Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men

 

 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel." 

 

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his  brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.  And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.  Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit.  And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone!  What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.  Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?  What new doctrine is this?  For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."  And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.

 

- Mark 1:14–28

 

Yesterday we read St. Mark's beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God:  As it is written in the Prophets:  "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You."  "The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the LORD; Make His paths straight.' "  John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.  Then all the land of Judea, and those from Jerusalem, went out to him and were all baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins.   Now John was clothed with camel's hair and with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.  And he preached, saying, "There comes One after me who is mightier than I, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to stoop down and loose.  I indeed baptized you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."  It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan.  And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove.  Then a voice came from heaven, "You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."  Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness.  And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him.

 

Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel."  My study bible comments here that Mark's written emphasis on John being put in prison before Jesus begins preaching reveals that a key purpose of the old covenant -- to prepare the people for Christ -- had been completed (Galatians 4:1-5).  When Christ had come, the time of preparation was fulfilled.   It adds that to repent is to do a total "about-face."  The word for "repent" in Greek (μετανοια/metanoia) means literally to "change one's mind."  Repentance, my study bible says, is a radical change of one's spirit, mind, thought, and heart -- a complete reorientation to a life centered in Christ.  

And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets.  And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.  We should keep in mind that the first disciples of Christ had already been disciples of John the Baptist, and so were prepared to immediately leave their nets and follow Christ when called (see John 1:29-42).   My study bible comments that although they were illiterate and unlearned in religion, these "people of the land" whom Jesus calls will be revealed at Pentecost to be the wisest of all.  Let us note also the relationships that already tie these men together:  two sets of brothers, all fishermen, working in the same area and already known to one another.

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.  And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.    My study bible informs us that the word immediately occurs nearly forty times in Mark's Gospel -- and nearly all of them before Christ's entrance into Jerusalem.   The text gives us a sense of urgency and purpose (just as we were told in yesterday's reading that the Holy Spirit "drove" -- or, in the Greek, literally "threw" -- Jesus into the wilderness to face the temptations of Satan.  This is the way that Christ journeys toward Jerusalem in Mark's Gospel, with a determined sense of mission at this proper time of fulfillment in order to redeem the world.  My study bible says that Mark's Gospel not only the shortest but also the most direct of the four Gospels.  

Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit.  And he cried out, saying, "Let us alone!  What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth?  Did You come to destroy us?  I know who You are -- the Holy One of God!"  But Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"  And when the unclean spirit had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him.  Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, "What is this?  What new doctrine is this?  For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."  And immediately His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.  And here is "immediately" a confrontation as Jesus enters into and begins teaching in the synagogue.  The unclean spirits know who He is.  Their declaration also reveals His identity as Son, but at an improper time and not in His fulfillment of mission.  Hence, He commands, "Be quiet . . . !"  What amazes the people is Christ's authority, not only as He commands the unclean spirits, but also in the way He teaches, and "not as the scribes" (see above).   

Jesus, in some sense given through the way Mark's Gospel is written, "charges" into His mission now that it is the right time.  As my study bible comments, the setting begins as Jesus knows that John is in prison, and He comes preaching, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.  Repent, and believe in the gospel."  He begins to choose His men, the disciples (and of course, His ministry will also include women), who "immediately" begin to follow Him.  From there He "immediately" begins to preach in the synagogue, and something else happens "immediately" when He does.  Not only does He teach with authority, but He also commands with authority.  Moreover, just as with the temptation or testing in the wilderness by Satan, it is revealed to us quite clearly that behind the scenes there is a war going on, and so this mission into which Jesus enters with such seeming alacrity and purposefulness is like a military battle.  His authority is like that of a military leader, he commands the opposing troops to silence and departure, and He amazes those who are there to see and to hear it.  Later on, His former neighbors will marvel how this can be the Jesus they know whose family they know.  But the revelations begin at the "beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God," and they will keep on coming.  Those which come in the wrong way and at the wrong time He commands to silence.  Perhaps one of the most important things the text reminds us to understand is that, regardless of how we understand Christ's message of peace and the deep love of God toward which He calls us all, there is a battle into which He enters as central figure.  He will call Himself the "stronger man" who comes to seize the goods held by a strong man:  "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils."  And this same Jesus, who speaks to us in the Beatitudes by preaching that the meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5), adds of Himself as the stronger man, "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters" (see Luke 11:21-23).  He has entered into the world as Liberator, the One who sets us free.  But He sets us free with His word; He sets us free with His truth:  "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).  When Jesus enters into the wilderness in His time of testing before His public ministry, it is to confront the ruler of this world, Satan.  It is Satan who is the strong man, from whom Jesus comes as Liberator to release us.  But we each play a role in this spiritual battle, and that is the purpose and meaning of our faith.  That is the mission He begins in this Gospel, and it is the one into which He invites each of us to be also His disciples.  Today the mission is still the same, and we are called to be workers for the harvest, even if we remain few.  Let us consider Jesus' primary mission, for He is our true chief commander, and we are invited in to join Him in His true authority, even with those who called to become fishers of men.