“Immediately They Left Their Nets And Followed Him”

Mark 1:16-20

     It was God’s purpose that Jesus gather disciples to carry on the work after his ascension to the Father’s side. Here we see some of these disciples being called to accompany the Lord in his work. His work would become their work and they would receive training from the master teacher on how to carry it out. At first glance it may seem odd that these four men simply dropped everything to follow Jesus. As is typical of Mark he offers just enough information to get us from point A to point B. He did not feel the need to inform us that Peter and Andrew knew Jesus from at least one previous meeting and were disciples of John (John 1:35-42). Neither does Mark deem it necessary to tell us that these two sets of brothers were business partners (Luke 5:1-11). This further information gleaned from two other gospel writers helps to flesh out the very abrupt account as recorded by Mark.

     Understanding that these brothers knew Jesus keeps us from imagining that they simply walked off with a complete stranger. However, it does not make what they did any less noteworthy. In fact, I believe quite the opposite is true. Clearly Andrew and Simon had not forgotten their previous meeting with Jesus. John’s testimony, Behold, the Lamb of God!, had left an incredible impact upon Andrew. So moved was he that he hurried to Peter and excitedly exclaimed, We have found the Messiah (John 1:36, 41). We can only guess at the excited conversations between the two brothers following that event. Imagine how animated and enthusiastic such discussions must have become when James and John, the “sons of thunder”, entered the discussion!

     Jesus was the One they had been waiting for. These blue-color working-class men were not scholars, yet they clearly knew the Holy Scriptures. More than simply knowing them, they gave serious thought to what was contained therein. How striking that these men, without any “higher education”, were able to recognize Jesus for who and what he was while so many of much higher achievement failed entirely!

     Of course, at this early stage, their understanding of the Lord’s identity was  infantile. Yet it was enough to move them to drop everything and follow him. Make no mistake: this was not a call to follow Jesus for a day or two and then return to the family business. This was a call to change careers. Where they had been fishing for fish, now they were to dedicate the remainder of their lives to fishing for men. This was a call to leave everything they knew behind, to walk away from the comfortable and the routine, and to commit to something infinitely greater. To follow Jesus was to commit to the unknown and the frightening. It was to choose a life of persecution and conflict. It was to commit to being the one thing man seems to fear being above all else—different. And they did it immediately.

     Someone might ask how they could have done this? A better question is how they could have done anything less? They believed Jesus to be the Messiah. They believed him to be the Savior of the world. They did not understand everything involved in that, but they understood enough to know that when he called they were determined to answer immediately.

     Immediacy. That word carries so much meaning for the Christian life. The prophets and early disciples longed to have what we have now (Matthew 13:17; 1 Peter 1:10-12). We have the completed revelation of God in which we can see the entire picture of His plan to redeem man worked out. Simon, Andrew, James, and John dropped everything to immediately follow the Messiah, understanding initially so little of what it meant. We have it spelled out for us clearly, though a lifetime will be spent in seeking to grasp it in all of its significance. However, we know so much more than they knew simply because it has been revealed. As a result the immediacy of those four men in following Christ ought to characterize our entire lives in service to our Lord.

     William A. Ogden wrote, “Sweet are the promises, kind is the word; dearer far than any message man ever heard; pure was the mind of Christ, sinless I see; He the great example is and pattern for me. Where he leads I’ll follow, follow all the way, follow Jesus every day.” Christians have cherished the words to that beautiful song for more than a century and that’s a good thing. However, an even better thing is to heed those words, particularly the chorus. Are you willing to follow wherever he leads? Even more, are you willing to do it with the immediacy of Simon, Andrew, James, and John?