Mark introduced his readers to the message of the Servant (vv. 14-15) and the first disciples of the Servant (vv. 16-20).
This topic sentence summarizes Jesus' whole ministry in Galilee. It identifies when it started, where it happened, and the essence of what Jesus' proclaimed that was the basis of His ministry.
1:14 Jesus began His Galilean ministry, the first major phase of His public ministry, after His forerunner had ended his ministry. Jesus' forerunner suffered a fate that prefigured what Jesus would experience (cf. 9:31; 14:18). Mark used the same root word in Greek to describe both men. The passive voice of the verb paradidomi("taken into custody"or "put in prison,"lit. delivered up) suggests God's sovereign control over both men's situations.
Probably Jesus chose Galilee as His site of ministry because the influence of hostile Pharisees and chief priests was less there than it was in Judea. Fewer Jews lived in Samaria, which lay between Judea and Galilee.
". . . Jesus changes setting more than forty times in his travels throughout Galilee and into gentile territory."39
Jesus heralded the good news of God. The Greek construction permits two different translations: "the good news about God"and "the good news from God."Mark probably intended the second meaning because the next verse explains what the good news that God revealed through Jesus was. Preaching this good news was Jesus' characteristic activity, and it was foundational for all the other forms of His ministry.
1:15 Jesus' message consisted of two declarations and two commands. First, He declared that the time that God had predicted in the Old Testament had arrived. He was referring to the end of the present age and the beginning of the messianic age, as His second declaration clarified (cf. Gal. 4:4; Heb. 1:2; 9:6-15).
The term "kingdom"(Gr. basileia) as it occurs with "the kingdom of God"in Scripture does not just mean everything over which God exercises sovereign authority.40It means a particular worldwide kingdom over which He Himself will rule directly.41Of course God does sovereignly rule over all and over His people in a more particular sense (2 Chron. 29:12; Ps. 103:19-20). However this is not the rule of God that the Old Testament prophets spoke of when they described a descendant of David ruling over all the earth from Jerusalem. Many Old Testament passages predicted the coming of this kingdom (2 Sam. 7:8-17; Isa. 11:1-9; 24:23; Jer. 23:5-6; Mic. 4:6-7; Zech. 9:9-10; 14:9; cf. Matt. 20:21; Mark 10:37; 11:10; 12:35-37; 15:43; Luke 1:31-33; 2:25, 38; Acts 1:6). Jesus' Jewish hearers knew exactly what He meant when He said the kingdom of God was at hand, or they should have if they did not. The presence of the King argued for the nearness of His kingdom, but it was still in the future (cf. 9:47-48).
The Jews needed to make a double response since the kingdom of God was at hand. They needed to repent and believe. These two words call for successive actions, but the action is really one act that involves two steps taken almost simultaneously. Repenting involves turning from something, and believing involves embracing something else. For example, a drowing man who is clinging to a scrap of wood needs to do two things when a lifeguard reaches him. He needs to release the wood and entrust himself to the lifeguard.
When John the Baptist called the Jews to repent, he urged them to abandon their former hope of salvation because the Lifeguard was there to save them. When Jesus said, "Believe in the gospel,"He meant, "Believe the good news that Messiah is here."Messiah was the subject of the gospel and the object of belief.
This is the only occurrence of the phrase "believe in [Gr. en] the gospel"in the New Testament. It points to the gospel as the basis of faith.
The account of the calling of these first disciples clarifies that to repent and believe the gospel (v. 15) should result in abandoning one's former life to follow Jesus from then on. This is the appropriate response that Mark commended to his readers with these disciples' example.
1:16 The Sea of Galilee was the scene of a thriving fishing industry in Jesus' day. Simon and Andrew were fishermen by trade. Fishermen on this lake did not enjoy high social standing, but their work required skill. The Greek word for net describes a circular rope with a tent-shaped net attached. Fishermen threw this type of net out into the water, let it sink, and then drew the rope that closed the neck of the trap and secured the fish inside.
1:17-18 Simon (Peter) and Andrew had met Jesus previously (John 1:35-42). Mark stressed the urgency of Jesus' call and the immediacy of the disciples' response. Normally young men who wanted to learn from a rabbi sought one out, but Jesus called Simon and Andrew to participate in an urgent task with Him.
"Follow me"meant "come behind me as a disciple."It was an invitation, but in view of who Jesus was it had the force of a command. The figure of fishing people out of divine judgment comes from the Old Testament (Jer. 16:16; Ezek. 29:4-5, 38:4; Amos 4:2; Hab. 1:14-17). Likewise the sea had a metaphorical meaning of sin and death (Isa. 57:20-21). This illustration would have appealed to fishermen. Jesus was calling these men to assist Him in delivering people from divine judgment by taking the gospel to them. As fishing, this work would also involve hard work, self-sacrifice, and skill.
The brothers' response was admirably immediate (Gr. euthys). They began to follow Jesus by quitting their jobs as fishermen. Their commitment to Jesus increased as time passed. There is a strong emphasis on discipleship in the second Gospel. Evidently Simon and Andrew believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but they had much to learn about His full identity (cf. John 3:22-30).
1:19-20 Jesus then issued the same call to two similar brothers with the same response. All four men were evidently partners in the fishing business (cf. Luke 5:7, 10). James and John had also come to believe that Jesus was the Messiah (John 1:35-42). Mark recorded more about their decision to follow Jesus than he did about Simon and Andrew's. James (Jacob in Hebrew) and John broke family ties to follow Jesus. The mention of hired men suggests that Zebedee owned a prosperous business that James and John left. It also shows that these brothers did not leave their father all alone; they were not being irresponsible. The main point, however, is the immediacy of their response to Jesus. This reflects Jesus' great authority over people. James and John were Jesus' cousins (cf. Matt. 27:55-56; Mark 15:40; John 19:25). However, they did not yet know that He was God.
"Noteworthy is that the call of each pair of brothers conforms to an identical pattern, to wit: (a) Underway, (b) Jesus sees the brothers, (c) calls them, and (d) immediately they go after him. By means of this pattern, Mark sets forth the nature and purpose of discipleship.
"The nature of discipleship is joining oneself to Jesus in total allegiance. . . .
"The purpose of discipleship is announced by Jesus in his call to Simon and Andrew: Come after me, and I shall make you become fishers of men' (1:17). Plainly, discipleship has mission work' as its purpose. Striking is the universal nature of the mission Jesus envisages."42
"Except perhaps for Judas, the disciples do not greatly influence the plot, or course of events, in Mark's story. . . .
"Though a group, the disciples plainly stand out as a single character.
". . . the many traits the disciples exhibit spring from two conflicting traits: The disciples are at once loyal' and uncomprehending.' On the one hand, the disciples are loyal': Jesus summons them to follow him and they immediately leave behind their former way of life and give him their total allegiance. On the other hand, the disciples are uncomprehending': Understanding fully neither the identity nor the destiny of Jesus and not at all the essential meaning of discipleship, they forsake Jesus during his passion."43
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