Mark 1

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (1:15).  Jews believed that the “kingdom of God” was the point of all history: the time when God’s perfect rule would come to earth.  Therefore, Jesus’ words meant that the God they had always heard about had actually arrived.  Jesus spoke with authority in the synagogues, he cast out demons, and he touched and healed lepers (v41). He was “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1); he brought God’s kingdom to earth.

“Follow me” (v17).  God’s kingdom is present wherever Jesus is by the power of the Spirit, and He invites us not just to receive, but to enter in.