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1:9

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And when he came up out of the water, immediately hesaw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like adove.

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you Iam well pleased.”

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And hewas with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Nowafter John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;repent and believe in the gospel.” – Mark 1:9-15

Opening remarks

The words “kingdom of heaven” is often a mystery to us when we read Scripture.We read it over one-hundred times in the New Testament, but often we just skimover the words. Often we just assume that this is speech of heaven or of Godhimself, but rarely, rarely do we venture out to investigate to ourselves what it trulymeans. This morning we try to wrestle with this phrase simply to walk away with a definedmeaning for ourselves, so that we can journey through the rest of this monthpreparing ourselves to be the kind of person that is able to reach our hand out andgrasp the kingdom of heaven ourselves.Let’s re-read our verses this morning,

1:9

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And when he came up out of the water, immediately hesaw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like adove.

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you Iam well pleased.”

The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.

And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And hewas with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Nowafter John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand;repent and believe in the gospel.”

Gaining some history

We must first understand that this phrase “kingdom of heaven” is a phrase that ispurely from Jewish origins, not Christian. It is a way that Jesus and John here arecommunicating the good news of Christ to the community in which they live, the Jewish people.

(ill. The “inter-testamental period)

There is a time period that John the Baptistfirst, and then Jesus Christ, are emerging from. The four-hundred years prior to theemergence of these two men was a time of silence from God. There were no majorprophets, no major Word of God to his people, and no immediate sense of thepresence of God. This is the time which scholars call the “inter-testamental” period,

and like the page in your Bible that may divide your testaments between old andnew, like mine it, was blank.Nothing was being spoken as a good, valid prophetic Word of God during the timewhen Israel needed it the most. This was a time in which the people were invaded,the lands laid to waste, the people scattered and the true city of Jerusalem turningfrom a free state to being under the rule of Rome. It was to these people that thefullness of time comes, God’s timing was made perfect, and Jesus appears. These people were alone, but during this time of being alone some great things,some beautiful things, happened in the history of Israel. God was not moving in aleadership way, a major prophetic way, but rather through his people.It was in this time that the congregational elements begin to be formed between thepeople. One of the major elements to develop during this time was the localsynagogue. The temple was of national importance for the historical worship andidentity of the people. But during this time the local development of a place tocome, to be in prayer and praise, to hear the Word of God, and to fellowshipemerged.

(ill. The synagogue)

The synagogue was comparable and close to our localChristian congregation now and more so in that out of it grew family and localtraditions and beliefs. During a time when the government and history of a peoplewas disappearing, these simple and outlying people were joining together to findGod within their lives. This was the time and place to which Jesus comes. He comes to simple people,small villages, and people in search of what God is calling them to within their lives.He comes to be found, and that is what this proclamation of “kingdom of heaven”calls out to. The kingdom of heaven brings to them that kingdom that was taken by them forceand oppression, the kingdom that they were absent with as they were scatteredthroughout the Middle Eastern world. It is within this dissolving of all that theyknew, and the loss of the presence of God in their lives nationally, that they wentseeking God, and found him in what they called the God of heaven: God who wasnot defined by a meeting place, but by a renewed outlook at his place within hispeople’s lives. This is the language that emerges at the same time as John the Baptist and Jesus’message of good news to the people, the language of verses 14 and 15,

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming thegospel of God,

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is athand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

From history to “at hand”

It is this message of God who is there, active, and alive that was to becommunicated to the people. A God who comes into the presence of his people,made possible through his sacrifice and Son, and is awakening them to return tohim. The message is precise in this declaration, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand…”, that is that God who’s kingdom of heaven is all around us, is herefor the grasping. And this is exactly what we mean when we use “heaven”language.

(ill. Lord’s prayer)

Just like when we pray the Lord’s Prayer we utter the simplephrases first,“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your willbe done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:9b-10)When we say this prayer we are not speaking to a God that is away from us, arewe? No, we are reminding ourselves that he is near, that heaven is all around us,that a kingdom is reigning now about us, and that we desire this to be revealed tous, for us to see and know of his presence.We are longing for the very presence and revealing of God to be made aware to us,we are praying for it, in fact, and that is why the way that it is told to us that it is “athand” is beautiful to the believer. Here is God telling us that no matter what ishappening in our culture, no matter what is happening in history, no matter what ishappening in economics, he can be found there, if we could only reach out our handand grasp his.

Seeing the grasping of the “kingdom of heaven” in the baptism of Christ

That is why I really like the way that Mark matched up this statement of Jesus’ministry with the testimony of his baptism. Just a few verses earlier, in verses 9-11,we have the most beautiful image of Jesus’ baptism.Look at Mark 1:9-11 again with me.

1:9

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.

And when he came up out of the water, immediately hesaw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like adove.

And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you Iam well pleased.”Here is Jesus coming to John for baptism, a very defining step in the ministry of Jesus. He comes to John of his own accord which John sees as troubling to himself.Matthew records that John upon Jesus coming for baptism tries to prevent Jesusfrom doing so, and says,