Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)

Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV)

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, ¹⁵and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’ 

Jesus Calls the First Disciples

16 As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen.¹⁷And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ ¹⁸And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ¹⁹As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. ²⁰Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

I am indebted to William Barclay and his wisdom – and blessing – as we reflect on the Gospel and his insights.

In verses 14 and 15 we encounter three great themes of the Christian faith.

Firstly, there is good news: The essence of the message of Jesus is good news for humankind. If we follow the word εὐαγγέλιον.

Throughout the New Testament we discover more of what it means:

(a)  It is good news because it is truth (Galatians 2:5; Colossians 1:5). As Barclay comments: “Until Jesus came, men could only grope after God. ‘O that I knew where I might find him,’ cried Job (Job 23:3).” With the coming of Jesus we can now see clearly what God is like – guess work has come to an end.

(b)  It is good news of hope (Colossians 1:23). The ancient world was full of pessimism; in their struggle for goodness, people felt defeated – but the coming of Jesus brings hope to the hopeless heart.

(c)  It is good news of peace (Ephesians 6:15). It is our lot that we struggle with sin and goodness – but in Christ we can find peace as his grace works out his purposes for our lives.

(d)  It is good news of promise (Ephesians 3:6). Jesus reveals that God is not full of threats but love and forgiveness and so is full of promise.

(e)  It is good news of immortality (2 Timothy 1:10). Life is not a one way road to death and the end. In Jesus we are on a road to life and not death.

(f)   It is good news of salvation (Ephesians 1:13). This is not just a liberation from penalty and escape from past sin; ‘… it is the power to live life victoriously and to conquer sin …’

Secondly, there is the word repent: Barclay points out that this is a more complex word than we sometimes think. The Greek word metanoia literally means to change our mind. We sometimes confuse two things: sorrow for the consequences of sin and sorrow for sin. Too many of us would continue to do things if we were confident that we could escape the consequences. Barclay writes: “Repentance means that the person who was in love with sin comes to hate sin because of its exceeding sinfulness.”

Thirdly, there is the word believe: Barclay suggests that ‘believe’ here means to ‘… take Jesus at his word, to believe that God is the kind of God that Jesus told us about, to believe that God so loves the world that he will make any sacrifice to bring us back to himself, to believe that what sounds too good to be true is really true.’

Barclay writes:

A leader must begin somewhere. He must get himself a little band of kindred souls to whom he can unburden his own heart and on whose hearts he may write his message.

Who did Jesus look for:

(i)            They were simple folk – not from the great halls of learning or religious authority so they were neither learned nor wealthy. Jesus opted for ordinary people. Lincoln once said: “God must love the common people – He made so many of them.” Jesus was of the view that, even ordinary people, if they are willing to give themselves to Him, could change the world – and they did. Barclay concludes: “A person should never think so much of what they think other people think of them as of what Jesus thinks of them.”

(ii)           Notice what they were doing when Jesus called them – just their ordinary day’s work. It was the same with some of the great prophets. Amos was a herdsman and gatherer of sycamore fruit. The call of God can come to a person especially in the midst of the ordinary.

It is also interesting to note that Jesus called them to ‘Follow me’. He did not say: “I have a theological system which I would like you to investigate; I have certain theories that I would like you to think over; I have an ethical system that I would like to discuss with you. He said ‘Follow me’.” It is all about relationships – it is about falling in love – it is not necessarily rational. So Barclay concludes: “In the greatest number of cases a man follows Jesus Christ, not because of anything that Jesus said, but because of everything that Jesus is.”

This is why it is who we are more than what we say that has the greatest impact on our ministry. Lovely thoughts; but also a deep challenge.

Jesus offered his first disciples and us – a task! He called them not to ease, but to service. Someone once said that “every person needs something in which they can invest their lives.” So Jesus called his disciples not to a comfortable lifestyle, not to a passive inactivity; he gave them a task in which they would have to spend themselves up, and in the end die for His sake and for the sake of others.

All Christians – not just those of us who are ordained - have a vocation - and that is to live for others. I love Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s reference to Christ as ‘… a man for others …’ – and we are called to be imitators of Christ. It is here that we find fulfilment, as we spend ourselves up in our service of others.

There is a sense that we need to leave our different ‘nets’ behind us as we daily take up the mantle of service and follow in our Lord’s footsteps.