Mark 1:14-20
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Our passage today, includes the first words that Mark records Jesus saying:
The time has come. The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.
Jesus makes this pronouncement in Galilee. Galilee is not a back-water town, nor is it the centre of Jewish religion, but it was a bustling place.
- Two key statements: Time - Kingdom
- Two key actions: Repent - Believe In.
Each of these four words deserve their own reflection. Taken together, we notice that beyond understanding an idea or concept, Jesus is calling us to action.
His use of “time” is less minutes and hours, and more a moment. The word in the Greek is "karios". Consider your life, we all have moments. Moments we ask someone to marry us, or moments we say yes to marriage. Moments we say yes to a job offer or leave a job. And many other moments that define our path.
Jesus is saying, “Realize, perhaps for the first time, that God’s rule of the world is here. Notice this, decide if you will believe in God, believe in me, and turn towards God and follow.”
Jesus is not asking for your intellectual assent. He is asking, calling for action.
Today, in Christianity, some people can tell you the date and time when they turned to follow Jesus. That is a great. There are other people, who have spent their entire lives raised in a Christian home. They’ve always known the love of God. They’ve always known Jesus. For them, the process where they“believe in” Jesus (versus following their parent’s belief) was more gradual.
However, if we think Jesus’ words today are inviting us to reflect on the past, then we miss the point.
The point is as we read these words today, that he is asking me and you, He is calling me and you — to believe in him, to turn from the things of this world, because we understand that today God’s Kingdom rule is here in our lives.
But this is not a formula. Those of us with a science or engineering background can tend to reduce things to trying to get the correct solution to a problem. That applies to many aspects of our lives, not just science. When we face a problem, we sometimes think "If I have the right formula - I can solve my problem." And. that's the challenge - making sure we have the right formula.
But the kingdom of God and following Jesus is not a matter of having the right formula. Notice verse 18
At once they left their nets and followed him.
Yes, they, Simon and Andrew, followed Jesus, but no, they did not have a clue who Jesus really was.
This is a powerful moment. There was something magnetic about Jesus that they followed. Yet, they did not understand who He was. In fact, Jesus will spend three years teaching them what it means to follow Him. But they will only “really get it” after they are filled with the Holy Spirit.
Today, we know a lot more about Jesus. Today, some people do in fact almost immediately accept Him as Lord and Savior. Today, God has sent His Holy Spirit.
But not everyone responds immediately. Notice as we look at Jesus calling these first disciples, that God is the prime mover. Jesus initiates. This is always true, even when we are representing Him.
Yet notice how He engages those He is calling.
He finds them.
- Do we go into the world, or,
- do we expect people to come to church?
Jesus speaks to them as fisherman.
- Do we engage people in their language, or use ours?
Words such as “disciple, repent, shepherd” do not mean much in today's world.
He gives them significance. It was a short interaction, but His calling gives them real worth before they were converted. The only “test” they have to pass is to respond and walk after Him.
Some of these men will become apostles. Imagine if Jesus demanded they immediately understand not only who he was (is), or that they spoke the right words. He would have never called them!
Jesus calls people as they are. He has no prerequisites. He asks they follow, learning what ‘following’ means along the way.
Comments