Mark 1:14-20 tells of the beginning of the ministry of Jesus and the call of the first disciples. The account can also be found in Matthew, but not in Luke. While Matthew associates the beginning of Jesus' ministry with the dawning of the light spoken of in Isaiah 9, Mark points simply to the temporal circumstances of that beginning; it was after John's arrest.
Jesus' "Gospel of God"
Mark gives us a summary of the "Gospel of God" proclaimed by Jesus: "The time is fulfilled; the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the Gospel." The "time" that Jesus points to is not the time we find in clocks or calendars. He points rather to the quality of time. Paul has a similar expression in Galatians 4:4 when he writes "in the fulness of time, God sent His Son..." What Jesus refers to is a moment in history that is fraught with the action of God: "it is Kingdom time!" Hence, the human response required, "Repent and believe in the Gospel".
The expression "basileia tou Theou" can mean both "kingdom of God" or "reign of God". "Kingdom of God" is the spatial meaning of the phrase; "reign of God" is the dynamic meaning. Both are contained in the phrase "basileia tou Theou". It is God Himself making Himself felt in history (Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth pp 55-56). God begins His rule and the response of those who allow themselves to be ruled by Him creates a space in human history where He is experienced. This response is characterized by faith and repentance.
The word "repent" translates a verb which literally means "change your mind". In biblical language, "mind" is metaphorically "the heart", the seat of decisions, the place where one decides for or against God. What enters the "heart" passes first through the "eyes" and "ears" which translates into body-metaphor what we experience in the process of knowing: we learn by point and tell. The "eyes" see an event, and the "ears" hear the "explanation", the meaning of the event. Both "event" and "meaning" are translated as "word" [See "Eye-Ear/Heart/Hands and Feet" Metaphor]. The "word" that is accepted through the eyes and ears lodges in the heart, and there becomes the basis of one's decisions. From there, "word" becomes a pattern of living. When Jesus calls for a change of mind, he is calling for a change in the norms and standards by which one lives with the result that even one's lifestyle is altered. From now on, it is the "Gospel of God" proclaimed by Jesus that will become the norm. And so "repentance" must lead to "faith in the Gospel".
The "Gospel" or "Good News" of God is Jesus' proclamation of God's reign. This will be unfolded by Jesus subsequently through the use of parables and his own words and deeds. For now, it is enough to note that Catholic exegesis has identified three meanings for "the Kingdom/reign of God". First, it means Jesus himself, the "autobasileia" as Origen calls him. It is through Jesus that God makes Himself felt in human history. Second, again coming from Origen, it is the person in whose heart God reigns. This "mystical" meaning of the phrase is in consonance with the idea that through baptism, God begins to dwell in the heart of the baptized. Lastly, "the Kingdom/reign of God" is the Church, "the mystical Body of Christ who is both King and Kingdom" (see Catholic Bible Dictionary, p. 511; cf. Ratzinger, Jesus of Nazareth I, pp. 49-50. In both these references, what we call "meanings" are presented as "dimensions").
The First Fruits of the Proclamation
Mark presents the four fishermen called by Jesus as the first fruits of his Kingdom-proclamation. He calls them after seeing them. In the Bible, "to see" can also mean "to elect". In the account of the election of David, we find the verb "ra'ah" ("to see") to also mean "to choose". In Filipino, the phrase "may pagtingin ako sa kanya" means that "from all that one has seen, there is one particular person that one has chosen". A look can become a glance of election; "pagtingin" becomes an invitation. In the case of the disciples, Jesus' glance of election becomes a call to discipleship.
Jerome mentions the look of Jesus; he writes:
"And immediately he called them, and, leaving behind their father Zebedee in the boat with the workers, they followed him. (Mk. 1:20)" Someone may say: "But this faith is too bold. In fact, what sign did they see, by which majesty were they struck such that they followed him immediately after having been called? Here, we are made to understand that the eyes of Jesus and his face would have radiated something of the divine, such that it was with ease that those who saw it, repented (Mk. 11:5) (In Marcum 1).
We have had the occassion to write about the look of Jesus with regards to Mark 8:33. We wrote:
The look of Jesus is the glance of love, a reassurance of support and source of strength when the cross of discipleship seems unbearable. When Jesus looked at his disciples (Mark 8:33) after Peter objected to his talk of rejection, suffering and death, it was to reassure them and to re-establish them in the way of life to which he has called them.
Jesus' look is the look of grace. When it becomes an invitation, it also becomes empowerment. "Come follow me", he says, "and I will make you fishers of men." When we wrote about Matthew's account of the beginning of Jesus' ministry, we also mentioned some of the reasons why Jesus would pick fishermen as his disciples. The designation "fishers of men" is a metaphor for those who work for the expansion of a kingdom (cf. Habakkuk 1:14-17).
Jesus called his disciples two by two because he will later on send them out two by two. The first core members of his group were brothers, because we know from subsequent episodes that Jesus intends his disciples to become a family. The reign of God begins with this small group of men walking behind Jesus. They will be following Jesus, listening to his words, watching his gestures just like any student in the first century did. Later, Jesus would be choosing from them his apostles, those He will send.
