Following Jesus

God’s Word and the souls of people. These are the only two eternal things that will exit this world. Nothing else will remain, except for God’s Word and the souls of people. So, wise is the man and wise is the woman who devote themselves to these two things. Blessed is the one who devotes themself to sowing the eternal Word of God into the eternal souls of people.

There is a biblical term for this. Discipleship. If I can be so bold as to say, discipleship is to be the priority and profession of every believer. The priority of the believer is to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is best done in the setting of a local church with other believers who walk alongside you and help you mature in Christ through Bible study, prayer, fellowship, worship, accountability, admonition, teaching, and various other spiritual disciplines. But also, the profession of every believer is to be making disciples for the Lord Jesus Christ. Discipleship is the Christian’s Christ-given calling. It is the heartbeat of Christian ministry to make disciples, teaching them everything that Christ commands.

Discipleship, in two words, means “following Jesus”.

Essentially, discipleship, following Jesus, is the theme of the passage we come now to in Mark chapter 1. I invite you to look with me at Mark chapter 1 verses 16 to 20 where we will read of Jesus calling His first disciples.

Mark 1:16–18 ESV

16 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. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Mark 1:19–20 ESV

19 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. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

“Follow me”. Those two words are some of the most repeated words of Jesus Christ throughout the four Gospels. I counted at least 22 instances where Jesus used these two words, either as a command to be obeyed by individuals or as a teaching to describe what the regenerate do as a response to hearing His voice. Here in our passage, Mark would have us understand these two words uttered from the lips of the Lord Jesus to be a command to be obeyed with immediacy. We get that picture in the call to and response of both sets of brothers. Jesus’ call was immediate and the response of the four men was immediate.

“Follow me” is one of the most important commands from Jesus you will ever have to obey. Last week, we looked at THE most important: repent and believe. Today, if I could do such a thing as categorize importance to Jesus’ commands, “follow me”, be a disciple of Jesus, in other words, is next on the list.

But what is a disciple of Jesus? What does following Jesus entail? A beneficial way for us to view following Jesus according to our text today in Mark would be to view it like this:

Theme: Following Jesus is a life-long, loyal commitment to learn from, live for, and look like Him.

With this theme in mind, I want us to discover from our text this morning answers to three questions. First, what does Jesus call His disciples to be? Second, what does Jesus commission His disciples to do? And third, which we will answer at the end with some application, how should Jesus’ disciples follow Him? As we answer these questions, may we be reminded of the greatness of our King and our great privilege of following Him.

1. Sovereignly called by Christ to personally be...

Mark’s account of Jesus calling His first disciples is both brief and beautiful. According to the Greek, Jesus said only nine words to the first set of brothers and it’s assumed that He repeated the same summons to the second set as well. I don’t know how many words that works out to be in Aramaic, the language Jesus would have spoken, but suffice it to say His words oozed with authority.

Indeed, trace the ministry of the Savior in Mark chapter 1 and note that Mark emphasized again and again the authority of Jesus. Last week we saw that Jesus authoritatively proclaimed the good news about the kingdom of God. Next week, Lord willing, we will read of Jesus authoritatively teaching and casting out demons.

But, it is here in verses 16 to 20, that we see Jesus authoritatively call these four men into His service. Now, it’s worth mentioning that the first set of brothers, Simon, also called Peter, and his brother Andrew were already acquainted with the Lord. If you did your homework last week and read John chapter 1 verses 35 to 42, you’ll know that these brothers were previously disciples of John the Baptist. Then John pointed them to Jesus and they seem to switch teachers. It’s unclear if they became full-time disciples of Christ during the first year of Jesus’ ministry. At the very least, they assisted Him on some occasions. Mark remember, recorded his Gospel under Peter’s guidance, so I believe it’s safe to say whatever they were doing with the Lord in that year of obscurity was totally different than what Jesus was calling them to do at the beginning of this “year of popularity”.

