The Hero of Our Story: His Revolutionary Cry

What do Mahatma Gandhi, William Wallace and George Washington all have in common? They were all famous revolutionaries. Gandhi inspired a series of the non-violent protests that led to the end of British rule in India. William Wallace was a Scottish Rebel who led the uprising against England that ultimately led to Scottish independence. And Washington was the General that led the United States to gain its freedom from Great Britain. The other thing these three have in common, is they all sought the same thing: They were all fought for freedom. One did it non-violently, the others used force to overthrow their rulers. But the outcome was the same: to bring about a fundamental change for a better life in their world.

We don’t often think of Jesus as a revolutionary or of Christianity a revolutionary movement. But there is no question that when Jesus came, he ushered in a revolution that changed our world for the better and changed lives for eternity. He is easily the most revolutionary figure who has ever walked this planet. And it is this revolutionary life, the way Jesus lived, that must be told as part of His story if we are truly going to grasp our place in God’s story. And it all began with a Revolutionary Announcement that awakened the hopes of God’s people that a new day had dawned. What was that revolutionary announcement? Look with me at Mark 1:14-15 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.  “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:14-15

John’s ministry was now complete. He had prepared the way for the coming King. Now in prison, this was Jesus’ signal to begin his ministry. And to do that Jesus left Nazareth and went up to Galilee where he set up his base of ministry in the city of Capernaum. Now, you may ask, why? Why go to a place so far from the religious center of Israel? Why go north to Galilee rather than south to Jerusalem? Why would Jesus choose this place to start a movement to change the world? First, this area was not only an area of great wealth it was also marked by great sin and decadence. It had been the headquarters for many Roman troops. And after years of occupation, their heathen practices had completely permeated and influenced the Jewish culture of this region. Galilee was now a very spiritually dark place.

Secondly, Jesus went to the region of Galilee for a prophetic reason. Earlier today we heard the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the coming of the Messiah. Allow me to read it to you again, “That time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. And the people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” Isaiah 9:1-2

Jesus went up to Galilee because this was the land of Zebulun and Naphtali, the very land the Messiah would come in his glory and shine his light in the darkness. You, see because this region was steeped in darkness, it was a place desperate for the hope of the good news of the Kingdom of God. And so upon arriving in Galilee, Jesus began proclaiming the good news of God: “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

“The time has come.” Every Jew longed for the day when a descendent of King David would rise up and establish God’s kingdom on earth. This was their hope.  It was this hope that helped them tolerate their Roman oppressors.   And when Jesus said, “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near,” his words would have awakened in their minds and hearts all sorts of images and hopes. Many would have understood the arrival of the kingdom of God to mean that God was now visiting His people to bring grace and judgment, to put things right in the world, to vanquish evil, to overthrow the rulers of this world, to establish the kingdom of Israel, to conquer sin and eradicate sickness, and to vindicate the righteous. This was their hope – the hope of every man, woman and child.

So Jesus’ words were indeed good news. Good news. The first time we hear Jesus’ voice in Mark’s gospel, this is what he says, “Repent and believe the good news.” Repent and believe the Gospel. Turn away from the things God hates to the things He loves. The Gospel – The Good News. This is an amazing word here. It’s formed with two words. The first is the word for announcing news, proclaiming news. But the second word is actually a prefix. And this little two-letter prefix describes the content of the announcement. Do you know what that prefix actually means? It literally means “joyful.” Jesus came announcing “news that brings joy.”  Sound familiar? It should, this is what we celebrate with the birth of Jesus: But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11

So Jesus comes and declares the joyful news of God: God’s kingdom is invading time and space… God’s reign is at hand! And that means – everything is going to change. With the arrival of God’s kingdom comes life-altering and earth-shattering consequences. Why? This was dynamic arrival of the kingdom of God that had been prophesied by Daniel. Every good Jewish man and women knew this story and had this hope. The hopes that when God’s kingdom comes, the powers of this world will be overthrown, turned on their heads, crushed.

What’s the story? It comes from the story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare in Daniel chapter 2. The King had a fiercely unsettling dream. He had dreamed of this immense statue made of all kinds of metals (gold, silver, bronze and clay). This statue was kind of a gigantic idol. But no one could interpret this dream for him. That is, until Daniel came forward to interpret the dream, and then shocked King Nebuchadnezzar by relating the events of this dream to the rise and fall of the successive kingdoms in the future. One kingdom would come and destroy the previous one, until one day, one kingdom would come and crush them all: the glorious coming of the kingdom of God. Listen to Daniel’s interpretation: “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.” Daniel 2:44-45 And as a result of this interpretation, Nebuchadnezzar not only believed it to be true, but he gave credit to Daniel’s God, and exalted Daniel to a place of honor and rule in his kingdom. Powerful stuff.

