The first words of any story are really important. They set the stage for everything that follows. They hint at the most important themes of the story. The first words Jesus spoke, as he launched out on his public ministry, are also really important. They are loaded with significance.
“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God.” (Mark 1:14)
Some time has passed after Jesus was baptized by his cousin John. After the baptism, Jesus spent an extended time in the wilderness, fasting and praying, seeking clarity about the mission given to him by his heavenly Father. Meanwhile, John has been arrested by for criticizing the immoral living of King Herod. From now on, Jesus will set out publicly on the path of the Messiah prepared by John. What will he be doing? Proclaiming “the gospel of God.”
The gospel of God. It’s slightly uncommon in the New Testament—we more often hear something like “the gospel of Jesus Christ.” St. Paul begins letter to Romans using this phrase. Listen:
“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 1:1-4)
The gospel, evangelion, good news, is not good news about God. It is news that comes from God. It is the absolutely essential message he wants to send to humanity. A message that he promised through the prophets. A message that concerns his Son, the Messiah, the second David.
Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled.” Greek has two words to describe time. Chronos refers to the moment by moment passing of time, something we can measure with a clock. Kairos is a particular moment in time that is so decisive that it defines everything that comes after. An historic moment that shapes history. Together, the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus are the kairos moment par exellence, the most important moment in all of history. (That’s why we divide history between everything that happened before Jesus came, and everything that followed his coming.) It is this time, this kairos, that the Lord says is fulfilled.
“The time is fulfilled.” The word for “fulfilled” is “pleroma.” It has the sense of unsurpassable abundance, something that is bursting at seams, spilling out. From creation, and from the call of Abraham throughout the whole history of Israel, God has prepared everything leading up to this moment. Everything is on the line here.
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.” Now, what is the kingdom of God? You probably know that it is not something that can be found on a world map. And it’s not heaven. In the Lord’s Prayer, we don’t pray that “we may go to thy Kingdom”—we pray “Thy Kingdom come.” The kingdom is something that comes to the earth.
The Old Testament teaches us that the kingdom of God is the kingdom of the king of heaven and earth. It describes God’s personal visitation to this fallen world, for the purpose of making his gracious rule manifest. It is God’s gracious reign, under which he will redeem the world through his Messiah.
“The kingdom of God is at hand.” This doesn’t just mean near in time, like a concert about to start, but also physically near. Near because the King is standing right here. And because the King is standing right here, that means it’s time to make a decision about him. When the Lord Jesus encounters a person, he demands a decision about himself. He doesn’t allow sitting on the fence. He requires a commitment. There are only two ways we can respond to the Messiah: Yes or no. If you receive the Messiah, the Savior, you receive the kingdom of God, and eternal life. If you reject the Messiah, you pass into the judgment of God.
The problem, as Jesus well knows, is that sinful human beings are incapable of saying a robust “yes” to the Messiah. Jesus is very direct here: You’re not ready to enter the kingdom yet. First, you have to repent and believe. These are the only conditions to receiving the gift of salvation. The offer of salvation is open to anybody and everybody. But to accept the offer, Christ demands repentance and faith.
Repentance—the Greek word means changing the direction of your heart, changing your mindset, moving from a self-centered to a God-centered life—is how we can pass through the threshold into salvation. It entails fleeing from sin and putting trust in Christ alone. Without repentance, our sin cannot be washed away. It’s like soap when you wash oily hands. The water is the salvation Christ offers. The soap is our repentance.
The first call of Jesus—to repentance and belief—is universal. It is a call to all people, everywhere. The second call is personal, directed at Simon and Andrew, James and John.
“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.” (Mark 1:16-18)
The first thing Jesus did after announcing the kingdom was to call together a community of learners to begin building that kingdom.
Simon and Andrew, James and John were all fishermen. The Sea of Galilee is quite large, about 21 km long and 13 km wide. It is surrounded by green nature. In the ancient world, it was one of the most productive bodies of water for the fishing industry. Lots of fishermen worked there.
