Jeremy L. Berg

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. (Mark 1:14-20)

Traditional Christian theology tends to over-spiritualize and individualize both repentance and faith.  Here in this passage we see two monumental concepts at work — (1) Jesus announcing the arrival or availability of the “Kingdom of God” and (2) a call to “repent and believe the good news” (v. 14).  But how would a first-century Jew have understood these words?

First, many today read “the Kingdom of God is near” to mean “now you can know how to go to heaven when you die;” which it doesn’t mean at all. Jesus is announcing that God is at last breaking into history in his own ministry in order to begin the making things right, and fulfilling all of the great promises of the OT.  “The Kingdom of God” drawing near equates to God’s reigning activity becoming more manifest and decisive at this climactic moment in history.

Second, Jesus’ challenge to “repent” does not only mean being sorry for one’s individual sins. Jesus, and the Baptist before him, have in mind first and foremost Israel’s corporate call to national repentance and recommitment to God’s purposes for His people. Jesus is calling Israel to remember their original purpose as a nation, to be the instrument through whom God would bring blessings to the nations; and insinuating that they have largely failed in this task and are in need of, to use contemporary jargon, a divine “bail out.”

Third, Jesus’ call to “repent” is broader than a private spiritual decision or confession.  The following invitations to the disciples flows out of the call to “repent.”  When Jesus enters one’s life and calls us to “repent” he means to set our entire life on a new course.  The call to repentance means a comprehensive “change of mind” (that’s what the Greek word “metanoia” literally means), or to change one’s entire outlook on the world, their own life and purpose.

So, in this story, when Jesus announces the Kingdom and calls for repentance and faith, Simon, Andrew, James and John do not get down on their knees and begin confessing their sins.  Their repentance takes the form of leaving their day jobs, their way of life, their livelihood — all in order to set their minds on a new life course with a new purpose.  Now, to be sure, I assume that they also made peace with God, confessed with their sins and did some introspection on their spiritual condition.

In the church today, we have a tendency to separate evangelism and discipleship. We say Jesus is evangelizing in first part of this passage (“the Kingdom is near…repent and believe…”) and shifts to discipleship ministry in the second part (“Come, follow me”).  May I suggest that the two are intricately intertwined. Repentance involves both turning from our sins and turning toward Christ in a completely new way of life, new priorities and new purpose.  May I suggest also that if you want to be saved you best answer the call of God when he beckons you by the Spirit to “Come, follow me.”

And, so, once we’ve taken these thoughts into consideration, the passage begins to have the following flow to it:

“Repent and believe the good news! …At once they left their nets and followed him.”