“So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.” Mark 6:12 ESV
Reflection: what do you envision heaven to be like? How can we experience a taste of that now?
All believers, followers of Christ Jesus, long for the day when we will see our King, to see His glory. We read prophecy, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament of how amazing this will be, this kingdom of Christ, kingdom of heaven. We read from Revelation “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”” Revelation 21:1-4 ESV
We long for this place, for this time.
But, what is the key difference between our current situation in the world, and heaven? It is sin, right? Evil exists in the world; partially rooted in our own selfishness. What separated us from God in the first place. And, we are promised through prophecy that someday, evil will be removed, completely, and we will only have the presence of good, of God. No sin; no sadness, no suffering, no pain, no fear; nothing that separates us from God, nothing that prevents us from experiencing God’s full glory and blessings in our lives. It is hard to image what this will be like. But, do you realize we can already now have a foretaste of it? A taste of what heaven will be like, even in the midst of this “fallen” world?
Jesus sent the disciples out to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of heaven was near, similar to what John the Baptist preached. Let’s read how Jesus commissioned them. “And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts— but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.”” Mark 6:7-11 ESV. There are a number of things here that we could look at, but let’s focus today on what they actually preached to the people, stated in the verse for today.
“So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent.” Mark 6:12 ESV
Interesting, right? It was a message of repentance, of turning away from their sinful and wicked ways. This might remind us of what the Lord told His people long ago, as we read “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14 ESV. This was a message of repentance, to humble themselves and turn away from their wicked ways. To reject sin. To love God and His ways. To do good. To live righteous. God already told His people how they could walk in His ways, to experience His goodness.
This message of repentance is not just about receiving forgiveness. It is about seeking a better way. God’s way. We read “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”” Matthew 1:21 ESV. Think of this, if the gospel was only about atonement for the forgiveness of our sins, why then the message about repentance? There would be no point, no need to change our ways, right? But Jesus entire Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew 5-7 was about kingdom living. Here, on earth. This is also why Jesus taught us “Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10 ESV.
On earth, as it is in heaven.
And it brings us perhaps to a difficult question. Do we deeply desire, long for kingdom living? Or do we enjoy following our own selfish ways too much, even the pleasures of this world? We must repent, give up of self, and also proclaim a message of repentance as the disciples did long ago. To be the light, and to make this earth a better place. To experience more of the kingdom of heaven here. It will only be a foretaste of what is to come, until the Lord finally puts an end to all evil.
