Commentary
“This is the Time of Fulfillment”
This passage begins with two time markers in verse 14. First,
John’s arrest indicates the end of the time of preparation that he preached
(Mark 1: 2-3) [1]. Second, Jesus arrives in Galilee and begins his
preaching.
A new time has begun.
The word for time used here by Mark is kairos, a special word referring to “a time measured by God’s
design.” [2].
God has prepared for this moment. It has now begun. “This is the time of fulfillment.”
Like the first disciples, we, as a community, are called and
privileged to live in this time.
The following three Sundays (the remainder of Mark, Chapter
1) will give us a blueprint to live in this God’s time of fulfillment. That blueprint is Jesus, who preaches the
Kingdom with a sense of urgency, who defeats evils and brings people to
wholeness, who establishes God’s new people in the community he forms, and in
the way he lives and serves.
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[1] Mark 1: 2 – 3: “As it
is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of
you; he will prepare your way. A voice
of one crying out in the desert: ‘Prepare
the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.’”
[2] Francis Moloney, The Gospel
of Mark, A Commentary. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 2002; p. 49.
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