Mark 1:14-20 | And We're Off...

Levi Stuckey

Enriching Tradition | Epiphany: Jesus, Man of Mystery • Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago • 45:55

Mark 1:14–20

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We are a people who lay down and leave behind our stuff to follow Jesus when he calls.

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I’ve entitled today’s message “And We’re Off...” because as hopefully you see from the text this morning, it feels like Jesus has just come out of the blocks and He’s on a full sprint in the race of His ministry.

Right, 2 weeks ago we looked at what we could describe as the starting shot of Jesus ministry. He was baptized by John and a voice was heard from Heaven declaring Jesus to be God’s son in whom He is very well pleased!

Immediately after that, the Spirit is said to have lead Jesus into the wilderness where He was tested by Satan, and now that He has come out of that encounter victorious He’s off to the races. Declaring His mission and gathering followers to Himself.

And as we saw last week, Jesus is dropping clues for receptive hearts as to who He is and what He’s up to, but He’s being a bit more hidden and cryptic about his mission than the voice from Heaven we saw at first.

We talked a bit about what that is last week. If you’ll remember, we said that love requires some level of choice and so God is hidden enough so that those who don’t want to know Him, can avoid Him altogether, but for those that do want to know God, He’s present enough so that they can choose to see Him and to love Him and live in relationship with Him.

Jesus is modeling for us what this looks like, what it looks like for the Kingdom of God to come near.

Now before we unpack that statement, I want you to see where it comes from in Mark 1:14-20. That’s where will be this morning.

And We’re Off.... off to what, off to where? Those are are the questions I want to dive into after we read the passage. So lets do that. Open your Bibles, swipe there and lets learn a bit more together about Jesus the Man of Mystery!

Mark 1:14–20 (NIV)

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.

19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Alright, we’re just gonna go line by line this morning.

We’ll start with the first phrase Mark records for us: After John was put in prison...

The John, Mark is referring to is none other than Johnny B as in John the Baptist, Jesus’s cousin and the man sent in the Spirit of Elijah who was prophesied about (Malachi 4:5-6). Johnny B was sent by God to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, the King of Israel who would save the people from their sins!

In modern day language, John the Baptist was Jesus’ Hype man! He was like His publicist. Announcing His arrival and drumming up viral sensations that peaked the public interest about who this new young rabbi was on the scene!

And as Johnny was stirring up the hype, he himself becomes quite a public figure and we get the sense that his ministry and Jesus’ ministry had some overlap. We read as much in John chapter 3. Jesus and John sort of do ministry in concert with one another, but John recognizes and tells His disciples that his ministry must decrease as Jesus’ ministry begins to run at a faster clip.

In John 3:30 Johnny B tells his disciples that

John 3:30 (NIV)

30 He [Meaning Jesus] must become greater; I must become less.”

And that’s what Mark wants to clues us in on. In true Markian fashion, he does it with as few words as possible because he’s in a hurry to tell us who Jesus is and how we should respond to him. Mark is drawing out without much detail that Johnny B is now fading into the background and Jesus is stepping up large and in charge onto the world stage of ministry.

And you might be thinking, world stage. That’s perhaps a bit over statement, I mean look at the text, it says after John gets “put in prison that Jesus went to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God.”

And you might be thinking Galilee, I’ve seen that in movies about Jesus, that was some small backwater, rural no name place. And while that is often the impression we get when we think of Biblical towns, that couldn’t be farther from the truth in regards to Galilee!

I want you to hear what one commentator I read this week says of the city of Galilee, he writes:

The Message of Mark (1. Jesus Proclaims the Good News (1:14–15))

Galilee was the centre of a humming political and commercial life. It stood at the crossroads of the nations of the ancient world, through which the armies and the traders and the diplomats passed. There, some of the greatest battles of the world had been fought.… Galilee was the home of a thoroughly cosmopolitan population: many languages would be heard in the markets; multiple ethnicities mixed freely there. Galilee was a land of passing excitements and dangerous fashions, of a barbarous dialect and offensive manners.

Which makes me think of one of those pirate villages from a pirates of the Caribbean movies, right!

