Today's Gospel Reflection | January 11 2021 | Mark 1: 14-20 | First Four Disciples

 

Today in the first reading the letter to the Hebrews narrates, “In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways to our ancestors through the prophets; in these last days, he spoke to us through a Son” (Hebrews 1:1). When all the prophecies completed, the Son started to proclaim the Gospel, in today’s Gospel, we witness this. “After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: “This is the time of fulfilment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:14). The end of John the Baptist’s public ministry signals the beginning of that of Jesus. John the Baptist was the last prophet who came to proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom. The mission of the precursor – to “prepare the way” for the Son of God – has been accomplished, and Jesus had been anointed for his own mission by the Holy Spirit. In the Gospel, we read, “this is the time of fulfilment,” which means that now, in Jesus, God is breaking into history to fulfil his promises and bring his whole plan to completion. It is a decisive moment, a turning point. This moment, fixed and determined long ago by God, marks the beginning of the definitive stage in salvation history.

Jesus announces the kingdom of God is at hand. Every day we pray the prayer “Our Father” in which we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The Kingdom of God, which Jesus announces, will come true only when God’s will be done. We know heaven is a place where the Holy Ones are in the presence of God who did the will of God here on earth. So, their presence in heaven reminds us when we begin to surrender our will to God we are preparing ourselves for heaven, we are living the life of heaven here on earth. As St Paul observes, whoever chooses to live in this kingdom experiences “peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14: 17).
This Gospel also speaks about the calling of Jesus' first disciples. Before Jesus’ call, the four fishermen were what some might call “nobodies.” The was no unusual aptitude, talent, or prominence to explain Jesus’ choice. Indeed, they were hardly auspicious recruits for one who intended to gather in God’s people from among the nations and inaugurate the reign of God. Yet that is equally true for most of Jesus’ subsequent followers. Every Christian is chosen by him personally and is given an irreplaceable role in advance of the kingdom, along with all the resources needed to carry it out.

Mark, in his Gospel, repeatedly emphasizes the high cost of discipleship and its even greater rewards. Following Jesus means a break with the past and a willingness to let go of all other attachments. Not everyone is called literally to abandon their profession or family, but all are called to put everything in second priority to him. Saying yes to that call is the first step in a lifelong adventure.

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