As we continue our series on the gospel of Mark, we come to the commencement of Jesus’ ministry. We pick up in Mark 1:14, following the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and the temptation in the wilderness — essential preparatory steps before Jesus’ ministry could begin.
“After the arrest of John, Jesus went into Galilee and proclaimed the gospel of God. “The time is fulfilled,” He said, “and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe in the gospel!” As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” And at once they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat, mending their nets. Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.”
(BSB)
Verses 14 and 15 are a summary statement by Mark, an abstract of the narrative to follow which gives Jesus’ message and actions in more detail.
It is interesting that Mark places the beginning of Jesus’ ministry after John’s imprisonment. Luke takes a similar approach, discussing John’s imprisonment immediately prior to introducing Jesus’ message ( Lk 3:19-20). From the gospel of John, it is clear that historically, Jesus and John were both active for some overlapping period, as some of John’s disciples began to follow Jesus instead of John (Jn 1:35-42), then John’s disciples began to complain that Jesus was starting to baptise and all the crowds were going to him (Jn 3:22-26).
Mark intentionally places John’s imprisonment here to mirror the perspective of the general Jewish public at the time. For most people, Jesus’ public activity only came to pre-eminence after John was imprisoned and removed from the scene. One scholar says, “the people have an impression of successiveness, not contemporaneousness.” This can be seen later in Mark (Mk 6:14), where the people surmise that Jesus is actually John resurrected. Clearly these people did not know of Jesus’ baptism by John, and had not seen the two together at any point in time. Additionally, this arrangement perhaps lends some emphasis to the fact that John was the forerunner of Jesus and pointed to him; thus it is fitting and necessary that the herald disappears as the king arrives.
Furthermore, the arrest of John is another early foreshadowing of Jesus’ coming arrest, with the same word used for the prediction of his arrest (Mk 9:31) and his eventual arrest in Mark 15. This connection is not a reach, as the text has already established a prophetic link between the actions of John the Baptist and the greater actions of Jesus, through the comparison of their baptisms (Jn 1:8). These signposts toward the cross are littered throughout Mark’s gospel, with references to baptism, arrest, and persecution.
Another subtle point is that John’s arrest is presented in the passive voice — which means there is nobody explicitly performing the action (“the arrest of John” compared to “Herod arrested John”). This underscores the fact that while people are performing these actions and think that they are in charge of the course of history, ultimately God is behind all of this and is directing the course of history for his ends.
Continuing in verse 14, Jesus returns to his homeland of Galilee, where he begins proclaiming the good news of God’s kingdom. This good news was not a new message, but really a continuation of the message that God sent through Israel’s prior prophets.
In the Old Testament, Israelites did think of God as the king of Israel (1 Sam 12:12) and even the king of the entire world (Jer 10:7). This is similar to how we would perceive God as the ruler of the world. Yet their experience of the world did not completely line up with this. There was still disobedience and rebellion against God’s orders. So there was a simultaneous view that God’s kingship was also something that was to come (Zech 14:9); when he would make his kingship manifest to all people. Because God’s rule was “hidden” at the present time, men were placed in a position of being able to decide whether they would accept God as their ruler or reject him; whether they would live as subjects of God’s kingdom or remain under worldly desires. But a day was coming when God’s rule would become clear to all, and they would either have to receive the kingdom of God, or face the wrath of the divine ruler. The vision was not of a passive change of hands in the kingship, but rather God was a dynamic character in this kingdom — pictured as “a mighty man” who would save and rule his people (Isa 40:10). In the past, God had chosen and redeemed Israel out of Egypt, and promised that one day he would redeem all mankind (Gen 3:15).
That was Jesus’ daring message. John had announced that the kingdom was coming directly after; Jesus claimed, “That day is today.” God is doing something and will do something that radically affects man’s alienation and rebellion against himself. The doors of the kingdom have been thrown open and all that remains is to walk through them. The prerequisites for the divine work of the consummation of history are present; the concluding drama is about to kick off.
So the good news of the gospel is that God’s kingdom is coming; it is actually here in the very person of Jesus. It is near both spatially (because Jesus has come in human form and is walking and talking in the countryside of Galilee) and temporally (because the very next event in God’s timeline is the end of history).
But why is the news good? Only because of the bad news; the very fallen state of the world and the depravity of man. I think everyone has experienced this in their life in some way. If we lived in a perfect world we wouldn’t need or want the gospel. We would not hope for a better future because we would be living in a perfect present. It is precisely because the bad news is so bad that the good news is so good. God has acted decisively to save us from our own sin. There is nothing further that we need to wait for to gain salvation — it has all been done.
Hence while we still wait for the return of Christ and the final end of history, the wheels are turning. The church is not waiting for a more complete version of Christ. We merely await the moment when he is unveiled in all his present glory. We live in the oft-referred to “now but not yet” kingdom of God, where the king has been crowned but not everyone knows this yet.
The next section (verses 16-20) describes Jesus calling his first disciples; the closest circle who he called apostles (which means “sent ones”).
It is notable that the disciples followed at the mere words, “Come, follow me.” The power of Jesus’ words is emphasised throughout this gospel — his authoritative words cast out demons, still the storm, heal the sick and raise the dead. The power of his words mirror the power of God’s words in Genesis 1, calling into existence things which are not.
The second notable feature is that these fishermen immediately left everything to follow Jesus. Clearly they had quite a large and likely profitable fishing business, with extended family and servants employed. What a leap of faith this would be! What doubts and fears would have run through their minds? But when Jesus calls us; when we hear his gospel, we must make a choice to accept or reject it. We cannot put off a decision, because the very act of delaying is itself a rejection of the gospel call.
Jesus told these disciples that he would make them fishers of men. Like so many other phrases in this first chapter Mark, the Old Testament has references to “fishing men” — but it is principally God who fishes men out for divine judgement (Jer 16:16; Amos 4:2). The disciples were to play a role in spreading the gospel message and gathering men in view of the forthcoming judgement of God. Like Jesus, they were to confront people with this decisive message that God’s kingdom had arrived.
As we look back over the previous sections, we can see the power of Christ - over Satan, sin and humanity. Over Satan in the wilderness, over sin in his temptations, and over humanity in his ability to call followers with a mere word.
This is a comforting thought to us, just as it would have been to Mark's original readers; the early Christians. Jesus Christ, the son of God, has power over all - in the spiritual and physical realms.
So today we reflect on the message of Jesus — the good news that God has come as king. And he calls us with his original message to his first followers. Firstly, “Come, follow me.” Then, “I will send you out to fish for people.”