Mark 1:15

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(15) The time is fulfilled.—The words are not found in the parallel passages of the other Gospels, and are interesting as embodying the same thought as St. Paul’s “in the fulness of time” (Galatians 4:4; Ephesians 1:10). So, too, St. Mark adds “believe the gospel” to the simple “repent” of St. Matthew, and gives “the kingdom of God” instead of “the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:14-22 Jesus began to preach in Galilee, after that John was put in prison. If some be laid aside, others shall be raised up, to carry on the same work. Observe the great truths Christ preached. By repentance we give glory to our Creator whom we have offended; by faith we give glory to our Redeemer who came to save us from our sins. Christ has joined these two together, and let no man think to put them asunder. Christ puts honour upon those who, though mean in this world, are diligent in their business and kind to one another. Industry and unity are good and pleasant, and the Lord Jesus commands a blessing on them. Those whom Christ calls, must leave all to follow him; and by his grace he makes them willing to do so. Not that we must needs go out of the world, but we must sit loose to the world; forsake every thing that is against our duty to Christ, and that cannot be kept without hurt to our souls. Jesus strictly kept the sabbath day, by applying himself unto, and abounding in the sabbath work, in order to which the sabbath rest was appointed. There is much in the doctrine of Christ that is astonishing; and the more we hear it, the more cause we see to admire it.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The time is fulfilled - That is, the time for the appearance of the Messiah, the time so long foretold, has come. "The kingdom of God is at hand." See the notes at Matthew 3:2.

Repent ye - Exercise sorrow for sins, and turn from them.

And believe the gospel - Literally, trust in the gospel, or believe the good tidings - to wit, respecting salvation. See the notes at Matthew 4:17.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

Mr 1:14-20. Christ Begins His Galilean Ministry—Calling of Simon and Andrew, James and John.

See on [1399]Mt 4:12-22.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Poole on "Mark 1:14"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And saying, the time is fulfilled,.... Either that which was fixed for the end of the law and prophets, the legal and Mosaic dispensation, and the Jewish church state; or the fulness of time for the Messiah's appearance in the world; which was agreed upon between the Father and the Son, was predicted in various prophecies, and the people of the Jews were in a general expectation of:

and the kingdom of God is at hand: the same with the kingdom of heaven, in Matthew 3:2, see the notes: See Gill on Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17.

repent ye, and believe the Gospel. He called them to repent, not only of their former sins and vicious course of life, but of their bad principles and tenets, concerning a temporal kingdom of the Messiah; concerning merit and free will, justification by the works of the law, and salvation by their obedience to the ceremonies of it, and the traditions of the elders: these he exhorts them to change their sentiments about, and to relinquish them, and give into the Gospel scheme; which proclaims liberty from the law, peace, pardon, and righteousness by Christ, and salvation and eternal life by the free grace of God.

Geneva Study Bible

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 1:15. ἡ βασιλεία τ. θ.: this defines more precisely the gospel Jesus preaches. It is the gospel of the Kingdom of God. But even this is vague. The kingdom may be differently conceived: as an awful thing or as a beneficent thing. The summons following throws light on its nature.—μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε: “repent” echoes John’s preaching, and savours of awe, but “believe” is a new word, and presumably the watchword of the new ministry. And the name for the message to be believed settles the nature of the kingdom. Its coming is good news (ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ). For πιστεύειν ἐν, vide Galatians 3:26, Ephesians 1:13.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

15. The time, i. e. the great fore-ordained and predicted time of the Messiah.

the kingdom of God] or as it is called in St Matthew the Kingdom of the Heavens (comp. Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:13-14; Daniel 7:27), denotes here the Kingdom of grace, the visible Church, of which our Lord described (a) in the parable of “the Mustard Seed” (Matthew 13:31-32), its slight and despised beginning; (b) in that of “the Hidden Leaven” and the “Seed growing secretly,” its hidden and mysterious working (Matthew 13:33; Mark 4:26-29); (c) and again in the first two Parables its final and assured triumph in spite of the obstacles set forth in the Parable of “the Tares” (Matthew 13:24-30).

believe] Rather believe in, repose your faith on, the Gospel.

Bengel's Gnomen

Mark 1:15. Πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς, the proper time is fulfilled) the time, of which Daniel wrote, viz., that of His kingdom coming: the time which ye have been expecting. Those who acknowledged that the time was fulfilled, had, as the next step to take, either to embrace the true Messiah as set forth here, or else false Messiahs: comp. Luke 21:8. It was not John, but our Lord Himself, who openly declared the fulfilment of the time.—μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε, repent and believe) then you will be partakers in the Gospel.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 15. - The time is fulfilled; that is, the time for the coming of Messiah and of his kingdom. The kingdom which had been shut for so many ages was now to be reopened by the preaching and the death of Christ. The time is very accurately indicated. St. Matthew tells us (Matthew 4:12) that "when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;" and then presently afterwards he adds, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand." The time and place are also accurately specified by St. Peter (Acts 10:36, 37), where he tells Cornelius that "the word of peace, preached by Jesus Christ, was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached." It was necessary that these circumstances should be carefully detailed, because they were among the proofs of the Messiahship of Jesus. Elias must come first; and he had come in the person of the Baptist, although the prophecy probably awaits its full accomplishment in the actual reappearance of the great prophet of Israel before the second coming of our Lord. Repent ye, and believe the gospel. These words may be regarded as a summary of the method of salvation. Repentance and faith are the conditions of admission into the Christian covenant. Repentance has a special reference to God the Father, and faith, to Jesus Christ the eternal Son. It is in the gospel that Christ is revealed to us as a Saviour; and therefore we find Jesus Christ, as the object of our faith, distinguished from the Father as the object of our repentance. Repentance of itself is not sufficient - it makes no satisfaction for the Law which we have broken; and hence, over and above repentance, there is required from us faith in the Gospel, wherein Christ is revealed to us as a propitiation for sin, and as the only way of reconciliation with the Father. Without faith repentance becomes despair, and without repentance faith becomes only presumption. Join the two together, and the faithful soul is borne onwards, like a well-balanced vessel, to the haven where it would be. Mark 1:15

Vincent's Word Studies

The time (ὁ καιρὸς)

That is, the period completed by the setting up of Messiah's kingdom. Compare the fulness of the time, Galatians 4:4.

Repent

See on Matthew 3:2; and Matthew 21:29. Mark adds, and believe in the Gospel.