Gospel of Mark Study #3

“Repent and Believe”

Mark 1:14-20

Study #3 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

I really like old-time radio programs. I grew up in the era when the old radio programs were on their way out and television was coming in, but I can still remember sitting in the living room at night with my sister and listening to “Inner Sanctum” and “Lights Out,” not to mention “The Shadow” and “Gunsmoke.” Years later I worked at a radio station in Portland, OR during my second and third years of college, and while working there I became acquainted with a lot of the old radio comedies like, “Our Miss Brooks,” “The Great Gildersleeve,” “Amos and Andy,” and “The Bickersons.”

But one of my favorite programs was always, “Dragnet.” The theme music from that show is deeply etched into my memory. Jack Webb, who played the part of Sgt. Joe Friday, had a phrase he often used while interviewing witnesses. He would say, “Just the facts, ma’am. We just need the facts.” By that he meant that he just wanted the pertinent facts, not the opinions and wild-haired suggestions of the person he was interviewing. 

There are lots of situations in life in which it is important to get right to the bottom of the subject. For example, when you talk to your doctor you want him to level with you and not try to sugar-coat the news or to snow you with complicated explanations. “How long do I have to live? Just tell me straight out, Doc.” And when you visit your car mechanic you want to know the bottom line. “Bill, just tell me how much this is going to cost me?” 

In the same way, many of us want to know the bottom line of what we must do to be right with God, and to know that we will go to Heaven when we die. We want the facts, just the facts. 

In our text for today Jesus makes a statement that is hard to miss. He boils it all down to six words that anyone can understand: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” But we need to unpack these six simple words to see what they mean.

TRANSITION:

We are engaged in a study of the Gospel According to Mark. For those of you with short memories or who were not with us when I gave the introduction to this little book a couple of sessions back let me try to quickly bring you up to speed. 

Mark is the shortest of the four Gospel accounts, with just 16 chapters. Although he was a Jew, born and raised in Jerusalem, he was living in Rome when he wrote his account of the life and ministry of Jesus. Moreover, he wrote with Romans in mind. He wrote to explain the actions and teachings of Jesus to people with no Jewish background or understanding of the Old Testament. His primary mentor was the apostle Peter, who was a first-hand witness to all these events that Mark recorded for us. 

In his Gospel account Mark focuses more on the miracles of Jesus than on His teachings. He goes into detail about what Jesus did and leaves us to draw the logical conclusion about who Jesus was. 

In this first chapter Mark quickly moves us through the early events in Jesus’ ministry: i.e., His announcement by John, His baptism, and His 40-days in the wilderness being harassed by Satan himself. After His time in the Judean desert Jesus made his way 80 miles back up north to His home area in Galilee where He began His 3½ year public ministry leading up to the cross. 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 14-15: Now after John [the Baptist] had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel.”

·         Mark does not give us any details here about what happened to John the Baptist. We must wait until chapter 6 to get the rest of the story. But apparently John’s arrest by Herod occurred shortly after Jesus’ baptism, sometime during the 40-days while He was in the wilderness. After hearing that John had been arrested, Jesus left Judea and headed back up to the Galilee region.

·         But by that time John had completed his task. He had paved the way for the Messiah, announcing His arrival to all who would listen. Even sitting in jail, he could say with the apostle Paul, “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:6-8). John fully accomplished what he had been put on earth by God to do. How many of us can truthfully say that?

·         “Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the Gospel of God.” This word “preaching” means declaring, heralding, proclaiming. So, what was Jesus proclaiming? – the Good News from and about God. That is what the word Gospel means... Good News. Up in verse one Mark started out his book this way: “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Now he says that Jesus was preaching the Good News.

·         What was the content of Jesus’ message? Three points:

o   “The time is fulfilled” = The Old Testament time of waiting is over. Paul put it this way in Galatians 4:4 – “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law.” The centuries of waiting for the appearance of the promised Messiah has now come to an end. He is now among you. His name is Jesus, the Christ.

o   “The Kingdom of God is at hand” = The appearance of the Son of God marks the end of Satan’s kingdom of darkness. The time has come when God will begin to take back what man gave over to the enemy in the Fall. Phase One of the hostile takeover involved the arrival on the scene of the Owner’s Beloved Son.

o   “Repent and believe in the Gospel” = Here is that simple Gospel message that I mentioned in the beginning. It is not complicated or difficult to understand but it involves both Good News and Bad News. The Bad News is that we are all lost and headed for Hell. We are all sinners both by nature and by choice and the Bible says that the “wages of sin is death.” The Bible says that we are all in the same boat and that none of us has what it takes to get us to Heaven under our own steam. Remember all those ugly shouting matches Jesus had with the Pharisees? They thought that they were so righteous and pure that God would have to let them into Heaven. Jesus called them all “hypocrites” because they knew full well that they were rotten to the core, although none of them would admit it. To “repent” means to have a complete change of mind. It is a mental “about-face.” In this context it means that you must give up all ideas of your own intrinsic self-worth and realize that before God you are a spiritually bankrupt sinner who cannot save yourself. It means to turn away from the path of self-righteousness and throw yourself on the mercy of God. It means to finally believe that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be and that He came to earth to save you. To “believe” means to deposit your faith and trust in something or someone. In this case, Jesus was calling men and women to believe in Him, as their Messiah, Savior, Redeemer, and King. “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” The Gospel, the Good News, is all about Jesus. Without Him there would be no Good News, only Bad News. All of mankind was headed for Hell and then Jesus, “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” showed up to give us a future and a hope. Praise God! 

