ‘the earth and the works that are in it’ will be ‘laid bare’ (cf. 2 Peter 3:10).
How then should we live?
Perhaps the implication for the congregation of God’s people, in any generation, is that we should hold the things of this world with a loose hand.
‘And so much the more as the Day draws near’ (Hebrews 10:25).
D). THE CALL OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES.
Mark 1:14-20.
1. The call of the Gospel (Mark 1:14-15)
After Jesus’ baptism by John, and His successful wilderness encounter against Satan - this short passage introduces a seemingly ominous note to Mark’s gospel narrative: John was put in prison (Mark 1:14). However, this was nothing less than what the Baptist had come to expect: as he had himself said, ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’ (John 3:30). Perhaps this may serve to inform the ensuing call and commission of the first disciples: there is a cost to pay for following Jesus!
John had preached a baptism for the remission of sins (Mark 1:4). The Baptist had also proclaimed beforehand the coming of Jesus (Mark 1:7-8). Now Jesus announced, “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” - and to this indicative He added His own imperative: “repent, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
For centuries, the world had awaited a Saviour. Now He was come - fulfilling prophecy, and meeting expectation and hope. The kingdom of God was manifested amongst His people in the Person of King Jesus.
The general call of the gospel goes out on the initiative of God, and it is for us to make the right response. If we are saved, it is because of His mercy. If we are lost, it is our own silly fault.
2. The call to discipleship (Mark 1:16-17; Mark 1:19)
As Jesus walked along the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two fishermen casting a net, the brothers Simon and Andrew. “Follow me,” He said, “and I will make you to become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). Similarly Jesus called the two sons of Zebedee, who were mending their nets in their father’s ship (Mark 1:19).
Some translations treat this word as if it was a verb: as if He was saying, ‘I will make you to fish men.’ But the word is a noun: “they were fishers” (Mark 1:16); and the Lord was going to make them “to become fishers of men” (Mark 1:17). The difference is that the Lord was not calling them to do something: ‘to fish for men’ - but to BE something: “fishers-of-men.”
Our call by God does not have anything to do with who or what we are, but rather with what He might make us to become. This was particularly true of the first little band of disciples, whose call to “repent and believe” was immediately followed by a more particular calling to Apostleship. Yet in some ways, the call to be “fishers of men” belongs to the whole church, and is a paradigm for each one of us.
3. The right response (Mark 1:18; Mark 1:20)
The call of King Jesus is totally authoritative. The response of Simon and Andrew was immediate, and complete: they left their nets and followed Him (Mark 1:18). And James and John, like their ancestor Abraham before them, ‘left their father’s house, not knowing where they were going’ (Hebrews 11:8) - and followed Jesus (Mark 1:20).
Not everyone is called to the office of Apostleship, but every Christian does nevertheless have a part to play. Not everyone belongs in a pulpit, but each has a message to share. The fisherman’s tasks are many: Simon and Andrew were casting their nets; James and John were mending theirs in their father’s ship, surrounded by servants who no doubt had their own tasks to fulfil.
The end shall not come until ‘this gospel of the kingdom has been preached in all the world as a witness to all nations’ (Matthew 24:14). The Lord has called us to repentance and faith. It is for us to additionally determine what part the Lord is instructing us to play in the evangelisation of the world.
