The final steps are being taken. Announced by John the Baptist, baptized to fulfill God’s requirement, identified by John as the promised Messiah, led by the Spirit into the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan, returned and called the Lamb of God, come to take away the sins of the world, Jesus now begins to call together his band of disciples.
They were John the Baptist’s disciples first, or at least followers and interested listeners. First was Andrew, who told his brother, Simon, “We have found the Messiah!” Andrew took Simon to Jesus, who renamed him Cephas (Aramaic), or Peter (Greek), both meaning “rock.” His real name was Simon Bar Jonah. Bar means “son of…” Jonah in English is John. Put it all together and Peter’s name in English comes out Rock Johnson. I’ve always liked that.
Jesus then called Phillip to follow him, who went to Nathaniel with the news, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” Nathaniel was unimpressed with Nazareth, but very impressed with Jesus. Simon, Andrew, and Phillip later became apostles. I wouldn’t call these men disciples of Jesus yet, but that is soon to come.
With that the preparation was done. Mark then describes the incredibly moving start to the ministry of Jesus. “Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. ‘The time promised by God has come at last! The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!’”
“At Last,” he said. After all the weight of history. “At Last!” After the suffering of the Hebrews in Egyptian slavery, after their wandering in the desert, after their ensuing conquest of Canaan, after the time of the Judges, then Samuel, followed by Saul and David, all the time witnessing the people of Israel drop further into sin and idolatry…”At Last!”…after the brief glory of Solomon’s reign, then the fracturing of the kingdom because of his son’s stupidity, and then the succession of king after king, some good, but more bad, leading the people farther away from God and into greater idolatry and cultural dissolution. “At Last!” After the prophets and generations of warnings of disaster to come, and finally, disaster as Assyria under Ashurbanipal utterly destroyed the northern kingdom and its 10 tribes, and all too soon, the destruction and captivity of the Southern Kingdom by Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar. The warning of the prophets had come to pass and the people bore the consequence of their unfaithfulness. But God still spoke to them, calling them back to him. Daniel, Zephaniah, Habakkuk, Joel, Malachi, and other voices were raised. And the hope of a Messiah to come began to burn in the heart of the nation. Cyrus the Persian restored the captives to their land, where they rebuilt Jerusalem and the temple to only a shadow of its former glory, but relief was short lived. Onto the world stage burst Alexander the great, then his generals, who divided his kingdom among themselves, beginning the brutal and catastrophic period prophesied by Daniel. But the promise was always there. One was yet to come who would restore the people, the kingdom, and the spiritual heart of the nation. All they had for that period of time was hope, as they endured a persecution worse than any yet to come under the Romans. “At Last!” Jesus said…after a brief time of independence under the Maccabees Rome emerged to conquer all the known world at that time, until we finally get to the time of Jesus, at the end of a 400 year silence by God, after generations as a subject people, their only hope a Messiah who was to come “Some Day.”
“At Last!” Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! Repent and believe the good news!” He was the sharp point of all that history, all that anticipation. Can you imagine the catch in his voice as he uttered those words? Can you imagine the tightness in his chest, his moist eyes? Can you imagine the wild roar and cheer from the army of heaven? Finally, after 1,500 years of build up and preparation, the time had come! And in 3 short years he would utterly change the course of human history and destiny.
Prayer: “Great One, These are matters too great for me. I cannot pretend to understand the breadth of your will, the details of your purpose. I am as a child before your understanding. I only know that you have not chosen to be a God of the distance, only observing, watching. I can only marvel that you have chosen to walk the earth with us, to instruct and correct us. And I am grateful that in spite of our contrariness you love us and desire our best. There must come in my life a moment when it is, “at last.” When finally I will give up self-will for your will, when I will gladly leave all else so that I might know and follow you…step by step. I ask for your mercy and help as I approach that time. Amen”