Essentially, Galilee was a hustling and bustling place where many cultures came together and clashed. Political tensions, ethnic tensions ran high. And as it was a major crossroads of culture and commerce, what happened in Galilee spread quickly out into the rest of the modern world.

My point is this, Galilee was a very strategic place for Jesus to begin His ministry. But He does not begin the ministry as one might expect. While His Baptism was fairly public and straightforward, the rest of the kick off to Jesus ministry is a bit more hidden and cryptic.

Jesus is clear that something new is happening and that He’s rallying people to this new mission, but the specifics as to what this mission is have yet to really be defined.

Even the call of the disciples leaves us with many questions as we’ll see.

Jesus is direct in his call of these fisherman, and they seem to follow almost immediately. But, we as readers are left wondering, what would make these people leave their lives behind so quickly and follow this man of mystery? Mark doesn’t tell us. Thankfully the other gospels aren’t quite as sparse on the details and so we can understand a bit more why, but Mark is not concerned as much with the psychology of it. What he’s more concerned with is illustrating for us that Jesus came, He came with a mission and a call to follow and the disciples illustrate for us what kind of response is expected. Jesus calls and they followed. That’s how this thing is supposed to work!

And before we talk about Peter, Andrew, James, and John, I want to briefly examine what Jesus’ call encompassed.

As He enters Galilee, Mark tells us that Jesus begins proclaiming what will become the drum beat of His ministry. He begins proclaiming the good news which He defines as the Kingdom of God coming near! That’s the content of His message and He expects a response. The response to this message He says should be to repent and believe this good news!

Now remember, we should be trying to read this as if this were the first time we’ve ever heard it. Think if you were alive when Jesus was saying these things. Sure we have the benefit of the New Testament if you’ve read it, you probably have a good idea about what Jesus means when He says that Kingdom of God is near and that we should repent and believe this good news. But if you haven’t read the NT or if you were one of Jesus’ first hearers, you would have been super confused? Is Jesus about to lead a revolution? What’s this guy up to?

Truly He was a mysterious figure that people really really struggled to figure out. The chosen does a great job of illustrating this. Occasional int hat show we get to drop in on Roman Officials discussing Jesus and His ministry and they are intrigued but also nervous because a lot of what Jesus says has political ramifications and echos of revolution. Many of the Jewish, in fact, are hoping that Jesus would lead a political revolution.

What the people heard when Jesus says, the time has come, God’s Kingdom is near, what they heard from this and what Jesus meant were 2 different things. The people heard Kingdom of God and instantly thought of political revolution but when Jesus speaks of the Kingdom of God, until He returns again, what He means is spiritual transformation!

When Jesus says the Kingdom of God has come near He is referring to the rule and reign of God upon the earth, but in a Spiritual sense.

If I were to paraphrase Jesus, I think we could say something like this!

Listen up everyone! The time has come! Up until now, Satan has been large and in charge here on this earth, but now I’m coming to reestablish my rule and reign here for anyone what wants to follow me! I will rewire your hearts and minds so that you can follow me in a way that’s been impossible up until this point! I’m going to pour out my Spirit on all men and women who want to follow me! If you want to live under my Kingship! You can! My Kingdom is near. It’s close! Come be my people and I will be your King!

You see when Jesus speaks of His Kingdom, He has in view His rule and His reign. And even though the earth has it’s rulers and it’s countries and nations, anyone can come under His rule and reign if they so choose and they can live with Jesus as their King over and above whoever else they find themselves under earthly speaking!

So Jesus invites people to follow Him as their King and then He gives some definition, although not a lot of definition to what following Him as their King looks like. He says my Kingdom has come near. So, repent and believe this good news!

And we’re going to talk about those 2 words in a minute, but before we do, let me say a word about confusion.

What Jesus says here is more than a little mysterious. Again, imagine hearing this for the first time. The best most people could come up is prolly who is this guy and what is the world is he talking about? The Kingdom of God is near? Repent. Believe this good news? Jesus I have no idea what you’re even talking about Jesus!

