From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt 4:17 RSV
I think most people miss the point of what Jesus is saying here. I believe he’s telling us that heaven comes to us the moment we repent of our sin.
Notice the 'how to' of "repent" is missing. If you think that that means to "repent sins": then how come the word "sin" is not stated?
Jesus Himself heralded those words everywhere He went. So, do you think He would make some broad assumptions that everyone who heard Him would know what He meant without qualification?
The truth is, EVERYONE knew what He meant! It is a simple verb in the Greek:
metanoeO in its 2nd person, perfect active imperative form which is
metanoeite. That is the form here in Matthew 4:17
Perfect tense: He
has been doing it(heralding) in the past and continued to do it. Active voice:
He is doing it. The imperative mood means: He
commanded the action. The 2nd person: He said this to
you-all or, everyone.
The prefixed preposition
meta means:
with as in, loose association. The verb
noeO, means:
to perceive with the mind; to understand; to think upon; to heed; to ponder; to consider.
I have no idea where the words 'repent', 'penance', 'penitent' came from! But, they are stupid! And
meta should never be translated by the Latin prefix
trans or the English prefix meta. Jesus commanded: Be!-you-all-with-minding/like minded. In Modern English: Get it together people!
The above statement does not have to be qualified. Everybody understood what He said. They just needed to know about "what". Jesus said. "For
she-has-been-drawing near/approaching/coming, thee dominion(feminine) of-thee skies(masculine plural--up, authoritative positions)
Not knowing this, we argue mans invention of "repent"! Instead of the Word of the Day: Thee dominion(kingdom) of-thee skies(heavens). Jesus talks about the kingdom(rulership, dominion) of God/sky/skies ALOT! Jesus commanded that we get together, and get it together, concerning an oft stated command and oft stated principle.