Jesus Christ · On Salvation
Repentance
Before Jesus healed anyone, taught a parable, or called a disciple, He said one thing first: “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” It is His first recorded public word — not a footnote to His preaching but its opening line. Later He tells three stories about things that go missing and get found, and in them gives His fullest picture of what repenting actually is: not a feeling, but a turn — toward a search that was already underway, toward a home that was already waiting.
The Text
— Mark 1:14–15“The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!”Jesus's first recorded public word — two commands, in this order: repent, then believe.
Mark places this sentence at the very start of Jesus’s public ministry, right after John the Baptist is put in prison (1:14). “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand” comes first — an announcement, not a request. Then the two commands: “repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Repentance is not something Jesus adds later, for people who need extra help. It is where He starts.
The Voices on the First Word
— the church hears Mark 1:15The 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 Mat 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 Mat 4:17.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832–1869), Mark 1:15
The time is fulfilled - That is, the time appointed for sending the Messiah; and particularly the time specified by Daniel, Dan 9:24-27. Here are four points worthy of deep attention, in the preaching of the Son of God. 1. Every thing that is done is according to a plan laid by the Divine wisdom, and never performed till the time appointed was filled up. 2. That the kingdom and reign of sin are to be destroyed, and the kingdom of grace and heaven established in their place. 3. That the kingdom of God, and his reign by grace, begins with repentance for past sins. 4. That this reign of grace is at hand; and that nothing but an obstinate perseverance in sin and impenitence can keep any soul out of it; and that now is the accepted time to enter in.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), Mark 1:15
“Except Ye Repent”
— Luke 13:1–5At that time some of those present told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. To this He replied, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower of Siloam collapsed on them: Do you think that they were more sinful than all the others living in Jerusalem? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”Two disasters, one warning, said twice: “ye shall all likewise perish.”
Someone brings Jesus news of Galileans killed by Pilate, their blood mixed with their own sacrifices. Jesus does not explain why it happened to them and not to others. He asks whether they were worse sinners than anyone else in Galilee — and answers His own question: no. Then He raises a second disaster, one nobody blamed on a tyrant at all: a tower in Siloam that fell and killed eighteen people, no one’s fault but gravity and bad luck. Both times His conclusion is identical, word for word: “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Neither tragedy is presented as a punishment for the victims’ own sin. Both are presented as a warning to everyone still standing.
The Three Lost Things
— Luke 15 — Jesus tells the same story three timesWHAT GOES MISSING
A hundred sheep — One goes missing
WHO GOES LOOKING
the shepherd
leaves the ninety-nine, goes after the one, until he finds it
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT'S FOUND
carries it home on his shoulders
THE REFRAIN
“joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (15:7)
WHAT GOES MISSING
Ten silver coins — One goes missing
WHO GOES LOOKING
the woman
lights a lamp, sweeps the house, searches carefully until she finds it
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT'S FOUND
cannot look for itself at all — she alone can look
THE REFRAIN
“there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (15:10)
WHAT GOES MISSING
Two sons — The younger asks for his share, leaves for a far country
WHO GOES LOOKING
the father
sees him a great way off, runs to him, before a word is spoken
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN IT'S FOUND
restores him — robe, ring, sandals — a son again, not a hired hand
THE REFRAIN
“it was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again” (15:32)
What Repenting Is
— Luke 15:17 — “when he came to himself”Finally he came to his senses and said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have plenty of food? But here I am, starving to death!Not a feeling. A moment of recognizing where he actually was, and turning.
Of the three stories, only the third — the son — describes repentance from the inside. A sheep cannot decide to come home; a coin cannot look for itself at all. Only the son has a will, and Jesus shows exactly what moves in it: hunger, then memory (“how many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare”), then a decision (“I will arise and go”). Repentance, in this picture, is not feeling bad. It is coming back to reality — to who he actually was and whose son he actually still was — and then moving.
When he came to himself - A state of sin is represented in the sacred writings as a course of folly and madness; and repentance is represented as a restoration to sound sense. See this fully explained on Mat 3:2 (note). I perish with hunger! - Or, I perish Here. Ὡδε, here, is added by BDL, Syriac, all the Arabic and Persic, Coptic, Ethiopic, Gothic, Saxon, Vulgate, all the Itala, and several of the fathers.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), Luke 15:17
He came to himself - This is a very expressive phrase. It is commonly applied to one who has been deranged, and when he recovers we say he has come to himself. In this place it denotes that the folly of the young man was a kind of derangement - that he was insane. So it is of every sinner. Madness is in their hearts Ecc 9:3; they are estranged from God, and led, by the influence of evil passions, contrary to their better judgment and the decisions of a sound mind.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832–1869), Luke 15:17
And coming to himself - For till then he was beside himself, as all men are, so long as they are without God in the world.
