Jesus was a gospel preacher

JESUS WAS A GOSPEL PREACHER
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
Now after that John was deliveredup, Jesus came into
Galilee, preachingthe gospel of God, and saying, The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand:
repent ye, and believein the gospel.—Mark1:14-15.
Mark 1:14-15 ►
GreatTexts of the Bible
A Model Sermon
Here are the notes of a model sermon. We call the Lord’s Prayer the model
prayer. This may with equal justice be called the model sermon. It is a sermon
that was preachedeven by our Lord on more occasionsthan one. It is an
example for all the sermons that have been or will be preachedthereafter.
And although it is only the shortestpossible notes of such a sermon, there is
much material in it.
Let us take—
Its Occasion
Its Place

Its GeneralTopic
Its Particular Contents
I
Its Occasion
“Now afterthat John was delivered up.”
The Baptism of our Lord was immediately followedby an ecstatic conditionof
fasting in the wilderness, at the conclusionof which He endured the great
Temptation. Returning from the wilderness, He went, under the powerof the
Spirit, to undertake His ministry in Galilee.
Swete considers that this journey to Galilee was in fact a withdrawal from
Judæa, where the tidings of John’s imprisonment (Matt.), and still more the
growing jealousyof the Pharisees towards the new Teacher(John4:1),
rendered a longer stay dangerous or unprofitable. Though Galilee was under
the jurisdiction of Antipas, His mission there would not expose Him at first to
the tetrarch’s interference (cf. Mark 6:14; Luke 13:3 f., Luke 23:8). It was
Jerusalem, not Galilee, that shed the blood of the prophets; in any case it was
clearthat Jerusalemwould not tolerate His teaching;Galilee offered a better
field (cf. John 4:45).

The seasonwas the Spring, with its bright heaven, its fresh sweetearth, its
gladsome, soft, yet strengthening air, its limpid living water. And within as
without all was spring-time, the seasonofmillionfold forces gladly and
grandly creative, of sunlight now clearand blithesome, and now veiled with
clouds that came only to break into fruitful showers. “Jesus returned in the
powerof the Spirit into Galilee,” and Galilee felt and ownedthe Spirit and the
power. In the homes of its peasantry and the hamlets of its fishermen, on the
shores of its beautiful sea, in the towns and villages that stoodon its banks and
were mirrored in its waves, He preached His Gospel.1 [Note:A. M. Fairbairn,
Studies in the Life of Christ, 99.]
II
Its Place
“Jesus came into Galilee.”
Where would you have thought Jesus wouldhave gone to found His Kingdom,
to begin His ministry? Why, up there, of course, if He had been an astute man
of the world, at Jerusalem. There was the greattemple of His people, there the
ornate and ancient priesthood, there the extended and venerated worship,
there the historicalassociationsofHis race and of its King. Was ever city so
loved by men as was Jerusalem? Poetspraisedit, beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth was Mount Zion. The people had loved it; there
Solomonhad planted his temple; and there, amid poverty, pain, and war, a
few returned exiles had built another and still more gracious;there the people
of God had known the siege ofthe heathen, there they had known the
deliverance of the MostHigh. The great prophet of exile had brokeninto
immortal poetry in praise of that city where God dwelt, and towards which all
nations should come. Athens may be the eye of Greece,illustrious in wisdom;

Rome may be the synonym of Imperial and ecclesiasticalpower;Meccamay
speak of a prophet that conquered by the sword, and Benares ofcaste that
rules as with a rod of iron millions of our race;but Jerusalemis pre-eminent
as the city of faith, the birthplace of a religion, whose very stones were dearto
those that loved her. There, then, it might have seemed, Jesus wouldbegin to
exercise His ministry. There were rabbis to listen to Him, there were priests to
support Him, there were scribes to report Him; all round it seemedthe fit soil
for His work.
But nay, though He knew that a prophet must perish in Jerusalem, the
ministry that was to be fruitful for all time must be exercisedelsewhere. He
would not throw His ministry, His soul, into the midst of conflict, while
conflict would have soiled the serenity of His soul. He would not seek the men
bound to fashion and form and place; He would seek those thatwould gather
round Him, ready to be made by His work. He did not need to nurse human
sin; left to itself it would breed passion, create jealousy, make the awful hour
of His agony, the awful majesty of His cross. ButHe had to seek love, nurse it,
and cultivate it, and gather it to His bosom, and bear it there. He wanted the
silence that was nurture, He wanted the obscurity that was growth, He wanted
the cloisteredsecurityof Nature, as it were, where His ownloved people
would learn to know and would learn to love Him, and be made fit to be
preachers to all ages and models for all time. Though of humble birth, scorned
by the proud of blood and culture, He had the supernal wisdom, and saw in
the quiet of His ownprovince the ministry that could be a well of truth and
grace.
III
Its GeneralTopic

“Preaching the gospelof God.”
“The gospelof God”—this is the theme of all Christian preaching. The
particular function for which St. Paul says he is setapart is to preach the
gospelof God—“separated,” he says, in the beginning of the Epistle to the
Romans, “unto the gospelofGod.”
1. The Gospel.—“Thefundamental passage forthe use of this word
(εὐαγγέλιον),” saySanday and Headlam in their edition of the Epistle to the
Romans, “appears to be Mark 1:14-15.” Theydo not doubt that our Lord
Himself describedby this term (or its Aramaic equivalent) His announcement
of the arrival of the Messianic time. They do not think that the word is
borroweddirectly from the Septuagint, where it occurs in all only two, or at
most three, times, although there may have been some influence from the use
of the verb, which is especiallyfrequent in secondIsaiahand the Psalms in
connectionwith the news of the Great Deliverance orRestorationfrom the
Captivity. The word evidently took a strong hold on the imagination of St.
Paul in connectionwith his own call to missionary labours. He uses the noun
sixty times in his Epistles, while it is used only twice in the rest of the New
Testamentapart from the Gospels andActs.
2. The Gospelof God.—The Gospelis calledthe Gospelof Christ in Mark 1:1.
Here it is the Gospelof God. The “of,” says Swete, probably denotes the
source:the Gospelwhich comes from God, the Gospelof which God (the
Father) is the Author and Sender. Every accountof the work of Christ,
therefore, is false which places the grace of the Lord Jesus Christin contrast
to the justice of Almighty God. Christ comes with news, and goodnews, but
He is sentfrom Godwith this goodnews. In this respect, as in every other, He
and the Father are one.

IV
Its Particular Contents
Its particular contents are the fulness of the time, the nearness ofthe
Kingdom, and the conditions of entrance into it—repentance and faith.
i. The Fulness of the Time
“The time is fulfilled.”
What is fulfilment? The fruit is the fulfilment of the bloom, the meridian day
is the fulfilment of the dawn. What we mean by the word as it is applied to
Christ is, that there was something foreshadowed, and in Him that something
was revealed;that on the lip of time there was a whisper and a suggestion, of
which Christ was the uttered word; in the fulness of time “the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us.”1 [Note:W. J. Dawson, The Divine Challenge, 78.]
1. There was a threefold work of preparation for the coming of the Son of God
carried forward in what was then calledthe civilised world, and eachportion
of it required the lapse of a certain time.
(1) First, the world was to be prepared politically for His work. In order to
spread an idea or a creed, two instruments, if not strictly necessary, are at
leastdesirable. Of these one is a common language, suchas the French
language was in Europe half a century ago, a language of civilisation, which
shall be a means for expressing new thoughts and convictions without

subjecting them to misrepresentationby the process oftranslation. Another is
a common socialsystem, common laws, a common government.
(2) There was a secondpreparationin the convictions of mankind. The
heathen nations were not without some religion, which contained, in various
degrees, elements oftruth, howevermingled with or overlaid by errors. But
from the first the ancient religions tended to bury God in the visible world
which witnessedto Him. The Greeks neverknew, in their bestdays, of a
literally Almighty God, still less ofa God of love; but it was necessarythat
their incapacity to retain in their knowledge the little they did know of Him
should be proved by experience. Certainly wise men tried to spiritualise the
popular language and ideas about God. But the old paganismwould not bear
such handling; it went to pieces whenit was discussed;while philosophy,
having no facts to appeal to, but consisting only of “views,” couldnever
become a religion and take its place. The consequence was the simultaneous
growth of gross superstition and blank unbelief, down to the time of the
Incarnation.
(3) There was also a preparation in the moral experience of mankind. There
was at times much moral earnestnessin the old pagan world. But men were
content with being goodcitizens, which is not necessarilythe same thing as
being goodmen. In the eyes of Socrates, forinstance, all obligations were
dischargedif a man obeyed the laws of Athens. “No man,” St. Augustine has
said, “approachedChristianity more nearly than did Plato.” Yet Plato
toleratedpopular vices of the gravestdescription, and drew a picture of a
model state in which there was to be a community of wives. And yet enough
survived of moral truth in the human conscienceto condemn average pagan
practice. Pagans stillhad, howeverobscurely, some parts of the Law of God
written in their hearts.

2. In the Jewishpeople, too, a threefold preparation, ending also in a “fulness
of time,” is certainly not less observable. (1) Politically, the Jews were
expecting change;they retained the feelings while they had lostthe privileges
of a free people; their aspirations lookedto a better future, though they
mistook its character. The sceptre had departed from Judah: Shiloh would
come, they believed, immediately. (2) Their purely religious conviction
pointed in the same direction. Prophecyhad, in the course of ages, completed
its picture of the coming Deliverer. Beginning with the indefinite promise of a
deliverance, it had gradually narrowedthe fulfilment to a particular race, a
particular tribe, a particular family; the birth, the work, the humiliation, the
death, the triumph, of the Delivererhad been described by anticipation. There
was, consequently, an “expectationofIsrael” for which all goodmen were
waiting. (3) But, above all, the Jews underwent a moral preparation for the
Son of God. God had given them a Law; in itself “holy, just, and good.” But
this Law itself pronounced a curse on all who did not keepit. Did the Jews
keepit? They had had the experience of centuries;had they ever kept it? were
they not as far as everfrom keeping it, in any sense which conscience would
sanction? They had, no doubt, made a certainnumber of technicalextracts
from it, and these they could obey mechanically. But the moral principles
which it contained did not govern their lives. And they knew it. The Law,
then, was to them a revelationof weaknessand a revelationof sin. It showed
them what, in their natural strength, they could not do. Like a lantern carried
into a dark chamber of horrors, which was unlighted before, it showedthem
what they had done. Thus the Law was, in St. Paul’s eyes, a confidential
servant to whom God had entrusted the education of Israelto bring him to
Christ; and this process had just reachedcompletion.1 [Note:H. P. Liddon,
Advent in St. Paul’s, 118.]
Christ is the centre of the history of the world, and there could be no error in
the date of His appearance. The race had proved its inability to restore itself
to lost truth, purity, and happiness. Through the discipline of the Mosaic law,
and of natural law, Jew and Gentile were prepared for a spiritual, redeeming
religion. And the state of the political world correspondedwith the exigencies
of a universal faith. “When the fulness of the time came, God sent forth his

