Mark 1:14 - Meaning and Application

Here is a general account of Christ’s preaching in Galilee. John gives an account of Jesus’ preaching in Judea before this, in chapters 2 and 3, which the other Gospel writers had left out. They mainly tell what happened in Galilee, because Jerusalem knew that region less well.

Notice, first, when Jesus began to preach in Galilee: after John the Baptist was put in prison. When John had finished his witness, Jesus began his. The shutting up of Christ’s ministers will not stop Christ’s gospel. If some are set aside, others will be raised up, perhaps even stronger than they were, to continue the same work.

Notice, second, what he preached: the gospel of the kingdom of God. Christ came to establish God’s rule among people, so they would come under it and be saved by it. He did this by preaching the gospel, with power working along with it. The main truths he preached were these: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” This points back to the Old Testament, where the Messiah’s kingdom was promised and the time for it was set. They were not skilled enough in those prophecies, or careful enough about the signs of the times, to see it for themselves, so Christ warned them. The appointed time was now near. Great light, life, and love from God were about to be shown. A new way of dealing with people, far more spiritual and heavenly than what they had known before, was about to begin. God keeps time. When the time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is near, because the vision is for an appointed time and will come exactly when God has set it, even if it seems delayed to us.

From that truth, Christ drew the main duties. He told them what time it was, so they would know what Israel ought to do. They had foolishly expected the Messiah to come with outward glory and power, not only to free the Jewish nation from Roman rule, but to make Israel rule over its neighbors. So when they heard that God’s kingdom was near, they thought they should prepare for war, victory, and worldly promotion. But Christ told them that, in view of that kingdom, they must repent and believe the gospel. They had broken God’s moral law and could not be saved by a covenant of innocence, because both Jews and Gentiles are under guilt. So they must take hold of the covenant of grace, a merciful arrangement by which God saves sinners, and submit to its required response: repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

By repentance we must grieve over and turn from our sins. By faith we must receive forgiveness for them. By repentance we give glory to our Creator, whom we have offended. By faith we give glory to our Redeemer, who came to save us from our sins. These two must go together. We must not think that changing our behavior will save us without trusting Christ’s righteousness and grace. We must not think that trusting Christ will save us without a changed heart and life. Christ has joined repentance and faith together, and no one should separate them. They support each other. Repentance stirs up faith, and faith makes repentance truly shaped by the gospel. The sincerity of both must show itself in careful, obedient living according to all God’s commands. This is how the gospel preaching began, and this is how it still goes on. The call is still, Repent, believe, and live a life of repentance and faith.

Next comes Christ appearing as a teacher, and with that, his calling of disciples in Mark 1:16-20. Christ will have followers. If he sets up a school, he will have students. If he raises his banner, he will have soldiers. If he preaches, he will have hearers. He has taken effective steps to make sure of this, because all the Father has given him will certainly come to him.

The people Christ chose to use in setting up his kingdom were the weak and foolish things of the world. He did not choose them from the great Jewish council or from the rabbinic schools, but from ordinary fishermen by the seashore. In this way, the greatness of the power would clearly belong to God alone, and not to them.

Though Christ does not need human help, he is pleased to use it in building his kingdom. He does this so that he may deal with us in a familiar way, not in a frightening one. In his kingdom, the leaders and rulers are to come from among ourselves (Jeremiah 31:21).

Christ honors those who are low in the world but diligent in their work and loving toward one another. That is what these men were like when Christ called them. He found them at work, and working together. Industry and unity are good and pleasant, and there the Lord Jesus gives a blessing, even this blessing, “Follow me.”

The work of ministers is to fish for souls and win them to Christ. People, in their natural state, are lost. They wander without direction in the wide sea of this world and are driven by its currents. They are unprofitable. Like leviathan, a great sea creature, they play in the waters. Often, like fish in the sea, they destroy one another. When ministers preach the gospel, they cast the net into the water (Matthew 13:47). Some are gathered in and brought to shore, though most escape. Fishermen work hard and face danger, and so do ministers. They need wisdom. Even if many catches bring in nothing, they must keep going.

Those whom Christ calls must leave all to follow him, and by his grace he inclines them to do so. This does not mean we must instantly leave the world, but we must hold the world loosely and give up anything that would keep us from obeying Christ or would harm our souls if we kept it. Mark notes that James and John left not only their father, as Matthew says, but also the hired servants, whom they may have loved like brothers, since they worked together and shared pleasant company. So not only relatives, but companions, and old friends too, must be left for Christ. It may also show care for their father, because they did not leave him without help, but left the hired servants with him. Grotius thinks this detail shows that their work was profitable, since they kept servants to help them, and their labor would have been missed. Yet they still left it all.

Here is a particular account of Christ’s preaching in Capernaum, one of the cities of Galilee. John the Baptist chose to preach in the wilderness, and he did well and did good there. But that does not mean Jesus had to do the same. The inclinations and opportunities of ministers can differ greatly, and yet both may be following their duty and serving well. When Christ came into Capernaum, he immediately turned to his work there and took the first opportunity to preach the gospel.

Those who think carefully about how much work they have and how little time they have to do it will not want to waste any time.

Christ kept the Sabbath day with care. He did not do this by clinging to the elders’ traditions or by getting lost in all the fine points of Sabbath rest. He honored it in a better way, by giving himself to the work that belonged to the Sabbath, since the Sabbath rest was set apart for that purpose.

Sabbaths should be kept holy in gathered worship, whenever we have the chance. It is a holy day and should be marked by a holy meeting of God’s people. This was the old and good practice (Acts 13:27; Acts 15:21). On the Sabbath, that is, every Sabbath as it came around, he went into the synagogue.

In those Sabbath gatherings, the gospel should be preached, and people who are willing to learn should be taught the truth as it is in Jesus. Christ was unlike every other preacher. He did not teach like the scribes, who repeated Moses’ law by memory like schoolchildren reciting a lesson. They were not truly familiar with it, and they were not moved by it, so their teaching did not come from the heart and had no real authority. Christ taught as one who had authority, one who knew God’s mind and had been sent to make it known.

There is much in Christ’s teaching that amazes us. The more we hear it, the more reason we have to admire it.