But it was this image, God’s kingdom coming to shatter the kingdoms of this world, was the hope they held onto. Someday, their King would come. And when his time came, this ROCK would smash all other kingdoms, all other world views, all systems of powers and authority, religious and non-religious, and God would reign. Life would be good again, the way God created it to be.

So when Jesus announced, “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near.” this was not just good news. It was joyful news. Jesus’ announcement meant the day had finally arrived. No more Roman oppression. No more darkness. No more fear. This was a revolutionary cry. The Messiah had come to start the revolution! “The Kingdom of God has come near… Repent and believe the good news.”

Now you can get a feel as to why so many Jews were so quick to follow Jesus. His revolutionary cry was a cry of freedom. But it with this revolutionary cry also came a call: A call to repentance and belief. You see it’s one thing to put your hope in the reality that one day God would break into the world and overthrow the powers that keep us enslaved. But it’s quite another thing, to leave behind the ways of this world and hitch your hopes to this revolutionary. For when Jesus said, repent and believe the good news, he was calling them to turn away from one way of life to embrace life with Him in the kingdom. It was a personal call for them to play a part in the revolution – A call for us to play a part in the revolution.

Have you ever asked yourself. “Why does Jesus want to involve me?” “Why does Jesus make it so personal?” “Can’t we just have God come in and overthrow whoever claims to be in power?” “Why call us to repent and believe the good news?” Well it all goes back to why we have been journeying through the story of God. Last January as we began walking through the Story of God to see how the Bible fits together as one grand story from cover to cover; We discovered that The Bible Unfolds With One Unifying Theme: The Kingdom of God: “God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule and blessing.”

This is how God created life to be. In the beginning of the story of God, in Genesis 1-2, we see that we were created to live in a world that is good – a world where every relationship is whole – a world that God created for us so we could live together with Him under His loving rule and enjoying His blessings. A world where we are His people and He is our King: A good and benevolent King who loves us in every way.

But then came the tragedy of Genesis 3, where our first parents, Adam and Eve chose to live apart from God’s rule and so lost God’s blessing. They chose to live for themselves rather than trust God. They chose to be their own kings. And the tragic consequence of their choice has been with us ever since. Now today, every person who is born chooses to live this way – to live for self. And so we can’t wait to leave home and set up our own little kingdoms, calling our own shots and creating our own realm that revolves all around us. But we soon learn that this self-centered way of living doesn’t deliver. In fact, there’s nothing that makes you more miserable than self-absorption: How am I feeling, how am I doing, how are people treating me, am I proving myself, am I succeeding, am I failing, am I being treated fairly? There’s nothing more disintegrating then to live a life so self-absorbed…

Think about it: Why do we have wars? Racial struggles? Political and religious strife? Family breakdowns? Why do relationships fail? Why are we never satisfied? It’s the darkness of self-centeredness. Of what the Bible calls SIN. You see, when we decide to be our own center, our own king, life just doesn’t work out as we hope it should and we end up damaged goods – physically, socially, spiritually, and psychologically… And yet, we all long for the good life.  We all long for paradise. We all long for harmony, justice and peace in our relationships and our world.

And the truth is that this longing is universal. This longing is embedded in every heart and in the legends of almost every culture. This longing is portrayed in all the great stories, in all the great movies – and all with a similar theme: A true King will come back, slay the dragon, kiss us and wake us from our sleep of death and rescue us from our imprisonment, and bring us safely home. A true king will come and put everything right and renew the entire world. And the good news of the kingdom of God is this: Jesus is that true King!

And He calls you to turn away from your empty way of life and trust in Him. For when you come under the kingship of Jesus, everything in your life will begin to change. You will begin to heal. He will begin to right the wrong that’s in you. And He will give you peace and joy and life. And then, there will come a day, when he as the True King, will return, and at that time everything broken will be made whole; everything wrong will be made right. And He will usher in the end of fear, suffering and death.

Have you ever wondered why Christianity is so different from all other religions? This is why. We have a King, His name is Jesus, and He has come to make everything and everyone good again. This is the revolutionary cry of Jesus. For those who have heard it, it is indeed joyful news, for He has changed their lives forever:

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:14-15