Son.” Nothing in nature is more wonderful than the way in which
complementary things and creatures arrive together;and in history the same
phenomenon is repeated. “God’s trains never keepone another waiting.”
Events synchronise and harmonise. The Incarnation is the crowning example
of the dramatic unities of history.2 [Note:W. L. Watkinson, Ashes of Roses,
268.]
ii. The Nearnessofthe Kingdom
“The kingdom of God is at hand.”
1. The Kingdom of God.—The “kingdomof God,” as used by our Lord,
signified the whole sphere in which the will of God, as an ethical power, is
recognisedand obeyed. It was the reign of righteousness.The idea was so far
traditional; in it the theocracyof Israel, the ideal of the prophets, was still
further purified and enlarged. In our Lord’s use of it, a certainelasticityis
apparent, which is, however, never vagueness. The “kingdom” may be in
germ, in process ofbeing realised, or ideally perfectand complete. It has two
sides—the intensive, the qualities which distinguish it; and the extensive, the
moral beings whom it includes, and so far as they are under its influence. It is,
however, the former much more, and more frequently, than the latter. It is
inward, spiritual, invisible, but ever struggling, as it were, towards outward
expressionand realisation;hence it sometimes appears to be identified with
such expression, howeverinadequate this may yet be. In the future, however,
the outward and inward shall correspond. Perhaps what Jesus meant by the
“kingdom of God” is best seen from the position He gives it in the Lord’s
Prayer. God’s Kingdom begins when His “name is hallowed,” with the
turning of the heart in loyalty and devotion towards Him; and is perfected
when His “will is done, as in heaven so in earth.”1 [Note:A. Stewart, in
Expository Times, iv. 467.]

The Kingdom of God or of Heaven was a religious conceptionwhich our Lord
found in possessionof the religious mind of Israel. We are just beginning to
learn from a study of the Jewishapocalyptic literature of the first pre-
Christian century how entirely our Lord acceptedfor His teaching the
framework of religious ideas current among His own people in His own day.
He is distinguished hardly at all from His contemporaries by the form of His
teaching. But into the current forms He put a largeness andintensity of
meaning which they had not known, which was destinedin time to break
through and transcendthem. It was so exactly with this idea of the Kingdom
of Heaven. Forthe mind of our Lord’s contemporaries it was a somewhat
confusedmedley of at leasttwo conceptions which are really distinct. On the
one hand it stoodfor the completion of the Divine purpose in the world of
creation. The final destiny of man and of all createdthings was seenathwart a
greatcataclysmic judgment. An ultimate redemptive change would pass upon
all things that grow here slowlytowards their end, and transform them into
the changeless realitywhich God had always meant for them, which God had
always seenin them. The new heavens and the new earth would spring
suddenly out of that greatfire of judgment by which God would sift and try
the world. And confusedlymingled with this conceptionwas that of a slower
and more gradual process by which this greatchange would be prepared.
During this process, men, or at leastan electof mankind, would be conscious
of a nearer presence ofGod, of a closerpresence ofGod’s redemptive purpose
in their affairs. This stage would be already an initiation of the Kingdom of
God. It would be markedthroughout by an experience of the constant
urgency of His judgment, by a growing assurance ofthe working of His
redemptive leavenin the human lump.
Now even here our Lord did not change the forms which He found. He did not
seek to disentangle ideas which are at leastlogicallydistinct. He, too,
sometimes spoke ofthat completion of human destiny, to be wrought through
the sudden whirlwind of a final judgment, as near at hand, as already at the
door, as coming within the lifetime of that generation. And again, He spoke of
the Kingdom as growing slowly and secretly, as involving a kind of judgment
which would leave it to life itself gradually to revealthe evil and the good,

which would demand the greatestpatience and tolerance lestthe goodbe
hindered or even destroyedby a too zealous haste to separate it from the evil.
But whicheverform He used He made it the vehicle of the definitive and
perfect teaching about the nature of God’s judgment. Rather, perhaps, if we
may dare to speculate, He may have used both these contemporaryreligious
conceptions becausethey insisted upon different aspects ofthe Divine
judgment which are vitally united in its reality, though we can only think of
them or realise them apart—its uncompromisingness and its patience, its
absolute characterand its gradual process.1 [Note:A. L. Lilley.]
The memory of this greatidea is kept alive in Christendom by the Lord’s
Prayer, which has passedinto universal use; but the three Creeds, which are
supposedto embody the essentialfeatures ofthe Christian religion, take no
notice of it. The teaching of the Masterappears to be the last thing that occurs
to the minds of many Christians; and if they can only pronounce some
formula descriptive of His nature and person, they think it superfluous to
dwell with loving reverence onthe principles which He taught.2 [Note:James
Drummond, Via, Veritas, Vita, 123.]
2. The Kingdom of God is at hand.—This may mean either that the Kingdom
is imminent in the sense that it will soonbe realised, orit may mean that the
Kingdom has drawn near to men, is now in the midst of men, whether or no
they recognise the fact of its present realisation.
The near approachof the Kingdom was what Jesus preachedas His “good
tidings” to the people, and veritable goodtidings it would be to those who
believed Him. It was like proclaiming the dawn of “the millennium.” John the
Baptist had alreadyannounced the nearness ofGod’s Kingdom; but it was in
its judgment aspectthat he proclaimed it; Jesus emphasisedits gracious
aspectas the coming of salvation. We have no need to go to the later
Apocalyptic conceptions for the foundation of this Gospel;we find it in the

Old Testament. The prophets had foretold the coming of this Kingdom in “the
latter days.” Isaiah had pictured it as a time of release to the captive, of justice
and consolationto the poor and oppressed, a Jubilee year of “Divine
acceptance”;and Jesus declaredthat it had dawned upon them. “Daniel” had
foretold how “the God of Heaven should set up a kingdom” which should
never be destroyed, and had seen in vision the government committed to one
who “came with the clouds of heaven, like unto a sonof man”; he had even
given indications of the time when it should appear; Jesus announcedthat
“the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.”
But although the Kingdom was approaching, it was not immediately at hand.
All Christ’s teaching implies this, though there is nothing in it that requires
the thought of long delay. More than once He gave a distinct negative to the
expectationthat the Kingdom “should immediately appear.” He preached
repentance and righteousness as its preparation, and He pointed to the powers
He was endowedwith, through the indwelling Spirit, as a proof of His
commission, and, indeed, as an evidence that the Kingdom had “come upon
them.” Although in its form it might be outward, in its essenceit was spiritual.
While it was something to be entered in the future, men really entered it now
as they acceptedJesus andHis teaching—thatis, they became members of it,
having “their names written in Heaven,” and would be recognisedas suchby
the Sonof Man when He came in His glory. He could thus saythat the
Kingdom of God was within men.1 [Note:W. L. Walker,]
It is at hand; within one step of us—within one step of earnestpurpose and
resolute endeavour! It is here in the common things about us, here, in life’s
capacityfor beauty, kindness, joy; here in home, friends, and even in the
associationsofthe workadayworld, which all are rich in the possibilities of
kind and happy life! Yes, everywhere the Kingdom of God is “athand” to
every one of us. Only learn the meaning of this, and it will lead you into the
blessedsecretofthat still deeperword—“the kingdom of God is within you.”1
[Note:B. Herford.]

People are always looking for their Kingdoms of God far away. There is
always a visionary kingdom glowing in some dim distance of hope or fancy.
Your schoolboyreads RobinsonCrusoe, or Mayne Reid’s stories of wonderful
adventure, till it seems stupid and dull to be living at home, with regular
meals and beds to sleepin, and he muses about some possible desert island or
far-off wilderness where life might be passed, chiefly in going about with a
gun. Men laugh at that—yet are they so much better? Their kingdoms are
more prosaic and substantial, but men are just as liable to miss those that are
close to them in looking for those which are far awayand utterly
problematical. This man has a longing to be at the head of his profession. He
is just in the rank and file of it, and he wants to make a name. If he could do
this, he could sing “nunc dimittis!” Thus another’ man, again, likes power—
has a faculty for organisation:—to him it seems as if it would be the very
“kingdom of God” to become the leaderof his party, or to attain some high
position in the country. This man has a craving to make some striking
discoveryin science;that, to write a successfulbook;the other, to paint the
best picture of the year.2 [Note: Ibid.]
(1) The Kingdom of God is at hand individually. Every religionhas lived and
grown in proportion to the number of those that it has helped to strain beyond
the vision of the day, to rise above the standard of the hour. It has lived in the
measure of the souls it has made. And souls are never made by conformity.
They are made by faith. We are not helped to be our true selves by seeing
clearly and at once all that we ought to believe and do. We are helped to the
real possessionof ourselves by a deeper instinct that canbe strengthenedinto
a resolute and courageous purpose because Godis behind it—an instinct
which will at all costs pluck the goodfrom the very heart of evil. No religion
has ever been given in a system, It grew originally out of the heart, the
strength, the soul of a living man. The greatestand truest religion grew out of
the life of the greatestand truest Man. There God wrought and strove
towards the making of an eternal Spirit, human and Divine, which might
work and strive in other hearts for ever.

(2) The Kingdom of God is at hand socially. The result of all human living is
social. The socialwill always grows outof the individual, and always in turn
inspires it. The socialwill can healthily restrain the individual will only
because it has first inspired it, and exactly in the measure in which it has
inspired it. It restrains us aright when it stirs into life our responsibility
towards it, when it makes us feel what we might be and do for it, when it
makes us feelwhat we must not be and do to its hurt. Its restraint is unhealthy
only when it would enslave us to its will as if that will were a thing apart from
us. And then its will in turn becomes a dead thing, a thing which the living will
of man must rebel againstand overcome. The truth is that the individual man
and human societyare so related that the fullest individuality must make the
richest and most fruitful society, that societyinevitably perishes as
individuality becomes meagre and shrunken. The man who is most himself is
the man who gives most to society. The man who is a mere reflectionof social
convention is the man who is helping to make that conventionmore empty
and barren every hour.1 [Note:A. L. Lilley,]
iii. The Conditions of Entering the Kingdom
“Repentye, and believe in the gospel.”
Our Lord here commands the two things which are required for salvation.
“Exceptye repent,” He says elsewhere, “ye shallall perish.” And St. Paul
declares that without faith it is impossible to please God. Repentance is that
which makes us look within ourselves;faith is that which makes us look out
from ourselves. And not only must both faith and repentance be there, but
they must also be there in proportion. A balance must be maintained between
them. If repentance is strong while faith is weak the result is restlessnessand
dissatisfaction. There is the sense ofsin, but there is no assurance ofthe mercy
of God in Christ. Again, if faith is strong, or seems to be strong, while there

has been no true repentance, there may be a false confidence that all is well, a
blind trust, a blind security.
Those who have a faith which allows them to think lightly of pastsin, have the
faith of devils, and not the faith of God’s elect. Those who say, “Oh, as for the
past, that is nothing; Jesus Christhas washedall that away”;and cantalk
about all the crimes of their youth, and the iniquities of their riper years, as if
they were mere trifles, and never think of shedding a tear, never feeltheir
souls ready to burst because they should have been such greatoffenders—
such men who cantrifle with the past, and even fight their battles o’er again
when their passions are too coldfor new rebellions—Isay that such who think
sin a trifle, and have never sorrowedon accountof it, may know that their
faith is not genuine. Men who have a faith which allows them to live carelessly
in the present, who say, “Well, I am savedby a simple faith,” and then sit on
the ale-benchwith the drunkard, or stand at the bar with the spirit-drinker,
or go into worldly company and enjoy the carnal pleasures and the lusts of the
flesh, such men are liars; they have not the faith which will save the soul. They
have a deceitful hypocrisy; they have not the faith which will bring them to
heaven.1 [Note:C. H. Spurgeon.]
1. Repentance.—“Repentye.” With these words Christ commencedHis
Galileanministry. The first demand He made on men was the demand for
repentance. When He sent out the Twelve on their missionaryjourney
through the country towns and villages, it was to preach “that men should
repent.” When He gave His last instructions to His disciples before He was
takenup, He explained to them that it was in accordancewiththe Scriptures
that “repentance … should be preached in his name unto all the nations.”
In the present day we do not sufficiently realise the necessityfor repentance.
To some extent we have even forgotten what repentance means. We read the
greatclassicaloutpourings of the contrite soul—the Psalms, or the