It is at this point that Mark captures the scene for us. Jesus is making His way along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Early Church Historians record that this was a bustling place for the business of fishermen. It is estimated that around 300 fishermen would gather at the Sea each day to fish, either on the shore or by boat. So, imagine the mass of men, the boats out at sea, and the smell of fish in the air. The way Mark presents this to us is that Jesus is not taking a casual stroll on the beach. There was purpose in every step He took and His eyes were set on only four individuals out of the hundreds. He knew full well who He was looking for. He had already “circled” their names to be added to His select group of men. Whether Peter, Andrew, James, or John knew Him or knew of Him before is irrelevant. He sought each man out now and tapped them on the shoulder, calling them to follow Him. They were now to be His full-time disciples.

These men were sovereignly called by Christ. But what would that mean for each of them? Let’s consider now the answer to our first question: What does Jesus call His disciples to be? There are two answers that the text gives us.

A. Submissive

First, these men were sovereignly called by Christ to personally be submissive to Him. When Jesus said to these men, “Follow me”, He was in effect calling them to submission.

Submit. Submission. Submissive. These are taboo words in our culture! Many don’t like these words. Naturally, I think there are two main reasons these words rub people the wrong way and these reasons are both deeply rooted in pride. First, to be submissive communicates weakness or inferiority. Submission means lowing one’s self from their elevated position in order to exalt another. Second, to be submissive means we are no longer in control of our lives. No longer are we in the driver’s seat, we are the ones now being driven and directed by the will of another.

Fundamentally, this is what it is to be a disciple of Jesus. Contrary to the popular bumper sticker, Jesus is not your co-pilot. And contrary to the beloved poem “Invictus”, a disciple of Jesus is not the master of his own fate, nor the captain of his own soul.

For these four men, to become a disciple of Jesus meant that they become His students and stopped being their own master or submitting to another master if they had one. Jesus was calling them to be taught by Him. As King of the kingdom of God, Jesus has the only right to rule and reign over His subjects. And when He says, “Follow me” this is the will of the King for His subjects to bow to.

Literally, Mark records Jesus as saying, “Come behind me!” This is much like a military commander barking orders to his cadets to “fall in” and follow behind him into battle. The King’s command here is the test of true repentance and faith. If you’ve really abdicated the throne of your heart through repentance and if you’ve truly committed your trust to Christ, following Him is next. When you’ve turned away from self, sin, and Satan; and when you’ve turned to Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin and Lord of your life, you will desire to follow Him in humble submission.

A disciple’s submission acknowledges Christ to be an awesome and capable King, and it expresses the utmost confidence in His plan. Submission declares Christ to be a good and gracious, omnipotent King.

To be a disciple of Jesus is to follow Him as Leader. He calls the shots; He guides where you are to go according to His time table; He tells you what to say and what to do.

“When Christ calls a man,” said Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “He bids him come and die.”

That is what it is to submit to Christ as His disciple. To follow Him means you die to self and live to Him. You must personally submit to His leading and Lordship to follow Him.

B. Shaped

Second, these four men were sovereignly called by Christ to personally be shaped by Him and for Him. Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Following Jesus meant that these men would be changed.

There are two aspects of this change I want to point out to you from the Lord’s words.

First, note the sort of change disciples of Jesus will experience. Look carefully at Jesus’ words again:

Mark 1:17 ESV

17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

Or a more rough translation might say, “make you to become”. The sort of change that this indicates is not an immediate change. Rather, this sort of change is gradual over time. It’s a slow process. The implication is that a disciple of Jesus will require much training in order to become what they are called to be. It is much like a sculptor chiseling a block of marble or a potter placing a lump of clay on his wheel to mold and fashion that lump into a masterpiece. It takes time to change that marble or clay into what the artist has in store for it according to his vision and will.

And that ties into a second thing I wish to point out. Note the source of this change. Jesus said, “I will make you to become...” He is the subject of this call. Grammatically, the subject is the person or thing performing the action in the sentence. And the object of the sentence is the person or thing acted upon. Jesus is the subject. Make and become are the actions that Jesus performs. And the recipients of Christ’s work are those who follow Him.

Put simply, Jesus is the one shaping and His disciples are the ones being shaped. True change springs from Christ, not from within the disciple. Jesus would take these brothers who were fishermen and make them to become something they were not before, nor could be without Him. Before they were professional fishermen, but Christ would shape them into fishers of men.

