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Sermons

April 1/2, 2017

Follow Me

Jason Meyer | Mark 1:16-20

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. 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 1:16–20

Introduction
I think we can all observe a common pattern in terms of our consumer culture. We typically try different things to get people to commit. Before you sign on the dotted line, take a test drive. Try two months free before you commit to a year contract. This is especially true in our day. Perhaps never before has a generation had such a difficult time with commitment. We demand options and incentives and we expect to have people bend according to our changing tastes or desires. It is a well-known saying that people today don’t want to RSVP for something but just show up at the last minute because they are always keeping their options open—something better could come up and they want the freedom to choose between all the open doors at the last moment.

The ancient world of rabbi and disciple was somewhat similar. A student would follow a teacher. They would hear him teach and then ask him if they could be his disciples.

We are entering a completely different world today in our text. There is nothing like this anywhere. You will see it in the very breakdown of the text. The text follows a very clear pattern: Divine call and human response. Jesus saw, Jesus called/said; immediately they left and followed.

1.    Divine Call (vv. 16–17; vv. 19–20)
2.    Human Response (v. 18, v. 20)

Let us see it together.

1. Divine action (vs. 16–17; 19–20)

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 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.

Did you see the absolutely staggering difference between these disciples and other disciples in the ancient world? The teacher would have disciples ask if they could learn Torah from him. Prophets did not call people to follow themselves, but God (1 Kings 19:19–21). This is not a consumer culture, but a King culture. When the king calls, the subjects obey. Jesus commanded people to “follow me.”

There are two indicators that Jesus is the divine Son of God in these verses. The first piece of evidence comes with the phrase “I will make you fishers of men” (v. 17). Jesus does not invent this metaphor or use it for the first time. The second piece of evidence is the nature of the command “follow me” (v. 17).

First, where did Jesus get this imagery? Was it a clever play on words? Was it that he saw that they were fishermen and the thought came to him—wouldn’t it be clever if I called these fishermen to be fishers of men?

The Old Testament backdrop shows that Jesus is God.

“Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD, and they shall catch them."—Jeremiah 16:16

You make mankind like the fish of the sea,
     like crawling things that have no ruler.
He brings all of them up with a hook;
     he drags them out with his net;
     he gathers them in his dragnet;
so he rejoices and is glad.—Habakkuk 1:14–15

This metaphor surprisingly shows up a number of times in the preaching of the prophets, and it is always associated with divine judgment (see Ezekiel 29:4–6; Ezekiel 38:4; Amos 4:2–3). In Mark 6, Jesus sends out the disciples with a built in symbol of judgment.

And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.—Mark 6:7–13

Jesus refers to the metaphor in the same way later in his teaching in Matthew’s Gospel.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.— Matthew 13:47–50

What is the point? How does this highlight the deity of Jesus? Each time you see the metaphor in the Old Testament, God is the one calling and sending the fishers of men: “Behold, I am sending for many fishers, declares the LORD (Jeremiah 16:16).

People with eyes to see and ears to hear would read this and say, “Wait a minute —that is what God said he would do at the end time?!” Yes, exactly. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom has drawn near. Look at what Jesus is doing!
 
Second, equally staggering is the way that Jesus calls the disciples. He just calls them. Mark does not present any other indicator of why they would follow. The disciples do not say, “you make a pretty compelling case for why we should follow. We are convinced.” He does not threaten—“follow me or else.” He does not incentivize—“follow me and I will give you …” He just says, “follow me,” and they follow.

This is the sheer power of the Creator. Let there be light and there was light. He commands the demons to flee and they do. He commands the wind to stop and it does. He commands lepers to be cleansed and they are. Demons do not stop and say, “You know you make a good point, I am not convinced.” The power is found in the word as a word of command, not a word of appeal that would try to persuade or present a case.

The word is a word of power, a word of creation. God has the power to create what he calls for. You will see the same thing in chapter two when we come to the paralytic. He says to the paralyzed man: “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” It would be cruel to do that if it was anyone other than Jesus. The paralyzed man does not suddenly say, “You know, I have been lazy and lacking sufficient motivation, but now your pep talk has rallied me.” Dead legs are no problem for the power of Jesus words. Dead girls are no problem (“Little girl, rise”). Dead hearts are no problem either (“follow me”). “One begins to see that becoming a disciple of Jesus is more of a gift than an achievement” (Christopher Marshall, Faith as a Theme, p. 136). We now see the result of Jesus’ call.

