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 

 

 The 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 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 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).  Once Christ came, the time of preparation was fulfilled.  To repent, my study Bible explains, is to do a total "about-face."  In Greek the word literally means to "change one's mind."  It adds that repentance 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.   As Jesus begins His public ministry, He also begins to gather His disciples, workers for the Kingdom who will become fishers of men.  Note these first disciples are two pairs of brothers.  These first disciples had already heard the preaching of John the Baptist (John 1:35-42).  Therefore they were prepared to accept Christ immediately.  My study Bible says that although illiterate and unlearned in religion, these "people of the land" whom Jesus calls will be revealed at Pentecost to be the wisest of all.

Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and taught.   My study Bible comments that the word immediately occurs almost forty times in Mark's Gospel, nearly all of them before Christ's entrance into Jerusalem.  The sense of urgency adn purpose as Jesus journeys toward Jerusalem to fulfill His mission of redeeming the world helps make Mark's account not only the shortest, but also the most direct of the four Gospels.  

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.  Almost "immediately," we might say, when Christ begins His public preaching His true authority becomes apparent and shines forth through His ministry.  He speaks and acts from Himself.  That authority them manifests in today's reading when the unclean spirit is rebuked by Jesus.  It is astonishing to the people that without authority such as would be conferred through the religious establishment of which He is not a part, Jesus speaks, acts, and even exorcises demons with authority.  Note, however, He does not want His identity as Messiah to be known.  My study Bible says that the reasons for secrecy are foreseen by Isaiah (Isaiah 42:1-4).  These reasons include the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders; the people's misunderstanding of the Messiah as an earthly, political leader; and Jesus' desire to evoke genuine faith not based only on marvelous signs. 

 

 If we examine Jesus' calling of the first disciples, as told by Mark, there's an interesting sort of poetry at work, if we may describe it that way.  Jesus takes what already exists but transforms it.  The poetry of His appeal to these fishermen brothers is revealing:  "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."  In this sense of poetry, Jesus uses evocative language for us to understand that in His service and in our devotion to Him, He is working to transform us, to give us new life, in a sense.  These men understand their own work as fishermen, but Jesus gives them an image to understand their transformation in the life that He offers to them.  We can see it as a metaphor for our own lives and the influence of Christ upon us.  If we have a talent for something, Jesus can take that and transform it into use for service in the Kingdom.  Even if we have negative tendencies toward certain passions, like anger, Jesus can take that and transform it also:  into, for example, a passion for true justice, a desire to express compassion or heal, a desire to prevent unnecessary harm -- and teach us to act for the Kingdom, not to contribute to destructive circumstances.  Jesus takes us and transforms the possibilities and potentials within us, and this is the correct framework for understanding the Kingdom and its work in the world.  So often in a modern setting, we get prescriptions for success in a worldly sense.  There is the idea that if we live a good life we will be blessed with abundance in a worldly, material sense.  But Christ's message of the Kingdom is not something that simply sets the world in order on the terms that the world offers; it is, instead, a transformational message.   The action of the Kingdom and its work in us is one that transcends and changes our values; it gives us a blessedness that is not the world's concept of blessedness, but something that reaches far deeper into us and asks us to change ourselves.  See, for example, the blessedness of the Beatitudes as proclaimed by Jesus (Matthew 5:1-12).  There is another poetic transformation to read here, as in today's reading two sets of brothers become disciples for the Kingdom.  They begin life as earthly brothers, but in Jesus' work they become another kind of brother, even as they leave behind an old way of life and their father working with the hired servants.   See Mark 3:34, 10:29.  They become brothers in the sense in which we are capable of being children of God by adoption, even as Christ is Son.  We become mother, brother, sisters through devotion and service, by sharing the communion of love which Christ brings into the world.  Everything is transformative that is done in Christ and by Him, especially for the purposes of the Kingdom (Revelation 21:5).  And there we get to the fuller and deeper meaning of "metanoia," the Greek word for repentance, that truly means a changing of the mind, a transformation of what we think we know and understand, our orientation to life.  As Christ speaks with authority even over the unclean spirits, let us consider His authority in us and over our lives, and where He might take us into the future.