Think again about that lump of clay. What hope does that clay have in and of itself to become a work of art? No matter how much that lump of clay desires to be a beautiful flower vase it has no ability to mold and shape itself to be such. It might will to be something other than what it is not, but it has not the power to be something other than what it is. That lump of clay requires the potter to change it. And even when the potter does take that clay off the shelf and begins to work upon it, it matters not what the clay wants to be, but is dependent upon what the potter will shape it to be.

Because the Lord Jesus is the source of true change, He has the choice to design His disciples to be who He desires them to be. And one of His desires, perhaps His chief desire, is to make His disciples to look like Him. He called these men to be something that He already is. They were to be fishers of men, why? Because, Jesus Himself was a fisher of men. We saw this last week. He came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God saying, “Repent and believe in the gospel.” Jesus was fishing for the souls of men.

So, discipleship is the call from Christ to look like Christ. The result of following Jesus, of submitting to Him, is that you are changed and conformed more and more to your Master’s image. As you faithfully submit yourself to Jesus Christ as your Teacher, Master, Lord, and King, you will slowly begin to see, over time, that you have been shaped by Him to look more like Him, not according to your efforts, but by His gracious power at work within you to perfect you into His masterpiece.

The sovereign call of Christ to be His disciple is to personally be submissive to Him and be shaped by Him for His purposes.

2. Specifically commissioned by Christ to practically go...

Now what of our second question? Jesus called His disciples to be submissive and to be shaped, but to what purpose? What does Jesus commission His disciples to do?

Looking at both sets of brothers, their profession and their skills, we can discover that they were specifically commissioned by Christ to practically go do two things. The first is an explicit, direct commission from Christ, but the second is more implied and indirect. Let’s unpack these two practices that disciples are commissioned to do for the Lord Jesus.

A. Fish: Evangelize

Number one, disciples are to go fish. Not fish for fish, but fish for men!

Mark 1:17 ESV

17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

In other words, evangelize! These men had to have been excellent fishermen. In order for them to survive and thrive in their profession they had to have been highly skilled and successful in catching fish. But this does not necessarily mean they would have been excellent fishers of men! At least not right away. They would need to follow Jesus closely to learn how to be successful and skillful in fishing for men. This would be a gradual process of learning to cast the net of the gospel and acquiring the proper skill set for catching men for Christ.

We might wonder why Jesus would choose fishermen to follow Him. Why would Jesus commission fishermen to go and fish for men? A couple of thoughts come to mind.

Firstly, fishermen are rather ordinary. They are your blue-collar workers making end’s meet with toil, sweat, tears, and applying themselves diligently to their work. These men were well-equipped to fish for fish. And yet, when they were called by Christ, they were ill-equipped for His commission! Christ did not call extraordinary men with extraordinary skill. In this way they would be a living, breathing testimony of God’s power and grace to take ordinary men with no qualifications for His kingdom work and transform them over an entire lifetime into men qualified to do the work God called them to. This way, God gets the greater glory. Disciples have nothing to boast in except for in their Master.

What an encouragement the commissioning of these fishermen is to ordinary folk like us! None of us started out with all that we needed to serve the Lord and His kingdom, and yet each of us, if you are His disciple, are being shaped by Him to serve Him in unexpected ways! So, if you feel ordinary today, take heart that God uses the ordinary for His extraordinary kingdom purposes.

Secondly, another reason Jesus commissioned fishermen to fish for men may have to do with some Old Testament imagery of God as a fisherman. Throughout the major and minor prophets, God is likened to a fishermen in the context of executing His divine judgment upon the wicked. God uses hooks and nets to drag and gather the wicked for His day of judgment.

So, Jesus may have had on His mind the increase of the kingdom of God by rescuing those who were caught in God’s net, destined to face final judgment. Thus, to fish for men is to fish people out from the kingdom of darkness, that domain which is hostile toward God and God is hostile toward it. Essentially, Jesus commissions His followers to rescue the perishing. And they are to do this by proclaiming the same gospel message He Himself proclaimed. Spread the net of the gospel as wide as possible across the sea of men and proclaim that apart from the Lord Jesus Christ there is no escaping the net of God’s wrath against sin. Relay to all the King’s demand for all to: Repent and believe!