And for some I gotta believe that was the end of if for them. Right, for a lot of people confusion shuts us down! Especially in our world of information and expects, when we’re confused many many of us are embarrassed by that and we just pretend like we know what’s going on and start thinking about how we can get out of here before anyone finds out that we’re clueless and we determine never to let us be found in a situation where our ignorance can be found out ever again!

This is what happens with a lot of folks who attend church for the first time. They come and everything is foreign. the songs. The getting up and sitting down. The praying. The words the pastor uses… the names of Bible characters or even turning to a book in the Bible! For many folks, this is all like a foreign language and sometimes that confusion is enough to make someone determine, never again! I don’t want to feel stupid, I don’t to be found out as not knowing or not fitting in and so never again!

This is not new. I gotta believe their were people early on as Jesus is kicking off His ministry, that are feeling this way and they just peace out! Nope! I don't’ know who this guy is or what he’s on about. Best case scenario he’s gonna get killed by Rome… worst case scenario he gets lots of other people killed with him by Rome. I’m out!

You see, confusion can drive us away sometimes. But it can also have the opposite effect. For the insecure and those who are unsure of who they are. For the fearful, confusion tens to drives them away, but for people who know who they are and are comfortable in their own skin, people who understand that God loves them and people who have a supportive community, for these people confusion tends to make them curious and it draws them in!

Before we move on let me acknowledge 2 things with you. 1. Jesus and the Bible are mysterious and cryptic and confusing at times. I don’t always understand and rarely do I understand what God is up to without a whole lot of confusion mixed in to it. So if you ever feel confused, you’re in good company. All of us here feel that way from time to time. You’re not alone. That’s the first thing I want to say.

And secondly, this is a safe place! Don’t roll your eyes here. I’m not talking about the political safe places for snow flakes and all the baggage that’s wrapped into that. What I’m talking about is that this is a place where weak people will be treated with grace, gentleness respect and love! We are a people who treat weakness with grace gentleness and love! Why? Because we all recognize that we are weak people and Jesus treats us with grace and love in our weakness and so we strive to do the same with our brothers and sisters here!

So if you’re confused or afraid of being found out, you need not be. Most of us are confused most of the time and we all have weakness, but we do not pounce on weakness here nor do we shame each other when we’re acting weak. We lift each other up and care for one another. We respond to weakness like Jesus does, with grace, gentleness, love, and compassion.

My prayer is that in light of these 2 things, any confusion you have would turn into curiosity rather than shut you down!

In fact, let’s pray for that right now. Lord Jesus, would you turn any confusion we have about you and your word into curiosity and draw us further up and further into community, friendship and love in your Church and in You!? Help us respond to weakness not with fear but with grace and love and help us draw each other closer to you in doing so! Amen.

Alright, now back to Mark. Mark gives us a phenomenal illustration of what repentance and belief looks like in the examples of Peter, Andrew, James and John. Simply put. Jesus calls and they follow. Jesus calls and they follow. Look at it again!

Mark 1:16–20 (NIV)

Notice how Jesus calls them. First thing I want you to see is that Jesus meets them where they are and speaks to them in language they can understand!

He goes to them where they are and He says follow me and I’ll send you out to fish for people!

Now think about this for a second. At this moment do these guy have any clue as to what Jesus is talking about? Fish for people? Honestly I highly doubt they understand. Best case scenario they’re thinking Jesus is calling them to help Him recruit an army. They don’t understand the ins and outs of what Jesus is asking of them and hear this, Jesus is fine with that! He doesn’t fill in the blanks or correct their thinking immediately right here, which many of us would be wise to take notes on!

I don’t know about you, but I tend to be a very very impatient person. I want things down now. I want people to change yesterday! But Jesus, Jesus is a patient King. He meets people where they are and gives them enough to get started but does not overwhelm them with demands. He’s content to walk along side of us at the slow speed of 3 miles an hour. He walks along side of us and begins to transform us slowly over time at a pace we can handle!

I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again. When Jesus calls us He calls us where we are. That means you don’t have to clean yourself up and figure it all out before you can start following Jesus. He loves us and calls us where are in our lives, but He loves us too much to ever leave us there and along with that He loves us enough to deal patiently with us as He brings us to new and better places of transformation in our lives! He loves us as we are, where we are, but He loves us too much to ever leave us there!

