Mark 1:14-20

​Today we get to see Jesus choosing some of His disciples! This is amazing as this is the first act we see since He was tested in the wilderness by Satan. Our passage will be Mark 1:14-20. Let us consider the implications of those He chooses and how we can become better disciples of Jesus based upon those implications. 

​First off Jesus comes to Galilee AFTER John had been arrested. We know that John was arrested by Herod the tetrarch for calling out Herod’s sin. We also know that Herod was the ruler over the region of Galilee, the very region that Jesus is returning to. It is very pertinent then that we see how Jesus is preaching the same message that John left off with (v. 15). Jesus is saying the kingdom of God is at hand. How is it at hand? Where is the kingdom? Why it is with Jesus, of course, as He is the rightful king! Yet aside from angels, His kingdom doesn’t appear to be full of many citizens… yet. 

​Jesus chooses His first four disciples, in Mark’s Gospel narrative, who are fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. We know from John’s Gospel account that this isn’t the first time that Jesus called Peter and Andrew, but here is where they really follow Jesus. Jesus calls them though, by saying He’ll make them fishers of men, and immediately they follow Jesus. I’ll talk more about this later, but it is interesting that Jesus promises them this if they follow Him, and it’s that promise that Mark records which causes them to follow Him. 

​A little further Jesus encounters James and John, sons of Zebedee, whom He also calls. They leave their father in the boat with their hired servants and follow Jesus. They literally leave their inheritance behind! Zebedee was a fisherman by trade also, and his livelihood was in that fishing boat, but James and John account it worth more to follow Jesus than to gain their worldly inheritance. What an example! What would it be like if we were to consider any of our inheritances as nothing to simply follow Jesus!

​We started by talking about the kingdom of God, as Jesus did in v. 15. Jesus is choosing, as the first disciples in His kingdom, four fishermen in Galilee. These aren’t priests, respected Pharisees or lawyers, these aren’t even culturally learned men used to debating in the Greek fashion. These are simple fishermen. Why then does Jesus choose these men? Simple: to make them fishers of men. There are a lot of similarities between fishing and evangelizing. You need the right bait. You need to go where the fish are and when they’re biting. You need to have patience when things aren’t going well, but you also need to be prepared with the nets when they are. You need to be prepared for good and bad weather, and you need to find a place for those fish immediately after they are caught. 

​So brothers and sisters, how would we measure up? If Jesus were just starting His kingdom anew, would we meet the criteria to help grow the kingdom? Are we growing the kingdom at all today? Are we willing to give up worldly inheritances for Jesus? Are we subject to ourselves, or to the King? May we keep in mind that the Bible isn’t our story, and evangelism isn’t about us. As we study the Bible and pray may our hearts always be set upon Jesus, and may we want, above all, His Will to be done. Amen.