Jesus made it clear in Mark’s Gospel that the time had come…the Jews had been waiting and looking…for what was about to happen. Everything in their religion pointed to this moment in time. Everything before was a hint, a preparation, a foreshadowing of the Kingdom of God that was at hand; no longer a future event, no longer something to hope for and look for. The future was now, it was being fulfilled.
This was a kingdom of the heart and of the conscience, and was informed by the teachings of a King who came to change the order of practically everything. The Kingdom of God that Jesus was introducing was completely different from the one the Jews had known all their lives; a kingdom where loving God and loving others…‘not’ following a buncha rules and regulations and commandments…was the ultimate priority.
And it included the death of a King who came to give His life for His subjects instead of requiring His subjects to give their lives for Him. Jesus’ arrival was the beginning of a brand new age; the old was being retired because something brand new and better had come. And it would lead to the establishment of a New Covenant between God and all of humanity…not just for the Jews as the old covenant had been.
Jesus said to repent and believe this good news, but repent in this case didn’t mean to turn away from sin; Jesus’ point was for the Jews to change their way of thinking, to change their worldview and turn in a different direction, to turn in the direction of a brand new kind of kingdom with a brand new kind of King.
He was inviting them to participate in it while making it clear that until they changed their mind and changed their worldview…and embraced it…they were gonna miss it. They had to embrace this brand new way of viewing the world and themselves, and they especially had to embrace this brand new way of understanding and experiencing God’s presence.
Jesus made it clear in Mark’s Gospel that His arrival was good news ~ and while there are different versions and approaches to Christianity ~ if one’s version of Christianity isn’t good news, then maybe one doesn’t have this version. If one’s version of Christianity isn’t good news, if one left it a long time ago, or recently ~ if it was that easy to leave and walk away from, if it was that easy to stop believing ~ then maybe one doesn’t have this version, the original version.