It says that Simon and Andrew were casting their nets. The nets were circular, about four meters in diameter, with weights at the edges. Fishermen would cast the next to collect the fish. So, when Jesus says, “I will make you become fishers of men,” he is saying that the mission of the apostles, and of the Church that followed them, will be to bring people into the kingdom of God just like fishermen bring fish into a net.
Jesus is direct: “Follow me.” This is striking. In Jewish society, rabbis never recruited students. Would-be students had to request to study under a rabbi and then jump through all sorts of hoops before being allowed to affiliate with the rabbi. But Jesus as a rabbi chooses his students and enrolls them in his rabbinic school.
“Follow me.” The word suggests walking around together. And that’s how Jesus ran his rabbinic school. For three years, he and the disciples walked around together from town to town. Jesus lectured along the way and the disciples walked behind him, memorizing what he said. But to be a disciple of a rabbi wasn’t only about learning. It also meant becoming a servant of the rabbi. It was by no means an easy lifestyle.
So, Jesus is really saying, “Be my students and be my servants.” And, without hesitation, Simon Peter and Andrew accept his offer. And in a little while, so do James and John.
“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 1:19-20)
Can you imagine Zebedee’s astonishment? As a father whose children are leaving the nest, I can sympathize with him. Zebedee watches as his two sons, who were supposed in inherit the family business, walk off down the road with a strange rabbi.
I don’t think we need to imagine that this is the disciples’ first encounter with Jesus. Capernaum was bigger than Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth, but the population was still only about 1,500 people. When a rabbi called Jesus of Nazareth appeared and started to boldly proclaim the kingdom of God, I imagine he made quite a splash throughout the town.
So, it’s quite easy to imagine that the disciples had seen Jesus around and heard him speak. Maybe they sensed something extraordinary about him. We read elsewhere in the Bible that people were impressed with how powerfully Jesus taught. Maybe they talked about Rabbi Jesus while they were fishing. So, when at last the moment came, and Jesus called, their hearts were already prepared to some extent to accept his call.
Have you ever experienced something like that? Has there ever been a moment in your life when you faced a decision, and you sensed that the way you decided would somehow shape the rest of your life? Has there ever been a moment when you sensed that, if you passed up this chance lying before you, you would probably regret it for the rest of your life?
That is a lot like the decision we face when Jesus encounters us and calls us to follow him. Every Christian is called to be a student of Christ and to serve him. Following Jesus is not an easy, undemanding life. And it is no cake walk. It can be painful at times and hard going. It involves responsibilities. Jesus requires a strong commitment from us, even while he offers no assurance of security or prosperity in this world. Jesus as Simon Peter and the others left behind nets, boats, jobs, when we follow Jesus we often have to leave behind certain important things, or make sacrifices.
What’s more, the call to follow Jesus is not only an initial, one-time thing. Many times in life, we face the choice of following the Lord Jesus or conforming to the world. Sometimes the choice is just an internal struggle. But sometimes such choices impact our lives, and the lives of our families, or shape our future.
So, Jesus’ call—“Follow me”—demands a response. Yes or no. Moreover, anything that is no a heartfelt “yes” goes into the “no” column. It demands a strong commitment. It involves responsibilities. And it is not accompanied by any assurance of security or prosperity in this world.
But what it is accompanied by is a purpose in life. Direction. It involves the satisfaction of knowing we are serving, in some small way, the King of the heaven and earth and helping to build his kingdom in this world. It involves the joy of companionship with Christ, by his Spirit. And, from the perspective of eternity, it most certainly does involve the assurance of unshakeable security. It offers the immeasurable reward of life everlasting in the glory of the heavenly kingdom, of being able to behold Christ face-to-face.
Let us pray. Give us the grace to follow you, Lord Jesus, body and soul, wherever you lead us. Let us taste joy as we walk with you, learn from you, serve you, and act as your instruments of blessing in the world as, together with you, we build up your kingdom. Amen.