The key is that we start following. That we drop everything like Peter, Andrew, James and John and we start following.

This is what repentance and belief look like Church. Laying down our stuff, leaving behind our stuff, so we can follow Jesus. Repentance and belief looks like turning from our ways to God’s ways in our hearts, minds, thoughts, attitudes and actions.

Now rather than do a word study on these 2 words, repentance and belief, I’m going to give you an illustration of what repentance and belief looks like lived out in our everyday lives from a story I just heard from a family member of Crossroads Church.

This is what it looks like to live in Christ’s Kingdom that has come near. This is what it looks like to repent and believe the good news that we can live under Jesus’ rule and reign in our lives.

A gentleman was telling me this week that he blew it royally at is place of employment this past Monday. We were chatting in one of the groups I’m in about how we are a people that are slow to speak and quick to listen and one of the guys in my group shared that he did not act like a person who was quick to listen and slow to speak this past week.

And I said “really? What happened.”

Well he went on to share that he threatened to deck one of his co-workers who did something that ticked him off. They didn’t come to blows but apparently these 2 guys were in each others faces and things were tense and I would say that in that moment the Kingdom of God was not near. Right, fist fighting isn’t a key marker of the Kingdom of God, that’s more in line with the Kingdom of Satan.

And my friend was beating himself up about this. As he said, here I am threatening this guy with violence and I’m supposed to be a Christian, I was just in Church yesterday and now look at me!

Which I was like “yeah I get those feelings. Been there.”

And so I asked “so what happened next.”

“Well, I stared to think about our Identity statements about how we are a people who are quick to listen and slow to speak and I realized that I acted in a way that was not who I am in Jesus. So I went back to this fella and I apologized. Hey man, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking but they way I responded to you was wrong and that’s now who I am. I’m a Christian and I need you to forgive me for treating you that way. I was just in Church yesterday and here I am threatening to punch you. It ain’t right.”

Which at this point I’m about cheering in our group, because this dude is crushing it with the Gospel. The Kingdom of God is coming near. Repentance and belief is taking shape right before my eyes! This guy is allowing Jesus to be King! He blew sure. Who doesn’t, but what he does with his sin! He’s turning from his sin to Jesus and following in line under the Kingship, the rule and reign of Jesus!

And then listen to what happens next. As he’s apologizing to his co-workers listen to what his co-workers says, “yeah I just took communion yesterday and here I am acting like this to you. That wasn’t right. You need forgive me too!”

Let’s goo!! The Kingdom of God coming near! 2 men turning from their own ways, their instinctual responses to get even and respond to weakness with threats, these 2 men turning from that, admitting sin and seeking forgiveness! Peace and reconciliation happening! This is what following Jesus looks like Church! This is what the Kingdom of God come near looks like. This is what repentance and belief looks like.

Oh that all of we all would respond as they did. Oh that we would respond as Peter, Andrew, James and John did. May King Jesus help us not just lay down our nets. May He help us lay down our pride and our fears and whatever else we’re holding on to that would keep us from following Him! May He help us apologize when we get it wrong and follow Him in making peace rather than war!

And if we would, you better believe His Kingdom will be made more and more visible among us!

And as we move now into a time of communion, let me encourage you to think about how you can further embrace Christ and His Kingdom in your life. As we remember that our King laid down his life for us to offer forgiveness by allowing His body to be broken and his blood to be poured out, I’ll invite you to think about what you need to lay down to follow Christ? Is it your pride? Is it a certain want, desire or way of life? I don’t know, but take a few moments to think through that question and then as we take of the bread and cup this morning, use this as an opportunity to remember your King’s sacrifice and to lay down what ever it is you need to lay down in order to follow Him, to repent and believe the good news!

Here’s how this is going to work this morning. Some of the students in the youth group are going to serve us the bread and the cup. First they will serve us the bread. I’ll ask that you hold on to it and until every one has the element and then I’ll lead us to take it together and we’ll do the same with the juice.

Students you can distribute the bread. — Jesus said this is my body which is broken for you. Take in remembrance of Him.

And now the juice. — Jesus said this is the blood of my new covenant with you. Take in remembrance of Him.