Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.
“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” came off of the lips of John the Baptist and of Jesus with an urgency of imminence that calls all to respond to the person and message of Jesus. According to Matthew 11:20 and the few verses that come after it, the call to repentance comes with a weighty warning that confirms that our response to Jesus and His Kingdom impacts our eternity.
This level of importance should cause us to ask these important questions: do I need to repent? How do I repent?
Realizing your need for repentance is the result of seeing and hearing the works and words of the Kingdom and recognizing the gap between your broken, incomplete humanity and the wonder of His Kingdom.* This is why Jesus spoke grieving words over the cities that He performed so many miracles in yet had not repented. They saw the ways and heard the words of the Kingdom and did nothing.
Once we realize that we need to repent, the subsequent question of “how?” proves vital. To recognize the need and to do nothing may be worse than not seeing it at all. The Greeks of the time of Jesus understood repentance to be a change of mind. Some in our society today hold onto this and say things like, “change your mind; change your life.” Certainly changing the way you think will play out in your actions, but this change of an idea that the Greeks presented could have easily been a change for the worst as much as for the better.* Furthermore, a change in an idea today could face a change in idea tomorrow. There’s a lack of permanence and power in the Greek approach to repentance. Jesus, in His typical fashion, calls us to more.
Jesus defines repentance as a total change of total being. Jesus defines repentance as a revolution in the whole life. Repentance is not just a matter of being sorry; it’s a matter of transformation.* Like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, so too must we hide in Christ and emerge a completely different creature.
The miracle of repentance comes as we see that we need it and ask Jesus to change us. The miracle of repentance comes once we have recognized that our lives do not naturally represent or produce the Kingdom of Heaven. Repentance comes to those who ask and hide in Jesus. Only by His power can we change.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to recognize your need for repentance. Perhaps today is the day to stop trying to change your mind and to ask God for transformation in your whole being. Maybe today God wants to invite you to participate in the spreading of His Kingdom. Perhaps today it’s time to move past being sorry and to start reorienting your whole life.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 287–291, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 11:20-24) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).