Mark 1:16-20

Jesus Begins His Ministry

[14] Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, [15] and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
[Jesus Calls the First Disciples]
[16] Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. [17] And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” [18] And immediately they left their nets and followed him. [19] And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. [20] And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

(Mark 1:14-20 ESV)

Asking what this meant to the original audience is a surprisingly difficult question.  If you read Mark straight though, there doesn't seem to be a problem, here.  But if you read Mark in parallel with Matthew, Luke, and John, and start asking questions about the timeline, then the importance becomes clearer.  

What we don't realize at first blush is that this scene happens many months into Jesus' Galilean ministry.  The clue is in 1:14, which indicates that Mark skips over everything that happened before John the Baptist was arrested, which doesn't happen until after the first few chapters of John.  Mark skips over the Judean ministry of Jesus, including Jesus' first meeting with Peter and Andrew in John 1,  the cleansing of the Temple, the night-time conversation with Nicodemus, the meeting with the woman at the well, and the gathering to Himself of all of John the Baptists' disciples, whom John was gladly giving Him.  

If I remember correctly from listening to Doug Bookman talk about this timeline, Jesus returned to Galilee through Samaria (John 4) and sent the disciples to go and call all they knew from their home town who had been baptized by John.  While they waited for Jesus to meet up with them, they went back to fishing with their families.  When Jesus shows up to claim them, He speaks the words of Mark 1:17.  And of course they leave their nets immediately; they already know this man, this is what they want!  (Side note: they probably don't sell their boats, since their father and hired servants still need them to make a living, and because they are using them again in John 21).  

So what's the point talking about an obscure point like the timeline of the Gospels?  Because it makes a substantially different point.  Reading Mark 1:16-20 in a vaccuum makes it seem like a strange man calls Jesus shows up, calls out to some strangers "Follow me," and they immediately do, without knowing anything about Him.  Preachers who don't know any better might be tempted to teach about faith at this point, trusting Jesus even if we can't see the future.  But this is not a call to blind faith!  The disciples do not follow Jesus out of some spiritual notion of blind trust; they don't follow Him because He glows or has a halo; they don't follow Him because He looks magical; they don't follow Him because He mystically draws them and they have no control over themselves.

They come to Jesus because they know Him, and they want to be with Him.

By this point in the story, He has already cleansed the Temple, which instantly made Him famous throughout all of Israel.  He has already been baptized by John, where John's disciples met Him for the first time, including Peter and Andrew.  Jesus has already turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana.  He has already talked with Nicodemus and said the famous line of John 3:16.  Jesus has already read from Isaiah in Nazareth, fulfilling the text and angering the townspeople up to a murderous rampage.  Jesus has already demonstrated who He is.  They know Him.

Jesus is calling each of us.  So why should we respond to His calling?  Hopefully, because we know Him.

Some of God's commands may seem harsh, or difficult to implement.  Give 10% of ALL my money?  etc.  But the more we know Jesus, the more we see who He really is, the easier it is to obey Him.  The more we realize how much He loves us, how gloriously captivating He is, how wise He is, how powerful He is, the more we are willing to lay down our all for Him.  And not begrudgingly, but delightfully.  If you get to know Jesus well, then you'll be eager to get to be with Him, like the disciples are here.  

But this isn't supposed to make you feel guilty.  It's to invite you in.  Take this time to study Jesus, to really get to know Him deeply.  The more you do, the more you fill find yourself captivated by Him.

So what glory of Jesus does this passage reveal?  That He is worthy of being followed, that when people see who He really is, they can't help but follow.  And further, that He doens't expect blind devotion.  He proves who He is to the disciples, after which they gladly follow.  This is why we have four Gospels.  We can get to know Jesus very well in these pages, and as we do, we can gladly follow.

Why does Mark record this incident without mentioning the earlier Judean ministries?  Hard to say for sure, but my guess is that this is the moment that was most prominent to Peter.  It was this moment, with the words "fishers of men," that really stuck with Peter and defined his calling.  It summarizes so perfectly the life of a disciple.  First, Jesus calls - it's His initiative.  Second, we follow Him - we are responsible to follow, to obey, to submit, to change.  Third, He makes us fishers of men - by His Spirit He equips us with everything we need to do the work He has called us to do.  [I'm pretty sure I took these three stages from someone, but I can't remember exactly who.]

Also realize from Luke that by this point Jesus has already healed Peter's mother-in-law from her sickness.  So perhaps Peter and Andrew met Jesus with John the Baptizer, who gladly gave his disciples over to Jesus.  They followed Jesus around to the Judean ministry.  But when did the Temptation in the Wilderness happen?  If immediately after Jesus' baptism by John, then it doesn't much play into this timeline, but if it was after the Judean ministry, then it could explain why the disciples go back to fishing.  If Jesus takes off for 40 days alone, the disciples needed to do something, so they went back fishing.  Maybe they never expected to be full-blown talmidim (full-time disciples belonging to a specific rabbi); maybe they were only following Jesus like the crowds.  Maybe they never thought they could be talmidim, because they lacked the academic requirements.  It's only here, when Jesus specifically calls them to follow Him, that they become truly committed as talmidim. Now they finally leave their nets, and don't return to them until the end of John, after the Crucifixion and Resurrection.