THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK BEGINS THE STORY OF JESUS’ MINISTRY WITH THESE SIGNIFICANT WORDS: “JESUS CAME INTO GALILEE, PREACHING the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel’ ” (1:14-15). Mark thus makes it plain that the burden of Jesus’ preaching was to announce the Kingdom of God; that was the central thing with which he was concerned. A reading of the teachings of Jesus as