Sermon Tone Analysis

The Power of Jesus’ Call

Mark 1:16–20 (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.

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.

Introduction

Jesus abruptly appears by the Sea of Galilee and without warning calls unsuspecting fishermen to be disciples.

Jesus is not going to be a lone prophet wandering in the desert but a leader, whose task as Messiah is to create a community of followers.

Since Peter and Andrew cast nets from the shoreline, they are possibly too poor to own a boat while the Zebedees are more upscale, with a boat that can take them anywhere on the lake and hired hands to help with the labor.2Whatever

their circumstances, these men show their repentance, their desire “to turn,” by dropping everything to heed Jesus’ call.

Their repentance is more than just a matter of an internal transformation; they turn into something that they are not now, from fishermen to fishers of men.[1]

The Call

Why did they Follow Jesus?

Jesus preaches to the crowds, but the call to follow comes to individuals.

Mark does not tell us why Jesus singled out Simon and Andrew and James and John as disciples or why they decided to respond instantly.

The accounts of the calling of the first disciples in John and Luke make more sense to the modern reader, who typically wants some rational explanation for their behavior.

In the Fourth Gospel, John the Baptist tips off the first disciples (John 1:35–37).

In Luke, Jesus gives them a remarkable preview miracle (Luke 5:1–11).

Nothing in Mark’s narrative has prepared the reader to expect these fishermen to drop their nets and leave everything to follow Jesus.

How do they even know who he is?

Is there some psychological basis for their rapid response?

Perhaps they were having bad times in the fishing business and were ready to make a career change.

They had been longing for some time for the Messiah to come to relieve foreign oppression and to bring the new Jerusalem or whatever restoration they might have imagined.

They had an itch for some kind of action and jumped at the chance to take the plunge and follow him.

They had made a decision during one of his sermons to rededicate their lives.

But Mark provides no such explanations, and one is not allowed such psychological speculation.

These men have witnessed nothing of Jesus’ powers and have no idea what his battle plans might be.

They do not take a few days to mull over their decision, to ask their families’ permission, or to seek counsel from a panel of religious experts.

To us it may seem an incredibly hasty decision to take off after someone who happens to pass by and abruptly beckons people to follow him.

We know that something more must have happened—and we learn such details from Luke and John.

They must have heard and believed his preaching that the kingdom of God had come.

But Mark’s text presents us with a sudden call and a response that is just as sudden.

Explaining the Sudden Response

The only explanation for the sudden response of disciples is that Mark wants to underscore the force of Jesus’ call.

It alone propels them to follow him.

He chooses whom he wills, and his call comes like “a sharp military command” that produces obedience.

His call, however, is much more than a dramatic summons.

Lohmeyer concludes, “He commands as God commands.…

He makes of the fisherman something new, that which he wills.”28

Psalm 33:9 “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm,” and provides the backdrop for understanding the response of these disciples.

Like God, Jesus speaks, and it happens.

Jesus speaks, “Come, follow me!” and it creates obedience that compels people to follow and join his band.

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.

“Follow Me”

What is striking is that Jesus calls them to “follow me.”

Prophets did not call people to follow themselves but to follow God (compare 1 Kings 19:19–21).

The sages of Jesus’ day never called people to follow them, only to learn Torah from them.

Jesus’ call of the disciples is therefore dramatically authoritative and matches the biblical pattern of God’s calling of humans: a command with a promise, which is followed by obedience (see Gen. 12:1–4).3

The call so overpowers these disciples that their lives will never be the same again.[2]

Who is this who can create such immediate obedience?

The power of the one who sees persons long before they see him and calls as God calls is the only explanation why these disciples respond immediately as they do.

and it may escape the notice of modern readers.

This unit has a Christological dimension, and this first incident immediately raises the question: Who is this who can create such immediate obedience?

The miracles that Mark records in this unit prompt a similar question: Who is this who can do these things?

When interpreted from a biblical perspective, they reveal that Jesus, the bringer of the kingdom, has unique power as God’s Son and can overmaster demons, offer forgiveness of sins, and effect healing of disease.

The powerful call of this one can still transform lives today.[3]

Jesus does not call them to be shepherds

Gathering in the lost sheep of the house of Israel, or to be laborers, bringing in the sheaves (Matt 9:36–38), but to be fishers.

Old Testament prophets used this metaphor for gathering people for judgment (Jer.

16:14–16; Ezek.

29:4; 47:10; Amos 4:2; Hab.

1:14–17), and One should not assume that Jesus uses fishing as a benign reference to mission.

When the fisherman hooks a fish, it has fatal consequences for the fish;life cannot go on as before.

This image fits the transforming power of God’s rule that brings judgment and death to the old, yet promises a new creation (see Rom. 6:1–11).

The summons to be fishers of men is a call to the eschatological task of gathering men in view of the forthcoming judgment of God.

It extends the demand for repentance in Jesus’ preaching.

Precisely because Jesus has come fishing becomes necessary.

Between Ch. 1:15 and Ch.

1:17 there is a most intimate connection; fishing is the evidence of the fulfilment which Jesus proclaimed, the corollary of the in-breaking kingdom.

The disciples are called to be agents who will bring a compelling message to others that will change their lives beyond recognition.

Jesus’ call has the same effect on them.[4]

Amos 4:2 (ESV)

2 The Lord God has sworn by his holiness that, behold, the days are coming upon you, when they shall take you away with hooks, even the last of you with fishhooks.

Jesus is Center Stage

In this significant moment as we again are being confronted with who Jesus is and how we will respond to Him, again Christ is center stage.

This is not so much the story of followers; this is the story of the Messiah, Jesus: His plan, His purpose, His authority, His power; Jesus is front and center.

And the reason that has to be the way the story is told is that that is the core of what it means to be a disciple.

The core of that is to recognize that what God does is He invades your life, and He places Himself at the center of all that is you.

He becomes King!

He is your Savior!

He is your Messiah!

He is your life!

He is your hope!

He is your peace!

It’s Him! It’s Him! It’s Him! It’s Him!

And Mark is ‘want’ to tell the story that way.

If you were going to write this little drama, it’s remarkable!

These guys just got up and they left family; they left business.

I have lots of questions.

You would think that this story would be three or four pages of details, but Mark is confronting us with something: this is the Lord, and He has the right to enter the life of a person and say, “You follow me!”

This is sovereign King Christ.

It's not about your kingdom working; it's about your invitation to participate in the work of a greater Kingdom, and even the way Mark tells the story is that.

This is the Lord; this is the Messiah; this is the Christ, and He has the right to enter people's lives and say, “I have a plan for you.

You follow me.”

Being a disciple is submitting to His authority.

He has the authority to come into our lives and to call us to His purpose.

The immediate function of those called to be fishers of men is to accompany Jesus as witnesses to the proclamation of the nearness of the kingdom and the necessity for men to turn to God through radical repentance.