ConfessionsofSt. Augustine, or the Imitation of A Kempis, or John Bunyan’s
Grace Abounding—and they appear to us almost hysterical. The language of
the brokenspirit stirs in us no response. We cannotbring ourselves to pray, as
LancelotAndrewes used in agonyto pray, “O Lord, help Thou mine
impenitence; and more and more bruise, and wound, and pierce, and strike
my heart!”1 [Note:F. Homes Dudden.]
What is Repentance?
1. The first element in penitence, St. Bernard has declared, is “regretfor what
is past.” And this is the characteristic, perhaps, that first and most strikingly
arrests attention. The whole literature of penitence is blotted with tears of
sorrow. Its pages are red with the shame of the saints. Its greatword is
Peccavi. “O my God, my transgressions are very great, very greatmy sins.” “I
acknowledge my faults, and my sin is ever before me.” “O my God! O God
infinitely good! How canstThou bear with a sinner like me?” This ache, this
grief, this self-accusing sorrow seems inseparable from repentance. Evenon
those who know themselves forgiven, even on those who have “washedtheir
robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” there falls the dark
shadow of a wastedpast, the sadness ofknowing that they are not what they
might have been.
Yes, Thou forgivest, but with all forgiving
Canstnot renew mine innocence again:
Make Thou, O Christ, a dying of my living,

Purge from the sin but never from the pain!
A well-knownpreacheronce began his sermon by saying that he should that
day choose seventexts, but pledged himself that all the seven should contain
only three words. Those three words were, “I have sinned.” And, unless we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, those words in their most solemn
and crushing force ought often to be on the lips of every one of us. But the
Bible shows us how often they may be used and yet not mean repentance.
Pharaohsaid, “I have sinned,” in mere terror, and hardened his heart the
moment the judgment was removed. Achan said, “I have sinned,” like some
criminal on the scaffoldwho confessesonly when the consequences ofhis
iniquity stare him horribly in the face. Balaamsaid, “I have sinned,” but still
went on in spite of the drawn swordof the angel, dazzled by the disastrous
gleamof Balak’s gold. Judas said, “I have sinned,” but in him it was only
despair and remorse as he flung down in the temple the accursedpittance for
which he had soldhis soul. Saul said, “I have sinned,” but only to return to his
demoniac envy. But, ah! thank GodHis true penitents have uttered that cry in
very different tones. Job said, “I have sinned,” and humbled himself under the
mighty hand of God, and God exalted him. David said, “I have sinned,” and in
a voice broken by sobs sang the dirges of his De profundis and the wailing of
his heart, and went forth to find the dark spirits of incestand fratricide
walking in his house, but also to find that God restores to godly sorrow a clean
heart and a free spirit. The prodigal said, “Father, I have sinned,” and rose,
poor boy, from the husks and swine and the far country to fling himself,
weeping as if his heart would break, into his loving father’s arms.1 [Note: F.
W. Farrar.]
There was once at Westminster Schoola singularly innocent boy whose name
was Philip Henry. Though he was a Nonconformistthe stern royalist
headmaster, Dr. Busby, loved him, and severe as he was he never chastised
him but once, and then with the words, “And thou, too, my child.” A holier
boy, a holier man, never lived. A contemporarysaid of him, “Should angels

come from heaven it is my sense they would not be heard with greater
reverence. We praise all virtues in admiring him.” Yet when Philip Henry was
far advancedin years a young man said to him, “Mr. Henry, how long do you
mean to go on repenting?” “Sir,” he meeklyanswered, “I hope to carry my
repentance to the very gates ofheaven.”2 [Note:Ibid.]
Towards the end of his life, than which none has been seenmore perfect
outside the Gospels, St. Francis of Assisiwept so much over his sins that he
injured his eyesight; but he would listen to no remonstrance. “Iwould rather
choose to lose the sight of the body than to repress those tears by which the
interior eyes are purified that they may see God.” As George Herbertlay a-
dying he said, “I am sorry that I have nothing to present to my merciful God
exceptsin and misery, but the first is pardoned, and a few hours will put a
period to the latter.” Francis Quarles, the author of the Emblems, expressed
greatsorrow for his sins, and when it was told him that he did thereby much
harm to himself, he answered, Theywere not his friends that would not give
him leave to repent. And Bunyan learned “that none could enter into life but
those who were in downright earnest, and unless they left the wickedworld
behind them, for here (in the narrow road) was only room for body and soul,
but not for body and soul and sin.” One of the ablest men of his time used to
say of Erskine of Linlathen that he never thought of God but the thought of
Mr. Erskine was not far away;yet Principal Shairp informs us that, in this
holy man’s last years, all who conversedintimately with him were struck with
“his ever deepening sense of sin, and the personalway in which he took this
home to himself.” Penitence is one of the signs of true religion in every age.1
[Note:John Watson.]
The following curious dream was related to me by the womanwho had the
strange experience. She dreamed that she entereda large room where many
people were on their knees in prayer. An old man with flowing beard was
walking about; a man like one of the old prophets. She askedhim where she
was, to which he replied, “What, do you live in Bristol, and not know where

you are?” “No,”she answered. Thenhe told her that the kneeling people were
inquiring how far they were from heaven. She said that she too would like to
know. “Follow me,” saidthe old man, and he led her towards an instrument
like a telephone with a serpent-like pipe attached. He workedthe apparatus
and inquired, while the woman stoodtrembling for the answer. The reply
came, “You are not on the road at all.” Very sorrowfuland shedding bitter
tears she turned to leave the room. Just as she reachedthe door a voice, kind
but firm, commanded her to stop. It was the old man’s voice. When she
turned round he said, “You’re all right now.” “How?” she asked;“I thought
you told me I was not on the road at all.” “Yes,” he replied, “I did, but you are
on the road now. You have just turned the corner and goton the right way.
Those tears of yours are the tears of repentance, and now you are all right.”2
[Note:William Forbes.]
2. But repentance is more than sorrow. Sorrow forsin is one element of
repentance, but you can be sorry without repentance. There is a kind of
sentimental sorrow, a sorrow at the thought of coming retribution and
exposure, which is mean, selfish, devilish, and is not healthy and life-giving.
There is a sorrow that weeps at funerals and sentimental plays. There are
multitudes of people who think they are not far from the Kingdom because
their tears come easily; they whisper all sorts of sweetmessagesto themselves
because they canweep. They tell themselves that they are not hard, and
therefore there must be hope for them, and all the while they are holding on to
forbidden things and walking in forbidden paths.3 [Note:Gipsy Smith.]
(1) It is an act of will.—Repentance is not primarily a species offeeling, but an
act of will. I want againand againto saythat a man can repent with dry eyes.
There may be much weeping and no repentance;there may be realpenitence
where there are no tears. The tears may come in the later day; at the moment
of the turning the eyes may be undimmed. Some day I shall come to know how
deeply I wounded my Saviour, and the thought may unseal the fountain of
tears. Some day I shall know how terrible was my waste ofthe years, and I

shall weepin the irreparable loss. But the first act of all penitence is to turn
the back on sin and the face to the Lord. The beginning of all fulness is to be
found in a sense ofwant. The perceptionof unlikeness to the Lord is the
beginning of assimilation. And if I lack this sense of want let me turn to the
Word of God. Let me take the commandments, and lay my soulagainsttheir
measures. And then let me turn to the beatitudes, and estimate my life by
their exalted demands. And let me turn to the life of the MasterHimself, and
accompanyHim through His days; and at every turning let me put my soul
beside His, and I shall be unlike all others if at the end of the journey I do not
feel myself a child of spiritual poverty, craving for the grace and fulness of
Christ. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”
(2) It is a movement of the whole being.—The late Dr. Bright defined
repentance as “a thorough-going movement of the whole being awayfrom sin
and towards the love and service of God.” And I ask you to note these
words—“a thorough-going movement of the whole being.” Repentance knows
no half-measures. It is not the correctionof this little failing or that little
failing. It is not patch-work. It is renovation of the whole state, and the whole
nature, and the whole personality—renovationthrough and through, and out
and out. That is what Bishop Wilson meant when he wrote, “There is no
repentance where there is no change of heart.” That is what Martin Luther
meant when he spoke of repentance as “a real bettering and change of the
entire life.” That is what St. Paul meant in his doctrine of the “new creature.”
This is what the Saviour meant when He said to men, “Change your mind”—
not merely change your actions or your habits, but your mind, your thoughts,
your aims, your inner attitude, your very self. “Look to thy repentance,”
writes Richard Baxter. “that it be deep and absolute, and free from
hypocritical exceptions and reserves.”1[Note:F. Homes Dudden.]
I know some very excellentbrethren—would God there were more like them
in zeal and love—who, in their zeal to preach up simple faith in Christ, have
felt a little difficulty about the matter of repentance;and I have known some

of them who have tried to getover the difficulty by softening down the
apparent hardness of the word repentance, by expounding it according to its
more usual Greek equivalent, a word which occurs in the original of the text,
and signifies “to change one’s mind.” Apparently they interpret repentance to
be a somewhatslighter thing than we usually conceive it to be, a mere change
of mind, in fact. Now, allow me to suggestto those dearbrethren, that the
Holy Ghostnever preaches repentance as a trifle; and the change of mind or
understanding of which the gospelspeaks is a very deep and solemn work,
and must not on any accountbe depreciated. Moreover, there is another word
which is also usedin the original Greek for repentance,—notso often, I admit,
but still it is used,—whichsignifies “anafter-care,” a word which has in it
something more of sorrow and anxiety than that which signifies changing
one’s mind. There must be sorrow for sin and hatred of it in true repentance,
or else I have read my Bible to little purpose. In very truth, I think, there is no
necessityfor any other definition than that of the children’s hymn—
Repentance is to leave
The sins we loved before,
And show that we in earnestgrieve,
By doing so no more.
To repent does mean a change of mind; but then it is a thorough change of the
understanding and all that is in the mind, so that it includes an illumination,
an illumination of the Holy Spirit; and I think it includes a discoveryof
iniquity and a hatred of it, without which there canhardly be a genuine
repentance.2 [Note:C. H. Spurgeon.]