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), Luke 15:17
The Voices on the Sheep and the Coin
— the church hears the joy refrain, twiceIn the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent.More joy over one recovered sinner than over ninety-nine who never strayed.
In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.”The same refrain, said again — this time before the angels of God.
leave the ninety and nine--bend all His attention and care, as it were, to the one object of recovering the lost sheep; not saying. "It is but one; let it go; enough remain." go after . . . until, &c.--pointing to all the diversified means which God sets in operation for recovering sinners.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), Luke 15:4
Leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness - Where they used to feed: all uncultivated ground, like our commons, was by the Jews termed wilderness or desert. And go after - In recovering a lost soul, God as it were labours. May we not learn hence, that to let them alone who are in sin, is both unchristian and inhuman!
John Wesley· Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755), Luke 15:4
Rejoice with me, &c.--The principle here is, that one feels exuberant joy to be almost too much for himself to bear alone, and is positively relieved by having others to share it with him.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown· Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871), Luke 15:6
Ten pieces of silver - In the original, ten drachmas. The drachma was about the value of fifteen cents, and consequently the whole sum was about a dollar and a half, or six shillings. The sum was small, but it was all she had. The loss of one piece, therefore, was severely felt. There is joy in the presence ... - Jesus in this parable expresses the same sentiment which he did in the preceding. A woman would have more immediate, present, joy at finding a lost piece, than she would in the possession of those which had not been lost. So, says Christ, there is joy among the angels at the recovery of a single sinner.
Albert Barnes· Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832–1869), Luke 15:8
Ten pieces of silver - Δραχμας δεκα, ten drachmas. I think it always best to retain the names of these ancient coins, and to state their value in English money. Every reader will naturally wish to know by what names such and such coins were called in the countries in which they were current. The Grecian drachma was worth about sevenpence three farthings of our money; being about the same value as the Roman denarius. The drachma that was lost is also a very expressive emblem of a sinner who is estranged from God, and enslaved to habits of iniquity.
Adam Clarke· Commentary on the Bible (1832), Luke 15:8
This second parable compares what was lost to a drachma. It is as one out of ten, a perfect number and of a sum complete in the accounting. The number ten also is perfect, being the close of the series from the unit upwards. This parable clearly shows that we are in the royal likeness and image, even that of God over all. I suppose the drachma is the denarius on which is stamped the royal likeness. We, who had fallen and had been lost, have been found by Christ and transformed by holiness and righteousness into his image.…A search was made for that which had fallen, so the woman lighted a lamp.… By the light, what was lost is saved, and there is joy for the powers above. They rejoice even in one sinner that repents, as he who knows all things has taught us. They keep a festival over one who is saved, united with the divine purpose, and never cease to praise the Savior's gentleness. What great joy must fill them when all beneath heaven is saved and Christ calls them by faith to acknowledge the truth? They put off the pollution of sin and freed their necks from the bonds of death. They have escaped from the blame of their wandering and fall! We gain all these things in Christ.
Cyril of Alexandria· Commentary on Luke, Homily 106 (444), Luke 15:8–10
The Far Country Turned Home
— Luke 15:32 — the fullest picture of the threeBut it was fitting to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”Dead, alive again; lost, found — the same refrain as the sheep and the coin, said a third time.
The sheep is carried. The coin is found by someone else’s search alone. The son walks the whole road back himself, rehearsing an apology he never gets to finish — his father meets him first. What the father does when he sees his son a great way off, and what he says to the older brother who will not come in to the feast, is its own full study on this site, one click away: he is the reason this page can say repentance is never wasted on someone unwilling to receive it.
Where It Points
— the announcement, and the welcomeClosing
Jesus opened His public ministry with a command to repent, and closed His most famous teaching on the subject with a party. Between those two points sits everything the word actually means: not despair, not merely feeling sorry, but a shepherd who goes looking, a woman who will not stop sweeping, and a son who comes to himself and gets up — because somewhere ahead of him, someone is already watching the road.