“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mk 1:15) The work of the Spirit in the propagation of the Gospel is seen from the very beginning of Jesus’ ministry. The Spirit drove Jesus out to the wilderness, and after the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus returned to Galilee preaching the Gospel of God. The long time of waiting had been fulfilled, and the Good News of salvation was available to all people.
The proclamation was that the kingdom was present. The response to that presence was that people need to repent and to believe in the Gospel. Repent derives from the biblical concept of turning around or of turning from one’s former way to God’s way. Believe means to accept the message in faith and to live by it. That is the summary of the rest of the Gospel of Mark.
If we reflect back to this Sunday’s first reading about God’s covenant with Noah and his descendants, and with every living creature on the earth, we can see that this covenant is a universal covenant because the three sons of Noah are taken to be the ancestors of all the nations (Gen 10). A covenant in the biblical sense involves a very special relationship between God and the people. Inherent in the covenant is the fact of God as Lord, but he established a personal relationship by means of that covenant with humankind in Adam, and with all living creatures in Noah. Later that would be specified as with Israel in Abraham, and then in its written form in Moses.
So, the covenant was a blessing that has its roots at the time of creation. God made humankind in his own image and gave them dominion over the earth (Gen 1:27-28). After the flood the new age opened with the renewal of the blessing and extending it to all living creatures as is echoed in the covenant with Noah (Gen 9: 8-10). By the time of the Gospel passage in Mark’s Gospel, those facts would have been known, and so Mark was calling his readers to a covenant renewal in repentance and faith. Reading this on the First Sunday of Lent sets our attention on the beautiful relationship we can have with the Lord in the kingdom that has come, and in the everlasting kingdom to come in heaven.
Our second reading from the First Letter of Peter uses the figure of water from which Noah’s ark brought salvation to eight people, and from which the water of Baptism brings salvation to us. For our Lenten reflection the Letter recalls to us the death of Christ for sins once for all, so that he might bring all to God. The Letter also reminds us to appeal to God for the grace of a clear conscience. Thus, our Baptismal Covenant with the Lord comes to fruition in eternity.
Our Psalm Response draws these thoughts together for us. The Lord is the God of our salvation, and he has steadfast love and faithfulness for those who keep his covenant. (Ps 25)
Betty Jane Lillie, S.C.