2. Belief.—“Believe in the gospel.”Whatis this? I suppose it to be assentto
the truth as true, and then a personaltrust in the influence and result of this
truth. It is to turn from sin and to trust the promises of God in Christ for
present and eternalsalvation. He who thus trusts, honours God’s truth,
magnifies God’s Son, and is saved. And yet people come to me almost every
day, saying, “I am trying to trust.” Suppose I should go to one of my friends
who is the teller of a bank, with a cheque in my hand, and as I stoodbefore
the window I should hold the cheque, and say, “I want money for this.” “Give
me the cheque and I will bring you the money.” “No;I cannot trust you that
far.” “Yes;but I will go right to the counter and bring you the money.” “No;I
will try to trust you” (and still I hold on to the cheque). “But my goodman,”
my friend says, “I cannotget you the money without the cheque.” “I cannot
give you the cheque; that is the only evidence of value I have, and when I give
you that it is all gone. I will try to trust you; bring me the money.” I am
turning the tables on the teller; I am asking him to trust me, instead of
trusting him. The act of trust is to give instantly all that we have that is
imperilled into the hands of the One from whom the redemption and the
provision are to come. And so when the sinner, believing the Word of Jesus
Christ, just gives himself in prayer to Christ, and leaves himself, so far as his
present safetyand his eternal salvationare concerned, that man trusts and
believes the gospel.
With penitence, then, there must come belief. And it must be belief, in the
sense oftrust. And it must be trust in a personwho is trustworthy. I am to
enthrone the Saviour in my soul. Deliberately, definitely, and decisively, I am
to proclaim Him King. I am to bow to His will, and trust His powerand grace.
I am to commit my way to Him, and stake my all upon Him, to venture life
and death, the present and the future, upon His fidelity and holy covenant.
Then is the Kingdom founded, and gradually rioting will change into order,
rebellion will pass into harmony, and some day I shall be able to saywith the
Psalmist, “All that is within me, bless his holy name.”1 [Note:J. H. Jowett.]

In this, His first sermon, Jesus addeda new word to the Baptist’s message,
and the substance of the things to be receivedhad now gained from His life
the title, which ever since it has held, “Believe the gospel.” Thesethree words
were the love tokens with which He came to seek and save the lost. In the
repetition of these three words He fulfils the embassageofpeace upon which
He came from the Father.2 [Note:S. H. Tyng.]
One of our visitors went to a poor home of suffering not long since, and in a
dark chamber of the tenement lay stretchedon a pallet of straw a poor
woman, whom God had strangelyafflicted by the loss of sight, and then by
paralysis of one side—a poor, helpless creature, so far as the offices of this
world are concerned. He ministered to her in the necessitiesofher body, and
then askedher how her soul was related to God; and, as Joshua with the
children of Israel, he did it in the way of rebuke, at first: “Are you truly
saved?” (for she had already professedthat she was a Christian). The voice
answeredwith meekness, “Whynot?” “But what goodthing have you done, to
pretend to be saved?” And the only answerfrom the pallet of suffering was,
“Why not?” “Yes;but perhaps you are presuming. How do you know you are
saved?” The answerof faith came, “JesusChrist came to seek and to save
sinners, and I am a lostsinner; why am I not saved?” Ah! there was wealth
there which no possessionsofthis earth can gain, for a sinner had takenGod
at His word. She propounded a question to which all the wise men of this age
can give no answer. If a sinner, why not saved? This is the gospel, and this it is
to believe the gospel.1 [Note:S. H. Tyng.]
The phrase, “believe in the gospel” is unique. Nor do we elsewhere hearof
believing the gospel. Faithis always regardedas due to the Personof whom
the gospelspeaks. Yetfaith in the messagewas the first step. “A creedof some
kind,” says Swete, “lies atthe basis of confidence in the PersonofChrist.”

A poor woman once came to Dr. Barnardo with a broken heart, telling a sad
story of the wandering life of an only daughter in the greatmetropolis, and
implored his help. After considering the situation for a moment Dr. Barnardo
said: “Yes, I canhelp you. Getyour photograph taken, frame a goodmany
copies, write under the picture, ‘Come Home,’ and send them to me.” The
pictures were soonin his hands, and were placedby him in the places
frequented by such friendless outcasts. One night the unhappy girl saw the
picture, and was greatly startledto see her mother’s handwriting welcoming
her home. That very night she returned repentant and forgiven to her
mother’s arms. It is this turning from a life of sin to a life of love that Jesus
enables us to accomplishin response to His goodnews of proferred love and
forgiveness.2[Note:Hugh T. Kerr.]
Love saith to me, “Repent”;
Love saith to me, “Believe”;
Love sayeth ofttimes, “Grieve
That thou hast little lent,
That thou hast little given,
To Him, thy Lord in heaven,
And when He comethwhat wilt thou receive?”

Love sayeth to me, “Pray
That thou mayst meet that day
Desiredyet feared”;and ofttimes Love again
Repeats these words, and oh! my spirit then,
What sayestthou? “I say
To all Love sayeth, Yea,
Yea, evermore, and evermore Amen!”
A Model Sermon
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
The Ministry Of Mercy
Mark 1:14, 15
A. Rowland

Our text reminds us of the significantfact that Jesus beganhis ministry in
Galilee, and not in Jerusalem, as the Jews might have expectedof their
Messiah. In the city where the sacredtemple stood there was far less of the
earnestnessand simplicity which our Lord sought for than among the rural
peasants and fishermen. Hence his work was begun and was largely continued
in a district which was poor and despised. This, however, was only in
harmony with much that we know of God's methods; for "his ways are not as
our ways." As the Creatorof all things, he has placed some of the most
beautiful products of nature in obscure spots. We find them in secludeddells,
or in the depths of the earth and sea, or they are hidden under the curl of a
leaf, or buried in a poolamong the rocks. Some ofthe noblestChristians are
to be found in quiet spheres of which the world knows nothing; and some of
the highestwork has been done for our Lord in obscure villages, orin lands
out of the range of tours and trades. Besides this, the selectionofGalilee as the
earliestscene ofour Lord's ministry was an indication of its nature. It was a
tacit rebuke to the carnal expectations current among the people concerning
their Messiah;and, in giving an opportunity to the degradedand despised
provincials, it showedthat he had come "to seek and save that which was
lost." Severalsignificantfacts respecting his ministry are suggestedby the
text, namely -
I. THIS MINISTRYFOLLOWED UPON A TIME OF TERRIBLE
TEMPTATION.The verse immediately preceding this puts in vivid contrast
temptation in solitude and ministry in public. Loneliness of spirit is a fit
preparation for publicity of life; and our Lord, who was in all points made
like unto his brethren, deigned to share this experience. Josephwas a solitary
prisoner before he became a ruling prince. Moses passedfrom the splendours
of Egypt to the quietude of Midian before he became a leader and lawgiver.
David was a persecutedexile before he was ready for enthronement. Paul was
three years in Arabia before he was the apostle to the Gentiles. Our Lord
spoke of such inward preparation for outward work when he said to his
disciples, "WhatI tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light; and what ye
hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops."Public work is only safe
when precededby private prayer. True teaching can only come from those
who are first taught of God. Without personalexperience of inward struggles

and victories, we shall never speak to others with power or sympathy. But if
we would getthe benefit of solitude, if we would achieve victory over selfand
sin in our own hour of temptation, we must be like our Lord, who was
baptized before he was tempted, who was filled with the Holy Spirit before he
fought with the evil spirit. Then out of such an experience we can speak
lovingly and helpfully to others.
II. THIS MINISTRYSUCCEEDED THE SILENCING OF JOHN. Our text
very pointedly suggests thatthe public appearance ofthe Lord occurred
immediately after the ending and completion of the Baptist's work. The words
are significant:"After that John was castinto prison, Jesus came."Godwill
never let his work fall to the ground. If one noble witness to the truth is
removed, another springs up in his place. If persecutionsilences one voice,
another at once takes up the testimony. So when the disciples of John were
most helpless and disheartened, and were beginning to scatter, suddenly the
Lord of life stepped down into their midst, and rallying them round about
himself, proved that he could do far more towards the victory than any fabled
Achilles among his Greeks. Thereforeletus reflectthat when we or our
fellow-workersfail or are removed, God can raise up others to accomplishhis
purpose; and let us cheerourselves with the thought that when heart and flesh
fail he himself will appear amongstus. It was "when John was castinto
prison" that "Jesus came."
III. THIS MINISTRY STRUCKTHE KEY-NOTE OF MERCY. We must
remember that our Lord came forth amongstthe people as one humanly and
divinely great, endued with powerbeyond all others. Yet by that wonderful
self-restraintwhich always characterizedhim (Matthew 26:53; John 18:36)he
brought no immediate retribution on those who were foes both of God and
man. Herod, for example, by his imprisonment of John, had done a wrong
againstconscience andagainstGod, as well as againstthat faithful servant of
the MostHigh. But Christ raisedno revolt againstthe tyrant, which would
have hurled him from the throne he desecrated;nor did he threaten or curse
him and his followers. He came preaching "the gospel," proclaiming the glad
tidings, calling upon all - ay, even Herod himself - to repent and believe, and
so receive salvation. This was 'the key-note of his ministry, and was heard

throughout it, even to its last chord; for on the cross he prayed, "Father,
forgive them; for they know not what they do."
IV. THIS MINISTRY PROCLAIMED THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A
KINGDOM. "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand." The
long waiting for deliverance was over. God, in the person of his Son, had come
to establisha kingdom, in which the Divine love and powerand will would be
revealedas never before. The forerunner had been making the waystraight,
and now the King had come and was ready to rule over all who would
welcome him. This kingliness ofChrist is one of the specialcharacteristicsof
the revelationgiven to us through Mark. Matthew presents the Messiahwho
fulfilled ancient predictions; Luke describes the Son of man in his pitifulness
and graciousness;John proclaims the Divine Word, who was in the beginning
with God, and who himself was God; but Mark, instructed possibly by Peter,
who dwells so much on the kingdom in his Epistles, begins by announcing
"the kingdom of God is at hand." Christ shall reign for ever, over all nations
and kindreds and tongues;and eachone of us is invited to bow to his scepter
and submit ourselves to his gracious rule, that ours may be the bliss of those
who shouted "Hosanna!" and not the curse of those who cried "Crucify him!"
To enter that kingdom we are calledupon to "repent and believe the gospel;"
to change our minds and ways, to turn from sin to God, from self to Christ,
and to trust and follow him in whom the glad tidings are incarnate. - A.R.

