Mark 1:14

Now after John was delivered up, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe in the gospel.

The kingdom of God ... This is Mark's favorite title of the kingdom, just as Matthew's favorite is "kingdom of heaven." The two expressions are one. Christ doubtless used both; and the Holy Spirit of inspiration upon the sacred authors guided them in the terminology which they employed. The near approach of the kingdom was announced in the earliest preaching of Jesus.

Repent ye, and believe in the gospel ... These words, along with reference to repentance and faith (in that order) in Hebrews 6:1 and Acts 20:10, have led to some religious theories that repentance precedes faith in the sinner's heart; but such notions are refuted by the fact that no unbeliever in the history of the race was ever known to repent. We may not, therefore, take Mark's expression here as indicating the time sequence of the appearance of repentance and faith in human hearts. There is apostolic precedent for using expressions like this without regard to the chronology of things mentioned. Thus Peter spoke of Jesus Christ, "whom ye slew and hanged on a tree" (Acts 5:30, KJV).

In these verses, and through Mark 4:34, Mark takes up the Galilean ministry, especially that in the vicinity of Capernaum.