In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
The last of the prophets, the greatest of all those born of women, (see Matthew 11:11, Luke 7:28) had been arrested. And at his arrest, the Lord leaves Nazareth and dwells in Capernaum by the sea, that those who sat in darkness might see a great Light. This great Light, the True Light, (see John 1:9, First John 2:8) “shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5)
And I, too, sit in the darkness—the darkness of ignorance, the darkness of sin, the darkness of unrighteousness, the darkness of hopelessness, the darkness which cannot even imagine a glimmer of light. I sit in the darkness and the Friend of the Bridegroom (see John 3:29) comes and announces the coming of the Light and I have him arrested, shut up away from my comfort. Because I have made an existence in the darkness, a home in the darkness, and the coming dawn frightens me: when the Light comes my disgusting nature will be apparent for all to see, I will no longer be able to linger in the shadow of death.
Yet whether I like it or not, the Light comes. And I see the misery I have inflicted upon myself and upon others: the stench of death is all the more apparent in the Day and the decadence is revealed as decay. Sat in my own filth of sin Christ sees me but is not repulsed by me. And He looks directly at me, staring into my soul: but He does not justify the one who I have become, rather He says directly to me, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
“Repent,” says He,
for I desire you to be in my Kingdom. Repent, for what you have become is not the real you, you have the potential for dignity and beauty. Repent, for I long to restore you to your home in Paradise where you and I may dwell together.
Work is required of me, I must repent—I must accept that I am wrong, that I need to change, that I have wandered far from the Father’s House. I must repent—change my mind—and ask the Lord to reorient me towards Him. I must repent and put right, to the best of my ability and knowing that I cannot truly undo the evil I have permitted to happen through me but I can work to bring more goodness into the world, my wrongs.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is calling each of us to repent. But this is not a path we must travel alone, together we can repent, together we can turn again to the living God, together we can proclaim the Truth that He has defeated death, sin and idolatry and no longer do we have to remain subject to their tyranny.
Let us, therefore, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
That we may offer true praise, glory and worship to our Saviour Jesus Christ, Who calls us to repent that we may regain the likeness to God which we once had, together with His unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-giving Spirit. Amen.
Brethren, remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their lives, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings; for it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace, not by foods, which have not benefited their adherents. We have an altar from which those who serve the tent have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest as a sacrifice for sin are burned outside the camp. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore let us go forth to him outside the camp and bear the abuse he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city which is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.
— Hebrews 13:7–16
At that time, when Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth he went and dwelt in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, toward the sea, across the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and for those who sat in the region and shadow of death light has dawned.” From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
— Matthew 4:12–17