Biblical Illustrator
Now after that John was put in prison.
Mark 1:14
Hindrances no injury
Sunday SchoolTimes.
But John had been doing a goodwork, doing an important work, doing the
very work that God had planned for him to do. Why did the Lord let him be
put in prison? Just such interruptions as that to the best men's work, and just
such trials as this to the best of men, are in the Lord's plan of the progress of
his work, and of the training of His people. When old Father Mills, of
Torringford, Connecticut, heard that his son, Samuel J. Mills, "the father of
foreign missions in America," had died at sea while his work was at its
brilliant starting, the quaint old Yankee preachersaid wonderingly: "Well, I
declare!The fat's all in the fire again." And it did look that way, didn't it? We
can't understand all this; but we cansee its commonness. Johnthe Baptist was
a child of promise and a child of prophecy. Jesus says of him: "Among them
that are born of womenthere hath not arisen a greaterthan John the
Baptist." Yet just as he was fairly inaugurating the Messiah's dispensation,
and his work seemedmore important than almost anyone's else on earth,
"Johnwas put in prison." Until you cansee just why that thing was
permitted, don't worry yourself over some of your little hindrances, or those
of your neighbours, asking — as if half in doubt whether or not there is a
God, or whether He cares for the interests of His cause and its best friends
"What did the Lord let this happen for?"
(Sunday SchoolTimes.)

The silencing of Christ's ministers not the suppressing of Christ's gospel
Anonymous.
Out of the ashes ofa Faithful God raises up a Hopeful; for the immortal
dreamer says:"Now I saw in my dream that Christian went not forth alone;
for there was one whose name was Hopeful who joined himself unto him."
Though the enemy burn a John Huss, God is able to raise up a Martin Luther
to take his place:end the martyrdom of Ridley and Latimer does but "light a
candle in England which shall never be put out." The casting of the Baptist
into prison signalized the commencement of that ministry which unhinged the
gates ofhell.
(Anonymous.)
Impediment changedinto new impetus
D. Davies, M. A.
I. WE SEE A ROYAL AMBASSADOR SILENCED.
II. WE SEE A WORTHIER ENVOYSUBSTITUTED.
III. WE SEE THE DEATHLESS ENERGYOF TRUTH. No power knownon
earth can stop her silvery tongue.
(D. Davies, M. A.)
Christ's preaching
Expository Discourses.
John's position had been one of honour. We now contemplate him as the
occupantof a dungeon.
I. THE HISTORY OF JOHN'S CONNECTION WITHHEROD IS VERY
INSTRUCTIVE. It shows —

1. The feeling of the world in certain cases towards the truth of its teachers —
they "hearit gladly."
2. The experience of the faithful reprovers of human sin — a prison.
3. A leading feature of that kingdom which John introduced.
4. This was fitted to undeceive the Jews. Are you satisfied with the gospel
economy?
II. No soonerwas John castinto prison THAN JESUS HIMSELF BEGAN TO
PREACH THE GOSPEL.
1. When a servant of God has finished his work, he must be satisfiedto retire.
We think experience, etc., lost;but no.
2. The world will never succeedin suppressing the truth. Let us not be
oppressedwith anxiety!
III. The Evangelistrecords the SUBSTANCE as wellas the factof Christ's
preaching.
IV. As soonas Christ began to preach the gospelHE CALLED HIS
DISCIPLES.
1. On the fact of His calling His disciples we may remark:
(1)He made provision for the perpetuity of His kingdom;
(2)He brought those who were to be main pillars in the Church under His own
training — spiritually;
(3)He placed the apostles in circumstances whichqualified them to be
witnesses to facts.
2. On the manner of His calling His disciples, we may remark:
(1)He honoured diligence in humble employment;
(2)He chose seeminglyweak instruments;
(3)He taught that we must leave all in order to follow Him;

(4)He furnished an example of effectual calling. Have you "left all"?
(Expository Discourses.)
Jesus came into Galilee
Principal A. M. Fairbairn.
The seasonwas the spring, with its bright heaven, its fresh sweetearth, its
without all was springtime, the seasonofmillion-fold forces, gladlyand
clouds that came only to break in fruitful showers.
(Principal A. M. Fairbairn.)
The vicissitudes of a Godly life
JosephS. Exell, M. A.
I. THAT GOOD MEN ARE OFTEN MADE THE SUBJECT OF SOCIAL
REPROACH. "Johnwas put in prison."
1. Becausethe inner meaning of their lives is frequently misunderstood.
2. Becausethe moral beauty of their characterexcites the envy of the wicked.
3. Becausethey are often called to rebuke the wickednessofthose around
them.
II. THAT USEFUL MEN ARE OFTEN RENDERED INCAPABLE OF
WORK THROUGH THE TYRANNY OF OTHERS.
1. The power of regal authority to hinder the labours of the morally useful is
only partial.
2. It is often capable of wise explanation —

(1)It proved that the Baptist was capable of suffering as well as work;
(2)That the history of the Baptist might the more easilymerge into that of our
Lord;
(3)To give him rest before entering the solemnities of eternity.
3. It is deeply responsible.
III. THAT THOUGH ONE SERVANT OF TRUTH MAY BE REMOVED
ANOTHER IS IMMEDIATELY FOUND TO TAKE HIS PLACE.
IV. THAT THE MINISTRYCALLED FORTH BY THE EMERGENCYIS
OFTEN BETTER THAN THE ONE REMOVED.
(JosephS. Exell, M. A.)
Preaching the gospelof the kingdom of God.
The scope ofour Lord's ministry
C. Simeon, M. A.
I. THE KINGDOM HERE SPOKEN OF.
1. It was the kingdom of God.
2. It was at that time to be established.
II. WHAT MUST WE DO TO BECOME SUBJECTS OF THIS KINGDOM?
1. Repentof sin.
2. Believe the gospel. Application:
(1)Inquiry;
(2)Humiliation;
(3)Thankfulness.
(C. Simeon, M. A.)

The kingdom of God
T. M. Lindsay, D. D.
This term is used in various senses in the New Testament.
1. The presence of Christ upon earth.
2. The secondcoming of Christ.
3. His influence upon the heart.
4. Christianity as a Church.
5. Christianity as a faith.
6. The life eternal.It points out sin to be turned from in sorrow:Christ to be
believed in with joy.
(T. M. Lindsay, D. D.)
The Kingdom of God: Godreigning in men's hearts
Phillips Brooks, D. D.
There is greatmeaning in the words that Jesus was continually using to
describe the work that He did for men's souls. He brought them into "the
kingdom of God." The whole burden of His preaching was to establishthe
kingdom of God. The purpose of the new birth for which He laboured was to
make men subjects of the kingdom of God. Is it not clearwhat it means? The
kingdom of God for any soulis that condition, anywhere in the universe,
where God is that soul's king, where it seeksand obeys the highest, where it
loves truth and duty more than comfort and luxury. Have you entered into the
kingdom of God? Oh, how much that means! Has any love of God taken
possessionofyou, so that you want to do His will above all things, and try to
do it all the time? Has Christ brought you there? If He has, how greatand
new and glorious the life of the kingdom seems. No wonderthat He said you

must be born againbefore you could enter there. How poor life seems outside
that kingdom. How beautiful and glorious inside its gates!If I tried to tell you
how Christ brings us there, I should repeatto you once more the old, familiar
story. He comes and lives and dies for us. He touches us with gratitude. He
sets before our softenedlives His life. He makes us see the beauty of holiness,
and the strength of the spiritual life in Him. He transfers His life to us through
the open channel of faith, and so we come to live as He lives, by every word
that proceedethout of the mouth of God. How old the story is, but how
endlesslyfresh and true to Him whose own careerit describes.
(Phillips Brooks, D. D.)
The kingdom of God an inward state
H. R. Haweis, M. A.
Many people seemto suppose this means some realm after death, where those
who have done nothing but mortify themselves here shall do nothing but enjoy
themselves hereafter. But what Christ meant by the kingdom of heaven was a
life begun here, passing through the grave and gate of death without any
breach of spiritual continuity. Unchanged in essence wasthe life of His
kingdom — changeable onlyin outward accidents. Its essencedepended
always not on where, but on what you were. The kingdom of heavenwas
always a state within, not a place, though it workeditself out here below in a
visible Church.
(H. R. Haweis, M. A.)
The Galileanministry
H. Thorne.
I. WHEN. After John's imprisonment. One witness of the truth silenced;but
another raisedup. After Moses, Joshua;after Stephen, Paul.

II. WHERE. Galilee. Where could He find work so readily as amidst the
ceaselesstoil and turmoil of these teeming villages?
III. WHAT.
1. Gospelof kingdom of God. Spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:50); righteous
(Romans 14:17); near (Luke 21:31); inward (Luke 17:20, 21).
2. Repentance andfaith: thus completing the work of John.
(H. Thorne.)
Christ the Evangelicalminister
J. Burns, D. D.
I. THE PREACHER — "Jesus."But Jesus differed from all other preachers.
1. He was Divine.
2. He was infallible.
3. He was sympathetic.
4. He was most clearand simple. "Common people heard him gladly," etc.
5. He was most interesting.
6. Mostfaithful and earnest.
7. He preachedmost affectionatelyand tenderly. One of His very last appeals
— "O Jerusalem," etc. He wept over it, etc.
II. HIS THEME. The gospel.
1. He was the subject of His own ministry.
2. He also proclaimed the kingdom of God.
3. The near approach of this kingdom.