2. Human response (vv. 18, 20)

And immediately they left their nets and followed him. ...
And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.—Mark 1:18, 20

Last week we had a radical message and response. This week we have a radical call followed by radical obedience. To follow Jesus, they had to leave something else. Do you see the radical nature of this obedience? It may be hard for us to comprehend the pressure of continuing the family business. One commentator (N.T. Wright, Mark for Everyone, pp. 7–8) compares this to the poet John Betjeman.

The poet John Betjeman describes in his verse autobiography how his father put pressure on him to follow him into the family business. The young John had no desire to do so; he wanted to be a poet. That’s just a stupid dream, said his father; you’ve got to enter the family business, not only to make money, but for the family honour. You’re the fourth generation. You’ve got to carry it on. The young man refused, and followed his own vocation, ending up as Poet Laureate, with a memorial in Westminster Abbey.

We have no idea how many generations the Zebedee family had been fishing on the sea of Galilee, but it was quite likely a lot more than four. In that country and culture, as in many countries and cultures to this day, a small family business can be handed on not only through generations but through centuries. It’s safe and secure; people know what they’re doing. If times are hard, the usual answer is simply to work a bit harder

This little story is earthshattering. I am going to speak very personally for a moment. I am going to let you into my mind and heart in terms of what my greatest longings are for you as members of Bethlehem. I believe that God has called me to be a pastoral theologian.

A pastoral theologian is not merely someone who has two separate passions: theology and people. A pastoral theologian blends both of those passions together into a unified vocational mission. A pastoral theologian sets his sights upon shepherding his people into a shared vision of God that shines through in everyday life.

Let us look at the two parts of this phrase “pastoral theologian” separately and then see the catalytic change that comes from fusing them together into a unified vocation. A pastoral theologian is a theologian because he is captivated by a glorious vision of God. A pastoral theologian is a pastor because he is captivated by a calling to shepherd a specific flock. He is a pastoral theologian because he is driven by a question: “What would this glorious vision of God look like in the life of a people?” What if my people were to savor this vision of God such that they would cast down their idols? How would this vision of God make an impact their parenting? How would it shine through in their marriage? How would it transform how they work and how they interact with others in the workplace?

Oh that we would be a people who follow Jesus. What would this look like when fleshed out in everyday life?! Always ready—quick to follow—ready and responsive. Jesus, just say the word. How I love to see the glory of obedience. Do you ever think in those terms? Do you think obedience is an ugly, legalistic term? Have you never seen that obedience should be the most natural and obvious thing in the world? Men and women are in their glory when they have their eye on the Master in that way—ready to obey. In our sin, we are often compared to stiff-necked animals that are stubborn and slow to move or do anything.

Do you see what true repentance and faith looks like? It is discipleship. It looks like following Jesus. There is total abandonment. There is no 30-day, money-back guarantee. There is no picking and choosing or customizing. There is simply following—surrender and abandonment. It means that he drives. We don’t ask him to ride shotgun and we call the shots with the Driver’s seat.

How we try to compartmentalize! I will give you my heart, but I will still sleep around or party or drink or spend my money however I want. Hear me, you can’t give your heart to Christ and keep your body or your money or your time for yourself. That is nonsense.

Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.” The Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly Father knows you need them. Do you see how the gospel and the call of Christ is radically different? Our view of life determines how we live this life. Those who don’t know God believe that the things of this world is what life is all about, so they live for them. We have a false view of life when we seek other things first. What are the things we hold on to and cleave to? First and foremost, those things are your god. Jesus is simply saying, “I am God and all other claims on your life are pushed down so that my voice rises above all the rest.” We live for more of whatever it is we think will make us happy and fill the void. According to Jesus, what is wrong with the world is that the world puts the wrong things first.

Dear friends, we have the opportunity to put your world back right-side up in line with why you were made. Put Christ first. Seek his kingdom first. He will take care of the rest. It means that other forms of comfort, control, and security are not decisive anymore. The happiness of people who don’t know God depends upon the amount of money, food, clothing—whatever that they have. Christian happiness is how much we have of Christ. He is our joy, our shelter, our strong tower, our all in all.

