"(14) Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, (15) and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel'." Mark 1:14-15
While recently reading the Gospel of Mark, these two verses at the beginning of the book stunned me. They present a simple, yet jarring transition in the focus of Jesus' ministry; Jesus moves from preparation to "actuality." Right when His cousin's (John the Baptist's) ministry abruptly ended, Jesus took the baton from John and, without skipping a beat, embraces His identity as the King of a New Israel. There is no panic or surprise from Jesus. It’s as if John’s tragic death was part of God’s plan (yes, it was), or it was a natural result of proclaiming God's kingdom--a kingdom that does not acknowledge or honor earthly kingdom-building. Regardless, right after John--the greatest man born of a woman, according to the text--dies, the show had to go on; Jesus followed John's death by immediately, and boldly, proclaiming that a new King and a new kingdom had come. It was, Jesus said, already here.
Jesus' change in ministry focus was reflected in the boldness of the radical message as well: "repent and believe the gospel." Jesus proclaimed: "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand…" In other words, the Kingship of the Triune God was and is present and NOW! Taking the implications further, this Kingdom was and is challenging the authority of all other kingdoms, even in our present age. Jesus is disruptive--past, present, and future. When Jesus said "Repent," He was targeting all politicians and political systems, whether it was Herod, Rome, Caesar, the idols of our contemporary political parties, etc. Remember! Repentance means turning away from anything we elevate over the Kingship of the Triune God, including our political idols.
Jesus went on to say, "and believe in the gospel." The command here was to trust (fully and completely!!!) the good news--that the King of the Universe has arrived, is re-establishing His authority, and will restore all things. To the Christ-follower, this is good news because it means we're set free from idolatrous allegiances, not only from idolizing the kings of this world, but also from idolizing anything politically oppressive that obscures the image of God in all people. In other words, Jesus was saying, "Yo, people! Stop following pretenders. Stop making idols out of politics and politicians. The ONLY true King is present. Come see the goodness of my kingdom."
This reality is helping re-shape my position, posture, and practice as it relates to politics. I have been asking myself: in following Jesus, am I seeking to challenge the "kings" of our day? Is my spiritual walk pointing to King Jesus or to my political/ideological agenda? If Jesus was more deeply in control of my mind, then wouldn’t my position, posture, and practice be different from any particular political party platform? Shouldn’t walking with Christ make aligning with any party or side more difficult? Just maybe, easily aligning myself with one group comes from my desire for acceptance. A stronger understanding of Christ's kingship should have profound implications for how I relate to worldly "kings."
Therefore, as many of us soon head to the polls, I pray that Christ's kingship would enable each of us to transcend vicious bickering, and that we would call each other back to what we all really need: the Kingship of Jesus!