“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.” (Mark 1:14-20)
Introduction
This was not the first encounter between Jesus and these disciples. Two of the disciples in this passage, Andrew and John, had an earlier encounter with Jesus. Andrew was originally a disciple of John the Baptist; he physically followed after Jesus when John the Baptist identified Jesus, who was walking by, as the Lamb of God (Jn. 1:35-42). John, although not named, is believed to have been the other disciple with Andrew.
Jesus’ first recorded words to Andrew were “What are you seeking?” to which Andrew responded, “Rabbi, where are you staying?”
Andrew in turn, found his brother Simon and brought him to Jesus. Jesus, upon meeting Simon, then calls him Cephas.
When we come to this encounter in today’s text in Mark 1, Jesus has already been identified to Andrew, Peter and John by John the Baptist as “the Lamb of God.” I don’t think it’s a stretch to assume that John told his brother James, the other son of Zebedee.
Called for a Purpose
What we want to look at today, is that the call of Jesus comes with a purpose, as we see in his invitation: “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
Jesus did not say, “Follow me, and I will bless your business” or “follow me and I will prosper you” or “follow me and I will enlarge your territory…”
He said, “I will make you fishers of men.” In other words, he was going to do something to them in order that they would be fit to serve his purpose.
The call of Christ comes with purpose – his purpose. That is, as Christ is reconciling the world to God, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18-21). Reconciling others to God is the “why” behind the “what” (the “what being “follow Jesus.”)
“I will make you…”
The Lord does all of the work (Eph. 2:10). Just as flesh and blood does not reveal Christ, flesh and blood can neither enter (Jn. 3:3-6) nor inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). Jesus does not make us better versions of ourselves; after all, before our new birth in Christ, we are dead in our transgressions and sin.
The new birth means exactly that – we become new creations. The idea of us becoming the best version of ourselves is absurd, because we would only be well-dressed dead men. As we’ve all experienced from attending funerals, a well-dressed corpse is still a corpse; nobody is fooled into thinking that the deceased is somehow alive.
No, Jesus begins the process of re-making us for his purposes, starting with the new birth (Eph. 2:1-10, 2 Cor. 5:17). We are buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4). We walk in that newness of life, working out our salvation with fear and trembling, for it is now God who works in us, both to will and to do his good pleasure (Phil. 2:13). Our purpose, or our destiny has been predestined by God, and that is that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).
“I will make you become fishers of men…”
Becoming fishers of men would be a process of becoming vessels suitable for the Lord’s purpose, that is, being Christ’s witnesses on earth after his resurrection. The apostles would spend three years living with, working with, and learning from Jesus; they would spend another 40 days after his resurrection learning to understand why Jesus had to suffer and die (Lk. 27:27, Acts 1:3). And perhaps more importantly, they would be imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit, who would empower them to be the fishers of men that Jesus said they would become (Acts 1:4-5). The Lord does all of the work.
Being fishers of men would take them from their respective homes and vocations to Jerusalem, through Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8).
Though they were recognized in Jerusalem as having been with Jesus (Acts 4:13), that recognition would only bring persecution and martyrdom.
Listen to Paul’s description of life as an apostle as he writes to the church in Corinth (1 Cor. 4:9–13):
“For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.”
Although the blessings of Christ are abundant in ministry, there is no glamour in ministry.
What does this mean for us?
Following Jesus is a process, a process that starts with the new birth. We must understand the reality that beginning with the new birth, the old has passed away, and the new has come (1 Cor. 5:17); we have died, and our lives are now hidden with Christ in God (Col.3:1-4).
The rest of our lives are a process of taking up our cross daily and denying ourselves, in order that we may follow Christ – wherever he may lead.
Jesus reinforces that reality in Mk. 8:34 when he said: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
The writings of the apostles in the New Testament are our instructions on how we are to live and walk in this new life.
Be encouraged on this day; indeed, rejoice this day, for Christ has called us and our names are written in heaven (Lk. 10:20).
Let us rejoice this day, for Christ has called us for his purpose, to carry out his work on earth. He has given us his Word to instruct us and his Spirit to not only empower us, but to mold us into vessels for his glory.
Let us go forth and glorify God. To him alone be the glory.
Amen.
For the audio sermon of this post, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3–GtqR-lQ&t=3s&pp=ygUlYmxlc3NlZCBob3BlIGx1dGhlcmFuIG9ydGhvZG94IGNodXJjaA%3D%3D
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