This is not all that a fisher of men must do, but it is central to what a fisher of men is commissioned to do. If I remember, I will post a list from Steven Lawson attached to the sermon video entitled, “Seven Laws of Fishing for Men”. I’ve transcribed this list from one of Lawson’s sermons and printed it out for you to look over. I myself am not a fisherman. I know nothing about it other than that the goal is to catch fish, either for sport or food. But those of you who are fishermen and even those who are unfamiliar with it like me, I think you all will enjoy Lawson’s laws of fishing for men. They are understandable, helpful, and rather simple to apply if effort is put forth. And so I pray that as you examine that list you all are strengthened to go and fish for men as the Lord enables you.

B. Fix: Edify and Equip

But there is a second practice of a disciple, which is seen in the second set of brothers, those sons of thunder, James and John. Not only are disciples commissioned to be fishers, but they are also to be fixers. They are commissioned to fix. Consider how Jesus found James and John.

Mark 1:19 ESV

19 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.

In passing, it seems like a non-consequential matter for these men to be mending their nets. But, to the fishing business, mending nets is utterly vital for successfully catching fish.

This word “mend” was used in the ancient world to describe the setting of bone that had been broken. It’s a word that means “to fix what has been broken; to repair; to restore, strengthen, or perfect.” In the New Testament, this word is an important word for church life. For example, consider what Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV

10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.

The word “united” is the same word for “to mend”. Paul wanted the church to be mended in terms of mind and decision making.

To the church in Galatia, Paul would use the same word in chapter 6 translated as “restore”.

Galatians 6:1 ESV

1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Paul was exhorting this church not to be mended but to be mending those brothers and sisters in Christ who were caught in sin. Restore them to how they ought to be living.

And perhaps the prime example in the New Testament of this word being used is again by Paul, but this time in his letter to the Ephesians. He speaks of certain offices and positions that Christ has given to the church who are commissioned to equip, which is the same word for to mend, the saints for the work of ministry.

Ephesians 4:11–13 ESV

11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,

Ephesians 4:14–16 ESV

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Here, the point of mending, or fixing, if you want to call it that, is for the whole church to be binding and building up the body of Christ. This is not just the ministry of a select few, but the calling of every member of the body of the local church.

There is a twofold benefit for edifying and equipping.

Number one, it blesses the health of the church, individually as well as corporately. Just as a human body does not function well if one part is injured or weak, neither will the body of Christ function as she ought if those weaknesses are not being attended to and strengthened. There is a need to fish for souls, but there is equally a need to tend to the souls that are caught and brought into the church.

Number two, another benefit of edifying and equipping the saints for the work of ministry is that the “net” becomes reinforced and stronger to bring in the next catch of fish! The stronger the net is, that is the local church, the better the catch will be. You cannot successfully catch fish if there are gapping holes in your net. So, we must attend to our net as a body to be united in mind and will, to be restoring brothers and sisters caught in sin, to be administering healing to those who are hurting, and to be building up the entire body so that we reach full maturity.

The ministry of a disciple is to bring in more fish, but also to bind up and build up those fish who have been brought into the school of Christ. Or, to use the words of Fanny Crosby, a disciple is to:

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave; weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen, tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it; Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide; back to the narrow way patiently win them, tell the poor wanderer a Savior has died.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying; Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Conclusion

Jesus calls us to follow Him personally. And that will mean we must be submissive to Him as Lord because He is good and gracious. It will mean that as we submit to Him, He will shape us, change us, conform us to look more and more like Himself. The purpose of us submitting to Him and being shaped by Him is for us to go fish for souls with His gospel and fix, or mend, those souls who have been rescued.

But how about our third question? How should we follow Jesus as His disciples? How are we to fulfill the Great Commission to be disciples and make disciples of Jesus Christ?

Here I’d like to close by answering this question with four applications. Following Jesus means seriously committing yourself to Him by purposely...

