Mark 1:16-20 – They left their nets

As we have discovered earlier, the Gospel of Mark is a fast moving book. Mark would leave out details and go for the crux of the matter. Here again we find him dropping the peripheral and centering immediately on the core. This was not the first time that Jesus spoke to these first four disciples of His, namely Andrew and Peter, James and John. According to Luke 5:1-11 and John 1:35-42, Jesus had engaged them on other occasions. It was at this point that Jesus made His invitation to these four disciples undeniably clear.

We notice that all four were ordinary fishermen. Their world and lives were limited to the confine of Galilee. Perhaps they would go to Jerusalem for the annual Jewish festivals. Otherwise they were largely very restricted to the sea of Tiberius, the boat and the nets. Here Mark portrayed Christ walking into their world and called them out of it into His. They were accustomed to catching fish but Christ called them to the task of catching men for the Kingdom. Four ordinary men willingly followed Christ became world changers. They went on to be theologians, thinkers, strategists, and their lives had made an impact in many, including ours.

Being fishermen and to be good at their task, would require the four to know everything about the sea, the boat, the nets and the nature of fish. Think of how much more resolve and thoughtfulness would be required to be fisher of men. And as they made a choice to follow Christ, they opened themselves to the privilege of having His attention and personal nurturing.  

For them, following Christ meant leaving the mundane trivial of life. They left their nets, their boats and their trade. Their hearts were open to the Lord of the universe to become world changers. Being the object of Christ’s love and having made the choice to unquestionably follow Him, they rose to heights they otherwise could not have reached. Christ promised to commit Himself to them and to make them what they were born and called to be.

One lesson rings clearly from this account. Christ expects us to trust and obey Him. His call into a relationship with Him requires changes in our orientation, our personal habits, our occupation and even our family relationship. He wants to make us His faithful witnesses. As much as the response of these disciples was a model to Mark’s audience, it is also a model to us. It shows us how we should trust and obey Christ our Lord. Like them, let’s respond immediately, resolutely and leave the ordinary mundane trivial, so that we can embrace the critical and important unseen reality of the eternal realm!