“The time has come, and the
kingdom of God is right here! Repent, and believe the good news!” Those are the
first words that we hear Jesus speak in the gospel of Mark. They are nothing
less than an introduction to Mark’s entire gospel! In those words, Mark
introduces three themes that he will weave together just like someone might
knit together different colors of yarn into a scarf. First, we don’t have to
wait any longer for the kingdom of God, because it’s right here right now (and
that’s the good news!). Second, the time has come for us to leave the old to
behind so that something new can take its place. And third, repentance is a
vital part of our being able to fit into God’s kingdom. But Mark doesn’t
explain all these things by talking about
them. He doesn’t make us sit through long sermons like those we read in the
gospel of John. No, in his gospel, Mark shows
us God’s kingdom.
And he doesn’t waste any time
in doing it. In the very next scene, Jesus begins to show us what the kingdom
of God looks like. It’s a new community that won’t be made up of just the rich
and famous. Donald Trump might be in it; but so will the guy who washes his car
and the lady who cleans his bathroom. Regular people like you and me will be in
the middle of it! And so Jesus calls four very ordinary men to be his first disciples:
Peter, Andrew, James, and John. We all know what Jesus says to them: “Follow
me, and I will make you fishers of men!”
Now, Jesus isn’t just offering
them a new job. This isn’t just one more task to work into their already busy
schedule. If that were the case, I can imagine Peter asking, “When am I going
to have time to fish for people? I already have more than I can handle fishing
for fish! A week from Tuesday, maybe I can do that. Let
me check my calendar and get back to you.” No, on the contrary, Jesus is
offering these men a whole new identity! They won’t be fish-fishers any more. Now
they’re going to be people-fishers. In the kingdom of God, we don’t just have
new jobs; we are completely new people!
Did you notice that all of
the men Jesus calls respond to his offer? In fact, they hardly stop to think
about it! They follow him “euthus.” That’s the Greek word for “immediately.”
Mark loves that word “euthus”! In fact, he uses it over 40 times in his gospel. The other
gospels don’t use it nearly that much. It only shows up seven times in
Matthew’s gospel; three times in John’s gospel; and Luke only uses it once! But
Mark uses it all the time. He likes the word “immediately” so much that he uses
it an average of once every 16 verses throughout his gospel. Readers get tired
of reading it, and so many Bibles don’t translate it the same way every time it
appears. In some places, people do respond “immediately.” But in others, they
respond “at once,” “without delay,” or “as soon as.” Sometimes, the translators
even leave the word out all together! That wouldn’t make Mark happy at all. He uses
“immediately” like an alarm clock ringing over and over again, urging us to take
action! Mark doesn’t want us to just think
about following Jesus; he wants us to do
something about it right now!
But
there seems to be a problem. In his very first words, Jesus calls us to
“repent.” I don’t see anybody repenting in this scene. I see four men
responding to an interesting offer that Jesus extends to them; but are they
repenting? Actually, they are. To see it, though, we have to understand what
“repentance” meant in Jesus’ day. In Jewish tradition, to “repent” didn’t
necessarily mean to be sorry for something. The Hebrew word that means “to repent,”
“shuv,” literally means to turn around. Repenting simply means changing your
behavior. Now, when you do that, you’re frequently sorry for what you have done
before. But repenting isn’t really about guilt and shame; it’s about changing. When Jesus calls us to repent,
he doesn’t want us to put on sackcloth, sit in a pile of ashes, and beat our
breasts in remorse. When Jesus calls us to repent, he wants us to change!
Did
these four first disciples change? They sure did! When they walked after Jesus,
they left behind a life that was familiar and comfortable, and they began a one
that was new and uncertain. They didn’t know what they would be doing as
people-fishers. They learn that, along with the reader, as they progress
through Mark’s gospel. The only thing that they know when they respond to
Jesus’ offer to follow is that their lives will never be the same again. We
know that from what they left behind.
To
begin with, Peter and Andrew left their nets behind. Now, those nets were the
tools of their trade as fish-fishers. In Jesus’ day, fish weren’t caught with
fishing poles, but with huge nets. No one could be a fish-fisher without a net.
But as people-fishers, they wouldn’t need those nets anymore. They would need
completely new tools! They would need compassion, humility, and courage. They wouldn’t
be dragging in fish by force, but attracting people with love and mercy. Those
nets were what they knew how to use, but they needed to leave them behind.
We
see James and John leaving even more. First, they leave their father Zebedee.
They leave behind their family and their tradition for something completely
new! Now, there was nothing wrong with that tradition. It had raised them, nurtured
them, and formed them into fine young men. But they left it behind when Jesus
offered them something new; and they never even looked back. When the new
arrives, we have to leave the old behind.
They
left something else, too. They left their boats. I think that those boats
represent more than just the tools of their trade as fish-fishers. Those boats
are a symbol of the security that they had enjoyed. After all, their boats had
kept them safe when they were catching fish on the Sea of Galilee. When the
waters became choppy, those boats carried them safely to shore. They would have
kept their boats in the best repair, just as we are careful to take care of our
cars. By walking away from those boats, they walked away from the security of
the life that they had always known.
When
we look at the actions of these four men from the perspective of what they left
behind – tradition, security, and the tools of their trade – it seems
remarkable that they responded so quickly! They followed Jesus immediately! And they didn’t follow
because of a glitzy sales pitch that Jesus gave them. He didn’t flash four
tickets to the Super Bowl and a reservation at the local Hilton Hotel, and say,
“This will be yours if you only follow me!” No, he simply said, “Follow me and
I will make you people-fishers.” What was so attractive about that offer that
those first disciples responded immediately?
Mark’s
gospel doesn’t tell us, of course, but my own guess is that Jesus’ reputation
had preceded him. They knew Jesus as the man who was talking about the kingdom
of God. More than just talking about it, he was announcing that it was right
here, right now! And everyone knew what the kingdom of God was going to be – a
time when the hate and violence and brokenness of the world would disappear to
be replaced by love and peace and healing. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of
that? And so, when Jesus offered these four fish-fishers an apprenticeship in
people-fishing in the kingdom of God, maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that they
followed him immediately.
Of
course, Jesus had some education to do with them. In the first chapters of Mark’s
gospel, he shows his disciples what the kingdom of God really looks like. We’ll
get to that next week. In the meantime, it’s important to remember that Jesus
is still offering us the very same thing that he offered his first disciples –
an opportunity to be people-fishers in God’s kingdom. We know how they
responded. Will we respond that way, too? Will we repent by immediately turning
around and changing our ways? Will we leave our old nets behind and learn new
tools of the trade? Will we move beyond the way that we’ve always done things
and open ourselves to the guidance of the Spirit? Will we take a risk and follow
Jesus into the uncharted territory of God’s kingdom? Are we ready to stop
thinking about the kingdom and follow Jesus into it right away?
“The time has come! The
kingdom of God is right here! Repent, and believe the good news!” Maybe we should follow Jesus – immediately!
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