4. The sphere of His ministry at this time was Galilee. Now the world is the
field of the gospel — "Go ye into all the world," etc.
III. THE SPECIAL APPEAL HE MADE.
1. He urged repentance.
2. He demanded faith. The gospelnews must be heard and received as
true.Learn:
1. We have the same Saviour.
2. The same gospel — now complete by His resurrectionand gift of the Holy
Spirit.
3. Its blessings are ours on the same terms.
4. Men perish by not believing the gospelof Christ.
(J. Burns, D. D.)
STUDYLIGHT RESOURCES
Adam Clarke Commentary
Preaching the Gospelof the kingdom - See the notes on Matthew 3:2; and on
the office of the preacher, or herald, at the end of that chapter.
Albert Barnes'Notes onthe Whole Bible
Now after that John was put in prison - John was imprisoned by Herod,
Matthew 14:3.
Jesus came into Galilee - He left Judea and went into the more retired country
of Galilee. He supposedthat if he remained in Judea, Herod would also

persecute him and attempt to take his life. His time of death had not come,
and he therefore prudently sought safetyin retirement. Hence, we may learn
that when we have greatduties to perform for the church of God, we are not
to endanger our lives wantonly. When we can secure them without a sacrifice
of principle, we are to do it. See Matthew 24:16.
The Biblical Illustrator
Mark 1:14
Now after that John was put in prison.
Hindrances no injury
But John had been doing a goodwork, doing an important work, doing the
very work that God had planned for him to do. Why did the Lord let him be
put in prison? Just such interruptions as that to the best men’s work, and just
such trials as this to the best of men, are in the Lord’s plan of the progress of
his work, and of the training of His people. When old Father Mills, of
Torringford, Connecticut, heard that his son, Samuel J. Mills, “the father of
foreign missions in America,” had died at sea while his work was at its
brilliant starting, the quaint old Yankee preachersaid wonderingly: “Well, I
declare!The fat’s all in the fire again.” And it did look that way, didn’t it? We
can’t understand all this; but we cansee its commonness. Johnthe Baptist
was a child of promise and a child of prophecy. Jesus says of him: “Among
them that are born of women there hath not arisen a greaterthan John the
Baptist.” Yet just as he was fairly inaugurating the Messiah’s dispensation,
and his work seemedmore important than almost anyone’s else on earth,
“Johnwas put in prison.” Until you cansee just why that thing was permitted,
don’t worry yourself over some of your little hindrances, or those of your
neighbours, asking-asif half in doubt whether or not there is a God, or
whether He cares forthe interests of His cause and its best friends “Whatdid
the Lord let this happen for?” (Sunday SchoolTimes.)
The silencing of Christ’s ministers not the suppressing of Christ’s gospel

Out of the ashes ofa Faithful God raises up a Hopeful; for the immortal
dreamer says:“Now I saw in my dream that Christian went not forth alone;
for there was one whose name was Hopeful who joined himself unto him.”
Though the enemy burn a John Huss, God is able to raise up a Martin Luther
to take his place:end the martyrdom of Ridley and Latimer does but “light a
candle in England which shall never be put out.” The casting of the Baptist
into prison signalized the commencement of that ministry which unhinged the
gates ofhell. (Anonymous.)
Impediment changedinto new impetus
I. We see a royal ambassadorsilenced.
II. We see a worthier envoy substituted.
III. We see the deathless energyof truth. No power knownon earth can stop
her silvery tongue. (D. Davies, M. A.)
Christ’s preaching
John’s position had been one of honour. We now contemplate him as the
occupantof a dungeon.
I. The history of John’s connectionwith Herod is very instructive. It shows-
1. The feeling of the world in certain cases towards the truth of its teachers-
they “hearit gladly.”
2. The experience of the faithful reprovers of human sin-a prison.
3. A leading feature of that kingdom which John introduced.
4. This was fitted to undeceive the Jews. Are you satisfiedwith the gospel
economy?

II. No soonerwas John castinto prison than Jesus Himself beganto preach
the gospel.
1. When a servant of God has finished his work, he must be satisfiedto retire.
We think experience, etc., lost;but no.
2. The world will never succeedin suppressing the truth. Let us not be
oppressedwith anxiety!
III. The Evangelistrecords the substance as well as the fact of Christ’s
preaching.
IV. As soonas Christ began to preach the gospelHe calledHis disciples.
1. On the fact of His calling His disciples we may remark:
2. On the manner of His calling His disciples, we may remark:
Jesus came into Galilee
The seasonwas the spring, with its bright heaven, its fresh sweetearth, its
without all was springtime, the seasonofmillion-fold forces, gladlyand
clouds that came only to break in fruitful showers. (PrincipalA. M.
Fairbairn.)
The vicissitudes of a Godly life
I. That goodmen are often made the subject of socialreproach. “Johnwas put
in prison.”

1. Becausethe inner meaning of their lives is frequently misunderstood.
2. Becausethe moral beauty of their characterexcites the envy of the wicked.
3. Becausethey are often called to rebuke the wickednessofthose around
them.
II. That useful men are often rendered incapable of work through the tyranny
of others.
1. The power of regalauthority to hinder the labours of the morally useful is
only partial.
2. It is often capable of wise explanation-
3. It is deeply responsible.
III. That though one servantof truth may be removed another is immediately
found to take his place.
IV. That the ministry calledforth by the emergencyis often better than the
one removed. (JosephS. Exell, M. A.)
Preaching the gospelof the kingdom of God.-
The scope ofour Lord’s ministry
I. The kingdom here spokenof.
1. It was the kingdom of God.
2. It was at that time to be established.

II. What must we do to become subjects of this kingdom?
1. Repentof sin.
2. Believe the gospel. Application:
The kingdom of God
This term is used in various senses in the New Testament.
1. The presence of Christ upon earth.
2. The secondcoming of Christ.
3. His influence upon the heart.
4. Christianity as a Church.
5. Christianity as a faith.
6. The life eternal.
It points out sin to be turned from in sorrow:Christ to be believed in with joy.
(T. M. Lindsay, D. D.)
The Kingdom of God: Godreigning in men’s hearts
There is greatmeaning in the words that Jesus was continually using to
describe the work that He did for men’s souls. He brought them into “the
kingdom of God.” The whole burden of His preaching was to establishthe
kingdom of God. The purpose of the new birth for which He laboured was to
make men subjects of the kingdom of God. Is it not clearwhat it means? The
kingdom of God for any soulis that condition, anywhere in the universe,
where God is that soul’s king, where it seeksand obeys the highest, where it
loves truth and duty more than comfort and luxury. Have you entered into the
kingdom of God? Oh, how much that means! Has any love of God taken
possessionofyou, so that you want to do His will above all things, and try to
do it all the time? Has Christ brought you there? If He has, how greatand
new and glorious the life of the kingdom seems. No wonderthat He said you

must be born againbefore you could enter there. How poor life seems outside
that kingdom. How beautiful and glorious inside its gates!If I tried to tell you
how Christ brings us there, I should repeatto you once more the old, familiar
story. He comes and lives and dies for us. He touches us with gratitude. He
sets before our softenedlives His life. He makes us see the beauty of holiness,
and the strength of the spiritual life in Him. He transfers His life to us through
the open channel of faith, and so we come to live as He lives, by every word
that proceedethout of the mouth of God. How old the story is, but how
endlesslyfresh and true to Him whose own careerit describes. (Phillips
Brooks, D. D.)
The kingdom of God an inward state
Many people seemto suppose this means some realm after death, where those
who have done nothing but mortify themselves here shall do nothing but enjoy
themselves hereafter. But what Christ meant by the kingdom of heaven was a
life begun here, passing through the grave and gate of death without any
breach of spiritual continuity. Unchanged in essence wasthe life of His
kingdom-changeable only in outward accidents. Its essencedepended always
not on where, but on what you were. The kingdom of heaven was always a
state within, not a place, though it workeditself out here below in a visible
Church. (H. R. Haweis, M. A.)
The Galileanministry
I. When. After John’s imprisonment. One witness of the truth silenced; but
another raisedup. After Moses, Joshua;after Stephen, Paul.
II. Where. Galilee. Where could He find work so readily as amidst the
ceaselesstoil and turmoil of these teeming villages?
III. What.

1. Gospelof kingdom of God. Spiritual (1 Corinthians 15:50); righteous
(Romans 14:17); near (Luke 21:31); inward (Luke 17:20-21).
2. Repentance andfaith: thus completing the work of John. (H. Thorne.)
Christ the Evangelicalminister
I. The preacher-“Jesus.”ButJesus differed from all other preachers.
1. He was Divine.
2. He was infallible.
3. He was sympathetic.
4. He was most clearand simple. “Common people heard him gladly,” etc.
5. He was most interesting.
6. Mostfaithful and earnest.
7. He preachedmost affectionatelyand tenderly. One of His very last appeals-
“O Jerusalem,”etc. He wept over it, etc.
II. His theme. The gospel.
1. He was the subject of His own ministry.
2. He also proclaimed the kingdom of God.
3. The near approach of this kingdom.
4. The sphere of His ministry at this time was Galilee. Now the world is the
field of the gospel-“Goye into all the world,” etc.
III. The specialappealHe made.
1. He urged repentance.

2. He demanded faith. The gospelnews must be heard and received as true.
Learn:
1. We have the same Saviour.
2. The same gospel-now complete by His resurrectionand gift of the Holy
Spirit.
3. Its blessings are ours on the same terms.
4. Men perish by not believing the gospelof Christ. (J. Burns, D. D.)
Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible
Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospelof God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of Godis at
hand: repent ye, and believe in the gospel.
The kingdom of God ... This is Mark's favorite title of the kingdom, just as
Matthew's favorite is "kingdomof heaven." The two expressions are one.
Christ doubtless used both; and the Holy Spirit of inspiration upon the sacred
authors guided them in the terminology which they employed. The near
approachof the kingdom was announced in the earliestpreaching of Jesus.
Repent ye, and believe in the gospel... These words, along with reference to
repentance and faith (in that order) in Hebrews 6:1 and Acts 20:10, have led
to some religious theories that repentance precedes faith in the sinner's heart;
but such notions are refuted by the factthat no unbeliever in the history of the
race was ever knownto repent. We may not, therefore, take Mark's
expressionhere as indicating the time sequence ofthe appearance of
repentance and faith in human hearts. There is apostolic precedentfor using
expressions like this without regard to the chronologyof things mentioned.
Thus Peterspoke of Jesus Christ, "whom ye slew and hanged on a tree" (Acts
5:30, KJV).
In these verses, and through Mark 4:34, Mark takes up the Galileanministry,
especiallythat in the vicinity of Capernaum.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible
Now after that John was put in prison,.... In the castle of Macherus, by Herod,
for reproving him for taking his brother Philip's wife:
Jesus came into Galilee:again, from whence he came to be baptized of John:
preaching the Gospelof the kingdom of God: the goodnews and glad tidings
of the kingdom of the Messiah, orGospeldispensation;which lies not in
worldly pomp and splendour, in outward observances, in legalrites and
ceremonies, but in righteousness, peace, andjoy; in peace and pardon by the
blood of Christ, in justification by his righteousness, andin free and full
salvationby him.
Geneva Study Bible
7 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching
the gospelofthe kingdom of God,
(7) After John is takenChrist shows himself more fully.
William Godbey's Commentary on the New Testament
JESUS GOES TO GALILEE
Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14; & Luke 4:14. “And after that John was castinto
prison, Jesus came unto Galilee.” Having entered upon His official
Messiahshipby purifying the temple at the Passover, and preachedto the
multitudes gatheredon the Temple Campus during the greatnational feast;
delivered that wonderful discourse to Nicodemus at night, the Apostle John
bearing witness;and having wrought many miracles of which we have no
specification;after the Passover, going out into the country north of the
metropolis, He continues to preachand work miracles, His disciples baptizing