Verse 16: As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

·         Some background information: The Sea of Galilee is not really a sea at all, but a big fresh-water lake, 13 miles long and 8.1 miles wide. It has an average depth of 84 feet, with a maximum depth of 157 feet. At 686 feet below sea level, it is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world (after the Dead Sea, which is a saltwater lake). The Jordan River runs into it at the north end and runs out of it at the south end. Because of its shape, its traditional Hebrew name was Yam Kinneret (Harp Lake), from the Hebrew word, kinnar, meaning, “harp, or lyre,” the kind David played. The Romans renamed it the Sea of Tiberius, after their emperor, Tiberius Caesar.

·         Mark does not say exactly where on the lake Jesus ran across Simon and Andrew. We know that they lived in the village of Capernaum, but they undoubtedly knew every inch of that lake. The point is that Jesus knew exactly where to find them! I believe that He went looking for them. This was a divine appointment, not a chance meeting. And this was also not the first time they had met Him. Check that story out in John 1:40 42. It is also probable that John, who we meet in verse 19, was one of those referred to in John 1:35-39 as following Jesus.

·         They were real fishermen—not the hook and line kind of anglers like most of us. They did not do it just for fun and relaxation. Their family had been fishing for a living for many generations. It was who they were, what they did. It was their life, their livelihood. If they did not catch fish their families did not have food and clothing.

·         To do their fishing they used two basic methods. Sometimes they would use large round throwing nets, with weights tied around the edges. They could either throw them from the shore or from a boat. However, they also used large purse-nets, which could be pulled behind a boat and closed-up like a purse, trapping the fish inside for a larger catch. Simon and Andrew were experts in all kinds of fishing. They certainly did not need anyone to teach them how to do it.

Verse 17: And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”

·         Did Jesus yell at them out in their boat or did He just talk to them on the shore—we do not know. But we can imagine what might have gone through their minds: “What does this carpenter think he can teach us about fishing? And what does he mean by ‘fishers of men’?”

·         The occupation of fisherman like Simon and Andrew was rather labor intensive. Remember, the imagery of using a lure and a fishing pole and waiting for the fish to strike is totally foreign to this text. Jesus is not speaking about finesse as in fly fishing or using the right kind of bait. The imagery here has nothing to do with “hooking” unbelievers with the Gospel. Furthermore, the picture is not individualistic—He is talking about work that required a team effort. The point is not one person being reeled in at a time, but a whole net full of “fish.” All these notions have to do with line fishing, but this is not the picture seen in this text. Rather, the imagery of a fisherman involved much strain, long hours, and often little results. Notice too, that Jesus did not say, “Come follow me for a week or two and see how you like it.” He was calling them, not to an interesting weekend, but to an amazing lifetime. And notice the order of events. First comes the call, the invitation: “Come and follow Me.” That is the first big hurdle for people. After that comes the promise: “…and I will make you to become fishers of men.” If we really follow Him, how can we not become fishers of men? If we love Him and seek to imitate Him, we will also naturally tell others about Him. That is the primary work of a fisher of men.

·         One more thing... Jesus says, “...and I will make you become fishers of men.” No one is born knowing how to be a fisher of men. To learn it is a process (“to become”), and Jesus is the teacher (“I will make you become...”). If you and I want to learn how to be fishers of men, we must submit ourselves to the teaching process and to the Master Fisherman.

Verse 18: Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

·         Notice those 3 key words: “immediately,” “left,” and “followed.” What was it about Jesus that got to them? Was it Jesus' melodious, hypnotic voice? Was it His snappy looking outfit? Was it His promise of wealth and material gain? Did He threaten them? Why did they immediately leave all their gear, in which most of their money was wrapped up, and follow Jesus? AMAZING!

Verse 19: Going on a little farther, He saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets.

·         “Going a little farther.” I assume this means that He walked on down the shoreline to where James and John were working. We know that these four guys often worked together. Although they were from different families, they were from the same small fishing village and had undoubtedly known one another all their lives. They were friends and colleagues.

·         Get the picture in your mind. Jesus called Andrew and Simon to follow Him. They left everything and trailed after Jesus on up the beach to where James and John were sitting in their boat at the water’s edge, repairing their nets. James and John had probably been watching Jesus and their friends approaching but they did not know what was going on. 

Verse 20: Immediately He called them; and they left their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.

·         Look at this. It is amazing! Jesus “called them” and they left everything behind to follow Jesus. What do you think their father thought of their idea? What did the servants think about it? We do not know, but it appears that the only thing that mattered to those four men in that moment was to follow Jesus, even though they had no idea where that path would lead them. Notice too that Mark uses the same 3 key words in verse 20 that he used in verse 18.

·         But really, does anybody know where we will end up if we choose to follow Christ? Did you have any idea where He might take you? I certainly did not. After hearing about Him and learning about my own sinfulness and my need for a Savior, and after learning how much He loved me, I just knew that I wanted to be with Him. That is all that mattered to me at the time. I think that is how these four guys felt as well.

·         Of these four men, only one of them died from natural causes. The other three were all martyrs for Christ and the Gospel. If they had known what the future held for them would they still have followed Jesus? We do not know, but I think so.

CONCLUSION:

“Fishers of men.” When you hear those words, what picture comes to your mind? For Simon, Andrew, James, and John they knew exactly what being a fisherman meant. And it would not have been too difficult to extrapolate from there:

·         Fishing is arduous, back breaking work.

·         Fishing is often performed in solitary places with no one watching or cheering.

·         Fishing requires teamwork, which means getting along with co-laborers.

·         Fishing is often discouraging.

·         Fish stink, and some of them bite

·         Fishing can produce life-giving, nurturing sustenance for many people.