3rd Sunday in Ordinary time. 2024 Jonah 3: 1-5, 10; Cor 7:29-31; Mark 1: 14-20
We are going Greek today, not in the sense of retsina, uzo, or moussaka, but kerygma, metanoia, Kairos and euthus. What do these words mean? Kerygma is “Proclamation,” the work of keryx, or herald; metanoia is a change of heart, outlook or focus, and is often translated “repentance;” euthus means “immediately,” or “at once.” These three words, along with Kairos, about which more later, are at the heart of today’s Gospel.
Mark describes Jesus going into Galilee, “kerusson (proclaiming) the Good News, or Gospel, of God.” What he proclaimed is referred to as the kerygma, or proclamation, our Lord’s fundamental message. Of what does it consist? “The time has been fulfilled and Kingdom of God has come near. Have a change of heart/outlook/focus and believe in the Good News.”
In referring to this as the kerygma, scripture scholars are identifying it as the heart of Our Lord’s teaching. “The time has been fulfilled” or, as our present translation puts it, “the time has come.” What is Jesus saying here?
We have another Greek word to consider. The usual Greek word for time is “chronos,” as in “chronometer,” chronological,” chronicle.” The word used here is different: it is “Kairos.” This means “the critical time,” “the time we have been waiting for.” In English, we might say, “It is time (for action).” This doesn’t simply refer to chronological time: it is saying “This is the moment: NOW we must act.” Jesus is saying that His mission marks the critical time.
If the time was critical then, so it must be now, in our own age. Jesus has not left us despite His Ascension: He has sent us the Holy Spirit who, dwelling in us, gives us the power to act. Why should we act, and what should we do?
We should act because “the Kingdom (or reign) of God is close at hand (literally “has drawn near”). What does that mean? The Kingdom or reign of God is the subject of all Jesus’ preaching: He proclaimed, not Himself, but the Kingdom. What is this reign or Kingdom? It is, and will be, when it is fully realised, the acknowledgement of God and the fulfillment of God’s purposes. It entails justice, and peace that derives from justice. It involves the breaking of every yoke that oppresses people, and the full flourishing of creation, universal goodness and harmony.
Where is it, and when will it be achieved? It will be fully achieved only when Jesus the Christ returns in glory, completing the victory over evil which has begun by his death and resurrection, establishing the new heaven and the new earth promised in the book of Revelation. Yet, He proclaims, it “has drawn near”: it is already present in embryo. As Jesus says elsewhere, The Kingdom of God is “entos humon” – among and/or within you.’
Where might we see this Kingdom, which is already among or within us? We see it where justice is done, where acts of kindness or generosity are performed, where the poor are served and raised from poverty, where God is worshipped in spirit and truth with actions which match our claims.
How is it to be brought to fulfillment? This can be achieved only by metanoia, by a change of our “nous” or most inmost spirit, that which drives us, our basic focus and direction. Metanoia is often translated as repentance, but this means more than being sorry: at its heart, it entails a re-focusing, a change of direction.
We see it in the response of the Ninevites to Jonah’s preaching. This isn’t only sorrow for past sins, as expressed by fasting, the sackcloth and ashes: it is, we are told, an effort to “renounce their evil behavior” to change their ways. Ironically, the one who fails to experience and to express metanoia is Jonah. He has originally tried to run away from his mission, and has resumed it only under compulsion. Later, when the people underwent their change of heart and behavior, he was disgusted, because he had looked forward to seeing them punished. – no real metanoia on his part.
Thus we are called to a change of attitude and outlook, and to believe in the Good News or Gospel. This isn’t to be simply a notional assent, but a commitment to living out the Gospel, to make it the driving force of our lives, to work at the task of building the Kingdom.
When are we to do it? This brings us to our final Greek word, which is “euthos” – “immediately.” This word occurs twice as Jesus calls the fishermen, and several times more in the early kerygma, to recognize the Kairos, and to practice metanoia, “euthus.”