One, leaving. Both Peter and Andrew, James and John responded to Christ’s call and commission by leaving something behind.

Mark 1:18–20 ESV

18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 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. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.

Notice that what they left behind wasn’t sin or something that caused them to sin. The things they left would have hindered them from being fully devoted to the Lord’s call and commission to them as His disciples. For Peter and Andrew, they left their nets and followed. For James and John, they left their father and assumedly a life of comfort. They had servants to help them in their business, but they were leaving that to become servants to another!

If we are to follow Jesus devotedly, we too must be willing to abandon some things. We must be willing to leave behind anything that would stand between us and the Lord. We must be willing to give what we cannot keep to gain what we cannot lose. Take time this week to listen to the Shepherd’s voice. What might He be calling you away from? The obvious answer is sin. But, the not so obvious are those things that aren’t sin, yet aren’t helpful to being His disciple. Listen carefully and obey immediately.

Two, learning. Fundamentally, when these men committed themselves to be disciples of Christ, they were committing themselves to be students. In early Jewish literature, the description of a disciple of a Rabbi was that the disciple was to “cover himself in the dust of the Rabbi’s feet”. In other words, follow so closely behind Jesus that when He walks ahead of you, the dirt, or maybe in our case the snow! that is stirred up by His feet cakes your own. To learn from the Lord is to watch and imitate how He walked, how He talked, what He did.

Perhaps you feel yourself to be “plain” and “ordinary”. Perhaps you don’t think you are adequate to answer Christ’s call or fulfill His commission. You don’t feel as if you belong or that you would be of any use to the King for His kingdom work. Let me tell you, this is a very good place to be! You are exactly the sort of person Jesus uses. He takes the ordinary, trains the simple, and works through them to accomplish His purposes. In this way God alone receives all the glory! So, praise God if you are ordinary because you can learn in the school of Christ.

Three, living. These four men committed themselves as disciples to intentionally live for Jesus Christ. Note Jesus’ call again.

Mark 1:17 ESV

17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

“Follow me” is in the present tense. Following Jesus is a life-long commitment to live for Him. It’s fascinating that the first words Jesus appears to ever speak to Peter is here in Mark 1:17. “Follow me.” And if you go to the end of John’s Gospel, the last words of Jesus addressed to Peter in Scripture is the same.

John 21:22 ESV

22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”

It’s a great reminder to us that being a disciple begins, continues, and ends with one living for Jesus. Following Him only all the days of our lives.

And four, leaning. If ever you are to leave anything that would stand between you and the Lord; if ever you are to learn the skills of fishing and fixing in the Master’s school; if there is any hope of you ever living for Christ every day of your life, then you must lean completely on Jesus Christ. Commitment to Jesus Christ does not come from your own strength. It must be drawn from the strength of the Lord. Jesus had no visible sign of material or financial support. These four brothers had no idea of what the future would bring. When they committed to following Jesus they were choosing to rely fully on Him. They chose to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matt. 6:33). They decided to trust entirely that by following Jesus, everything they needed would be added unto them.

Being seriously committed to Christ is to follow Him into the unknown. But, we serve a known God and that is our consolation. We are saved by faith in Christ and we must serve Him in faith too. Lean on His faithfulness and goodness. Lean on Him for grace to face each day, for strength to serve Him each hour, and for His presence to guide you and equip you moment by moment.

If you’ve not responded to Christ’s first demands to repent and believe, Jesus is calling you to do that before you can follow Him. He is calling you to enter His kingdom, to give up any claim of being your own king in order to bow to Him as King. Today, the doors of the kingdom and of Christ’s salvation are opened to you. He has made a way through His life, death, and resurrection. Heed the call of the King and be saved.

Every believer here who has already entered Christ’s kingdom by grace through faith has been saved to serve. Each of us have been called by the Lord to a life of service in His name. Heed His call, follow Him, learn from Him, and grow in Him as He strengthens you to serve for His glory.

Prayer

O God You are our God

and we will ever praise You!

We seek You this morning

and we desire to learn to walk in Your ways.

And step by step You'll lead us

and we will follow You all of our days.

AMEN.

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