But don’t you see what is at stake here? We are talking about a master and a slave. The lie of this life is that pursuing these things will make you happy and you can be the master of your life. No, these things make you slaves. Why do you think the time in which we live is a time of so much anxiety and uneasiness and strain and frayed nerves and stress. You cannot have these things as your priorities without having them master you and making you their slave. Jesus said so.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”—Matthew 6:24

Why become a slave to money? For what? What do you really gain? What would it profit a man if he would gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? Only Jesus saves. That is why he calls us to follow him. Not only because he is worthy and following him is the right thing to do—it is the best thing to do because he is better than all the rest by far. Our hearts are made for him and they are restless until they find their rest in him.

We live in a world where the self is the main topic of conversation. The call of Jesus means that we stop taking every conversation or every experience or every decision and making it about ourselves. We die to self so that we can follow him. Yes, the cost is high.

Consider what church tradition tells us about these four men. Peter was crucified upside down, Andrew was crucified in Greece, James was beheaded, and John was exiled. Why have we wandered away from this sense of total abandonment. There is nothing about Christianity that is a causal association to Christ. We can be most certain about the eternal, even while being most uncertain about the temporal. I can’t tell you what will happen for followers of Christ in the next 10 years, but I can tell you with certainty what will happen in 10,000 years.

If this Jesus, comes with his kingly authority and personally calls you to follow him, your life will look different. David Platt tells a story (Follow Me, p. 17) that illustrates this very well:

Imagine you and I set up a meeting for lunch at a restaurant, and you arrive before I do. You wait and wait and wait, but thirty minutes later, I still haven’t arrived. When I finally show up, completely out of breath, I say to you, ‘I’m so sorry I’m late. When I was driving over here, my car had a flat tire, and I pulled over on the side of the interstate to fix it. While I was fixing it, I accidentally stepped into the road, and a Mack truck going about seventy miles per hour suddenly hit me head-on. It hurt, but I picked myself up, finished putting the spare tire on the car, and drove over here.

If this were the story I shared, you would know I was either deliberately lying or completely deceived. Why? Because if someone gets hit by a Mack truck going seventy miles per hour, that person is going to look very different than he did before!”

Conclusion: Follow Jesus to the Table (Remember and Proclaim)
Are you following him? You either follow him or you don’t. You either belong to him or you don’t. You can’t be almost pregnant. You can’t be almost Christian. The call to become fishers of men only comes to complete fulfillment after they come back to Galilee where Jesus meets them after the resurrection. It is not until we see the cross and the resurrection that we can truly follow and truly believer.

David Platt tells the story of sharing the gospel with a group of Muslim men in the Middle East (Follow Me, p. 41). One of them said …

“God would not debase himself by becoming a man … His character is too great for that.” Platt said, “I agree that God’s character is great, and that is precisely why he came to earth as a man.” “I don’t understand,” the man said. Platt replied, “Let me tell you a story and then ask you a question.” The man consented. “The story is about me and a girl. I loved this girl, and I wanted to marry her. So when it came time for me to tell her how much I loved her and to ask her to marry me, do you think that I sent one of my friends to relay that message for me?” The man replied, “No, of course not. You need to be the one to tell her that you love her and ask her to marry you.” Platt said, “Exactly. I needed to go to her and tell her myself, because in matters of love, one must go himself, right? The man replied, “yes, that is right.” Then Platt concluded, “This is how God shows the greatness of his character toward us. He has not ultimately sent this person or that prophet, this message or that messenger to communicate his love for us. Instead, he has come himself, because in matters of love, one must go himself.” The man sat back and smiled. It seems that his heart was opening for the first time to the idea that God displays the greatness of his love not by staying distant from us, but by coming directly to us.

Sermon Discussion Questions

Outline

  1. Divine Call (vv. 16–17, 19–20)
  2. Human Response (vv. 18, 20)

Main Point: Follow Jesus.

Discussion Questions

  • What are the two indicators that Jesus is the divine Son of God in verses 16–20?
  • What does repentance and faith (vv. 14–15) really look like in verses 16–20?
  • How do you explain the radical response of the disciples? Where did that immediate obedience originate? Why does that matter? 

Application Questions

  • Are you following Christ? Is there a specific cost to follow Jesus in your life? Are there things like “nets” or even a “father” you had to leave in order to follow? 
  • What would it look like to take the next step in total abandonment to Christ? What is the first thing you need to do in order to follow him today?
  • What truths landed upon you in this message that you need to share with others in your life? How can you share these truths? Devote it to prayer.

Prayer Focus
Pray for a grace to follow Christ with complete surrender and total abandon.

For Further Reflection: See Pastor Jason's Biblearc of Mark 1:16–20.