the people, John the Baptist preaching in Enon near by, so that
intercommunication betweenthe audiences springs up, all observing that
while Jesus is rapidly rising and magnetizing the multitudes, John is waning,
— a crisis supervenes, resulting from the arrestof John the Baptist by Herod
Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, and king of Galilee and Perea.
Immediately after this, Jesus leaves Judea, andgoes awayto Galilee,
apparently because ofJohn’s arrestand imprisonment lest a similar fate shall
overtake Him, and thus interfere with the work which He came to do. We see
many judicious precautions adopted by Him at different times in order to
prevent the interruption of His ministry till His work is done,
People's New Testament
Now after John was put into prison. Mark proceeds to the accountof the
Savior's public ministry in Galilee. BetweenChrist's baptism and this
occurredthe events narrated in John, chapters 2, 3 and 4. Fornotes on this
ministry see Matthew 4:12-25.
Robertson's WordPictures in the New Testament
Jesus came into Galilee (ηλτεν ο Ιησους εις την Γαλιλαιαν — ēlthen ho Iēsous
eis tēn Galilaian). Here Mark begins the narrative of the active ministry of
Jesus and he is followed by Matthew and Luke. Mark undoubtedly follows the
preaching of Peter. But for the Fourth Gospelwe should not know of the year
of work in various parts of the land (Perea, Galilee, Judea, Samaria)
preceding the Galileanministry. John supplements the Synoptic Gospels at
this point as often. The arrestof John had much to do with the departure of
Jesus from Judea to Galilee (John 4:1-4).
Preaching the gospelof God (κηρυσσων το ευαγγελιοντου τεου — kērussōnto
euaggeliontoutheou). It is the subjective genitive, the gospelthat comes from
God. Swete observesthat repentance (μετανοια — metanoia) is the keynote in

the messageofthe Baptist as gospel(ευαγγελιον — euaggelion)is with Jesus.
But Jesus took the same line as John and proclaimed both repentance and the
arrival of the kingdom of God. Mark adds to Matthew‘s report the words “the
time is fulfilled” (πεπληρωται ο καιρος — peplērōtaiho kairos). It is a
significant factthat John looks backwardto the promise of the coming of the
Messiahand signalizes the fulfilment as near at hand (perfect passive
indicative). It is like Paul‘s fulness of time (πληρωμα του χρονου — plērōma
tou chronou) in Galatians 4:4 and fulness of the times (πληρωμα τον καιρων
— plērōma ton kairōn) in Ephesians 1:10 when he employs the word καιρος
— kairos opportunity or crisis as here in Mark rather than the more general
term χρονος — chronos Mark adds here also:“and believe in the gospel” (και
πιστευετε εν τωι ευαγγελιωι — kai pisteuete en tōi euaggeliōi). Bothrepent
and believe in the gospel. Usually faith in Jesus (orGod) is expected as in John
14:1. But this crisis called for faith in the messageofJesus that the Messiah
had come. He did not use here the term Messiah, for it had come to have
political connotations that made its use at presentunwise. But the kingdom of
God had arrived with the presence ofthe King. It does make a difference what
one believes. Beliefor disbelief in the messageofJesus made a sharp cleavage
in those who heard him. “Faith in the message was the first step; a creedof
some kind lies at the basis of confidence in the Personof Christ, and the
occurrence ofthe phrase πιστυετε εν τωι ευαγγελιωι — pistuete en tōi
euaggeliōiin the oldest recordof the teaching of our Lord is a valuable
witness to this fact” (Swete).
Wesley's ExplanatoryNotes
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospelof the kingdom of God,
Matthew 4:12.
The Fourfold Gospel

Now after John was delivered up1, Jesus came into Galilee2, preaching the
gospelof God,
JESUS SETS OUT FROM JUDEA FOR GALILEE. A. REASONS FOR
RETIRING TO GALILEE. Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14; Luke 3:19,20;John
4:1-4
Now after John was delivered up. Either delivered up by the people to Herod
(Matthew 17:12), or delivered up by Herod himself to the warden of the castle
of Machaerus (Luke 12:58), or by Providence to Herod himself (Acts 2:23).
Jesus came into Galilee. See Acts 2:23.
Calvin's Commentary on the Bible
Mark 1:14.Preaching the Gospelof the kingdom of God. Matthew appears to
differ a little from the other two: for, after mentioning that Jesus left his own
city Nazareth, and departed to Capernaum, he says:from that time Jesus
beganto preach. Luke and Mark, again, relate, that he taught publicly in his
own country. But the solution is easy;for the words which Matthew employs,
ἀπὸ τότε, from that time, ought to be viewed as referring, not to what
immediately precedes, but to the whole course of the narrative. Christ,
therefore, entered into the exercise ofhis office, when he arrived at Galilee.
The summary of doctrine which is given by Matthew is not at all different
from what, we have lately seen, was taughtby John: for it consists oftwo
parts, — repentance, and the announcement of grace and salvation. He
exhorts the Jews to conversion, becausethe kingdom of God is at hand: that
is, because Godundertakes to governhis people, which is true and perfect
happiness. The language of Mark is a little different, The kingdom of God is
at hand: repent ye, and believe the GospelBut the meaning is the same:for,

having first spokenof the restorationof the kingdom of God among the Jews,
he exhorts them to repentance and faith.
But it may be asked, since repentance depends on the Gospel, why does Mark
separate it from the doctrine of the Gospel? Two reasons maybe assigned.
God sometimes invites us to repentance, whennothing more is meant, than
that we ought to change our life for the better. He afterwards shows, that
conversionand “newnessoflife” (Romans 6:4) are the gift of God. This is
intended to inform us, that not only is our duty enjoined on us, but the grace
and powerof obedience are, at the same time, offered. If we understand in this
way the preaching of John about repentance, the meaning will be:” The Lord
commands you to turn to himself; but as you cannotaccomplishthis by your
own endeavors, he promises the Spirit of regeneration, and therefore you
must receive this grace by faith.” At the same time, the faith, which he enjoins
men to give to the Gospel, oughtnot, by any means, to be confined to the gift
of renewal, but relates chiefly to the forgiveness of sins. For John connects
repentance with faith, because God reconciles us to himself in such a manner,
that we serve him as a Fatherin holiness and righteousness.
Besides, there is no absurdity in saying, that to believe the Gospelis the same
thing as to embrace a free righteousness:for that specialrelation, between
faith and the forgiveness ofsins, is often mentioned in Scripture; as, for
example, when it teaches, thatwe are justified by faith, (Romans 5:1.) In
which soeverof these two ways you choose to explain this passage, it still
remains a settled principle, that God offers to us a free salvation, in order that
we may turn to him, and live to righteousness.Accordingly, when he promises
to us mercy, he calls us to deny the flesh. We must observe the designation
which Paul gives to the Gospel, the kingdom of God: for hence we learn, that
by the preaching of the Gospelthe kingdom of God is set up and established
among men, and that in no other waydoes God reign among men. Hence it is
also evident, how wretchedthe condition of men is without the Gospel.
John Trapp Complete Commentary

14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching
the gospelofthe kingdom of God,
Ver. 14. Jesus came into Galilee]To decline Herod’s rage. And whereas it may
seemthat our Saviour herein took a wrong course, since Herod was governor
of Galilee;we must know that the Pharisees were the men that delivered up
John to Herod, Matthew 17:11-12;and that but for them there was no great
fear of Herod.
Sermon Bible Commentary
Mark 1:14
Two things appear on the surface in the Psalmists'interpretation of the idea
of the kingdom of God.
I. One is its moral purpose. The kingdom of God is indeed exhibited in the
Psalms in all its magnificence;in all its breadth; over nature and man; over
the stars of the sky, and the cattle upon a thousand hills; over the storms of
the desertand the waterfloods;overthe march of history and the destinies of
nations, and the secrets ofthe heart of man; over all that vast, inconceivable
universe beyond the most distant star. But the impressiveness and the awe and
the wonderwith which the Psalmists dwelt on what was outward and tangible,
makes all the more striking the clearness,the strength with which they
discernedamid all the might and majesty of God's everlasting dominion; amid
all its beauty and all its terrors, the supreme and governing power of a moral
purpose of the law of holiness and righteousness and truth. There is a
conviction about the kingdom, which, from the first Psalmto the last, knows
no blessedness but the blessednessofrighteousness,ofinnocence, of pardon; it
is a kingdom far above man's powerto influence; far above man's capacityto
comprehend or measure;which is revealedto man only that he may
understand that the law which never canbe broken—more firm than the
round world, which cannot be moved, than the heavens so far above us—the

law which no change can touch, no might canalter, is the eternallaw of right
and wrong.
II. Equally noticeable is the breadth with which the Psalmists assumedand
announced the universal characterofthe kingdom of God; for they were not
insensible to the privileged position of the chosenpeople;they had all an
Israelite's feeling that God dwelt and ruled in Israel as He did nowhere else;
their hearts swelledatthe remembrance of the greatness oftheir fortunes, at
the pathetic vicissitudes of her most wonderful history. But though they were
so conscious oftheir own wonderful election, the heathen are not, in their
thoughts, excluded from the kingdom of God. He who dwelt in Zion or
Jerusalemwas yet God of all the families of the earth; and for the blessing of
all the families of the earth was the blessing given to Abraham and his seed.
That vast sea of nations which surged around the narrow bounds of Israel, so
utterly unlike it in language, in worship, in history; separatedfrom it as
widely as if they had been inhabitants of another world, was yet savedand
ruled by the All-Holy, whom they worshipped. They, the first fruits, the
firstborn of mankind, were but the leaders in the song of praise.
R. W. Church, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxviii., p. 385.
Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible
Mark 1:14. Now, after that John was put in prison, &c.— We have here a
remarkable particular in the conduct of our Saviour: no soonerwas he
informed that Herod had thrown John in prison, than he quitted Judea, and
went into Galilee. (Comp. Matthew 4:12—to the end.) And traversing it all
over,—as wellthat part of it which was under Herod's jurisdiction, as that
under Philip's; see Mark 1:39 and Matthew 4:23.—he there began first to
preach continually to the people, electedseveralofhis disciples to accompany
him whereverhe went, performed most astonishing works, and drew the
attention of the whole country upon him. Now, had Jesus and the Baptist been
associate impostors, as some infidels have supposed, nothing seems more

improbable than that Jesus should single out this particular time, and the
dominions of that particular prince, who had but just then imprisoned his
partner in the same wickedimposture, in order there first to make trial of all
his devices, procure more associates,and attended by them to draw the
multitude about with him from all parts of the country. In an impostor, this
would have been voluntarily seeking the same fate that his fore-runner had
but just experienced, and in reality provoking Herod to put an end at once to
all joint-machinations: but this is what no impostor whatevercan be supposed
desirous to have done. See Bell's Inquiry into the Divine Missions, &c. p. 388.
Expository Notes with PracticalObservations onthe New Testament
In this our Saviour's first beginning to preachthe gospel, we have an account
of the time when, the place where, and the sum of what, he preached.
Observe, 1. The time when our Lord began to preach, and that was after John
the Baptistwas castinto prison,
Where note, 1. The undue reward which the ministers of God do sometimes
meet with from a wickedworld; they are hated, persecuted, and imprisoned,
for their courage in reproving sin: John for reproving Herod's incestwas put
in prison.
Note, 2. John was no soonerin prison, and stopped and hindered from
preaching, but Christ began to preach. See the care and kindness of God
towards his church, in that he never leaves it wholly destitute of the means of
instruction: when some of his faithful ministers are restrainedfrom
preaching, he stirreth up others in their room, not suffering all their mouths
to be stopped at once.
Observe, 2. The place where our Lord first preached, in Galilee. The land of
Canaan, in our Saviour's time, was divided into three principal provinces: on
the south, Judea; on the north, Galilee;in the midst, Samaria.
Galilee was divided into the upper and lowerGalilee;the higher was called
Galilee of the Gentiles, because it was the utmost part of the land, and so next

unto the Gentiles. In this upper Galilee, Capernaumwas the metropolis, or
chief; and Chorazin a lessercity.
Now much of our Saviour's time was spent in Galilee;he was conceivedand
brought up at Nazareth, a city in Galilee;he first preachedat Capernaum in
Galilee;he wrought his first miracle at Cana in Galilee;his transfiguration
was upon mount Tabor in Galilee;and our Saviour's ordinary residence was
in Galilee. He came into Judea, and up to Jerusalem, only at the feasts:and
after his resurrectionhe appoints his disciples to meet him in Galilee. Only his
nativity, his passion, and ascension, were properto Judea. His nativity at
Bethlehem, his passionat Jerusalem,andhis ascensionupon mount Olivet,
hard by Jerusalem.
Now all this demonstrates Christ to be the true and promised Messias;for
according to prophecy, the Messias wasto have his presence and principal
abode in the province of Galilee, Isaiah9:1-3, &c. Yet because he was of
Galilee, the Jews wouldnot believe him to be the Messiah, saying in scorn,
Can any goodthing come out of Galilee? Whereasour Saviour's habitation
and free conversationthere, was a proof unto them, and ought to have
persuaded them, that according to the prophecy he was the very Christ.
Observe, 3. The sum of what our Lord preached, namely, a doctrine, and an
exhortation. His doctrine is, That the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God
is at hand; that is, that the time foretold by the prophets, when the kingdom of
the Messiahshouldbegin, was now come. The exhortation is, Therefore
repent, and believe the gospel.
From the former note, That the Messiah's coming, orour Saviour's appearing
in the flesh, was exactly at the time foretold by the holy prophets: The time is
fulfilled, the kingdom of the Messiahis at hand.
Note, 2. That the greatdoctrines of repentance and faith are taught only in
and by the gospel, and accordinglyought in a specialmanner to be preached
and insisted upon by the ministers of the gospel. The doctrine of Christ, and
his ambassadors, is and ought to be the same;they both teachthe great
doctrines of faith and repentance to a lost world: Repent, and believe the
gospel.

Greek TestamentCriticalExegeticalCommentary
14.]See note on Matthew 4:12.
παραδ. seems to have been the usual and well-knownterm for the
imprisonment of John.
τὸ εὐαγ. τ. θ.] See reff., and note on Mark 1:1.
Heinrich Meyer's Critical and ExegeticalCommentaryon the New Testament
Mark 1:14 f. See on Matthew 4:12; Matthew 4:17; Luke 4:14 f.
εἰς τ. γαλιλ.] in order to be more secure than in the place where John had
laboured; according to Ewald: “He might not allow the work of the Baptistto
fall to pieces.” Butthis would not furnish a motive for His appearing precisely
in Galilee. See Weizsäcker, p. 333. In Matthew also the matter is conceivedof
as ἀναχώρησις.
κηρύσσων] present participle with ἦλθεν. See Dissen, adPind. Ol. vii. 14, p.
81; Bornemann, ad Xen. Anab. vii. 7. 17;Stallbaum, ad Plat. Phaed. p. 116 C.
τὸ εὐαγγ. τοῦ θεοῦ]See on Mark 1:1.
ὅτι] recitative.
ὁ καιρός]the period, namely, which was to last until the setting up of the
Messiah’s kingdom, ὁ καιρὸς οὗτος, Mark 10:30. It is conceivedofas a
measure. See on Galatians 4:4.
πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγ.]Believe on the gospel. As to πιστ. with ἐν, see on
Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 1:13;frequently in the LXX. The object of faith is
conceivedas that in which the faith is fixed and based. Fritzsche takes ἐν as
instrumental: “per evangelium ad fidem adducimini.” This is to be rejected,
since the objectof the faith would be wanting, and since τὸ εὐαγγ. is just the
news itself, which Jesus gave in πεπλήρωται κ. τ. λ.

Johann Albrecht Bengel's Gnomonof the New Testament
Mark 1:14. παραδοθῆναι, wasimprisoned) Mark writes as of a fact known to
the reader, either from Matthew or from some other source of information.
[Previously, more than once Jesus had visited the city of Jerusalem, as John
relates. But His public walk in Galilee, and that a continued one
(uninterrupted in its continuity) did not commence until after John was
imprisoned.—V. g.]
Matthew Poole's EnglishAnnotations on the Holy Bible
Ver. 14,15. It should seemthat John had but a short time wherein he exercised
his public ministry: he was the son of a priest, Zacharias, Luke 1:13, and it is
probable that he entered not upon his public ministry till he was thirty years
of age (it was the priestly age, and the age at which Luke tells us our Saviour
entered upon his public ministry). He was but about six months older than
our Saviour, and was imprisoned as soonas our Saviour entered upon his
ministry, indeed before we read of his entrance upon it. Upon his
imprisonment, Christ begins to preachin Galilee the gospelby which he set
up his kingdom, and which leadeth men to the kingdom of God.
And saying, The time is fulfilled, the time determined of God for the
revelation of the Messias,and the grace of the gospelthrough him, foretold by
the prophets, Daniel 2:44: hence Christ is said to have come in the fulness, and
in the dispensationof the fulness of time, Galatians 4:4 Ephesians 1:10.
And the kingdom of God is at hand; the gracious dispensationof God in the
gospelis at hand, or hath approached.
Repent ye, turn from the wickedness ofyour ways, and believe the gospel, or,
in the gospel:to believe the gospelis one thing, to believe in the gospel(as it is
here in the Greek)is another. The former phrase signifies no more than a firm
and fixed assentto the proposition of the gospel;but to believe in the gospel, is
to place our hope of salvation in the doctrine and promises of the gospel,

which are the proximate object of our faith, though the primary objectof it be
the personof the Mediator. There is a repentance that must go before faith,
that is the applicative of the promise of pardoning mercy to the soul; though
true evangelicalrepentance, whichis a sorrow for sin, flowing from the sense
of the love of God in Christ, be the fruit and effectof faith. Our Saviour’s
preaching agreethwith the Baptist’s, Matthew 3:2 John 3:23.
Cambridge Greek Testamentfor Schools andColleges
14. Καὶ μετὰ τὸ παραδοθῆναι. See crit. note. And after that John was
delivered up, into the hands of Herod Antipas; cf. Mark 6:17. We are not told
by whom John was delivered up, and some understand “by God,” who in a
similar sense “deliveredup” Jesus (Mark 9:31, Mark 10:33). The instruments
were the Pharisees, andperhaps there is a hint that, as in the case ofthe
Messiah(Mark 3:19, Mark 14:10), there was treachery. The view that Mk
gives is that, when the Forerunner’s work ended (μετά), that of the Messiah
began, but there is no hint given as to the amount of interval, which did not
seemto Mk to be of importance. The Law passed, and the Gospelcame;
desinente lege consequenteroritur evangelium (Jerome). Mk says nothing,
and perhaps knew nothing, of an earlier ministry in which the Baptist and
Jesus were preaching simultaneously (John 4:1).
εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν. Galilee was the most populous of the provinces into which
Palestine was divided. Experience proved that it was a far more hopeful field
than Jerusalemand Judaea (John 2:13 to John 4:3).
τὸ εὐαγγέλιοντ. θεοῦ. See crit. note. Either the gracious message whichGod
sends or that which tells of Him; cf. Mark 1:1. Both meanings may be
included. St Paul was perhaps the first to use the phrase (1 Thessalonians 2:8-
9; Romans 1:1; Romans 15:16; 2 Corinthians 11:7). Because the expression
seemedstrange, τῆς βασιλείας was inserted at an early date ([189][190]Latt.
Syr-Pesh.). Τὸ εὐαγγ. is freq. in Mk, rare in Mt. and Acts, and is not found at
all in Lk. or Jn. Only in ch. 1 does Mk use κηρύσσω of Christ; elsewhere He is
said διδάσκειν.

Expository Notes ofDr. Thomas Constable
Jesus beganHis Galileanministry, the first major phase of His public
ministry, after His forerunner had ended his ministry. Jesus" forerunner
suffered a fate that prefigured what Jesus would experience (cf. Mark 9:31;
Mark 14:18). Mark used the same root word in Greek to describe both men.
The passive voice of the verb paradidomi ("takeninto custody" or "put in
prison," lit. delivered up) suggests God"ssovereigncontrolover both men"s
situations.
Probably Jesus chose Galilee as His site of ministry because the influence of
hostile Phariseesand chief priests was less there than it was in Judea. Fewer
Jews lived in Samaria, which lay betweenJudea and Galilee.
". . . Jesus changes setting more than forty times in his travels throughout
Galilee and into gentile territory." [Note:Rhoads and Michie, p68.]
Jesus heraldedthe goodnews of God. The Greek constructionpermits two
different translations:"the goodnews about God" and "the goodnews from
God." Mark probably intended the secondmeaning because the next verse
explains what the goodnews that God revealedthrough Jesus was. Preaching
this goodnews was Jesus" characteristic activity, and it was foundational for
all the other forms of His ministry.
Schaff's Popular Commentary on the New Testament

Mark 1:14. Now after John was delivered up, i.e., put in prison. On the reason
of this imprisonment, see chap. Mark 6:17.
Jesus came into Galilee. See Matthew 4:12. Not from fear of Herod, but on
accountof the oppositionof the Pharisees, andalso to reachthe Galilean
masses who had been impressed by the preaching of John.
Preaching the gospelof God. See below and comp. Matthew 4:17; Matthew
4:23, from the latter passage the words: ‘of the kingdom’ have crept in here.
The Expositor's Greek Testament
Mark 1:14. τὸ εὐαγγ. τ. θεοῦ: the GospelofGod, the goodnews sent by God to
men through Jesus, a strong name for Christ’s message.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(14) Now after that John was put in prison.—St. Mark agrees withSt.
Matthew in omitting all our Lord’s early ministry in Galilee and Jerusalem,
and takes the imprisonment of the Baptist as his starting-point. That
imprisonment is assumedhere to be known;but the facts connectedwith it
are not related till Mark 6:17-20.
Treasuryof Scripture Knowledge
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the
gospelof the kingdom of God,
A. M. 4031. A.D. 27. after
Matthew 4:12; 11:2; 14:2; Luke 3:20; John 3:22-24

Jesus was a gospel preacher

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