Now after John 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 the gospel.’ As he was going along by 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.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother … Immediately He called them … (Mark 1:14-20).
Jesus began His ministry proclaiming the kingdom of God breaking into history. The kingdom of God is the dynamic, present rule and reign of Almighty God. It is the rule of mercy and grace breaking into the lives of those conquered by sin and the cruelties of a fallen world. It is the rule of joy and peace breaking into the lives of those overwhelmed by the grief and tragedy of a dying world. It is the rule of light and truth breaking into the darkness of lies and deception.
It is the rule of liberty breaking into the enslavement of captives who were overpowered by the seducing destroyer. It is the rule of abundance breaking into the desolation of those plundered by the demonic thief. It is the rule of holy wholeness breaking into the lives of those who have been broken by the impurity and depravity of our own sin nature and this fallen world.
The message of the kingdom is the good news of forgiveness for the guilty, liberty for the captive, healing and deliverance for the broken and bound, reconciliation of sinners to the holy God. Jesus came preaching the good news of the kingdom but His first action was not to buy property and build a building. He called people to follow Him. He is still calling.
Jesus has a purpose for our lives — that we become people who can share the good news of His kingdom with others, people who can bring others to Him — Fisher Folk.
In calling to Peter and Andrew, James and John, Jesus said three things.
I. Follow Me
We cannot follow in the physical steps of Jesus as could His first friends but we can follow just as closely as they did. Following Jesus means abiding and obeying.
A. Abiding
Jesus said, Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit for apart from Me you can do nothing (John 15:4,5).
The promise is that if we will submit our lives to the Lordship of Jesus, allowing Him to live His life in and through us, we will live meaningful, fruitful lives, fulfilling the unique purpose that He has designed for each of us.
How do we abide in Jesus?
1. We abide with Him in His Word.
The Apostle Paul tells us, Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2). How are our minds renewed? As we feed on God's Word with understanding.
Merely reading the Bible does not necessarily renew my mind. I read several pages of Einstein's Theory of Relativity once and could not comprehend even the simplest phrase. It had no effect on me. To be impacted by something, there must be some level of understanding. Our comprehension of something determines its depth of influence in us. The more we understand the truth, the more deeply it can transform our thinking and our living.
It is the same with the food we eat. Merely eating food, putting it in the mouth, chewing and swallowing it, does not nourish the body. We must digest it, break it down and absorb it. If a person has a problem breaking down protein or various minerals contained in their food, then no matter how much they eat, they will not be adequately nourished.
So it is with the Word of God. What matters is not how much we read. What matters is how much we break down and absorb — how much we understand. This is why the Lord assigned teachers to the church, as Paul reveals, And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ (Eph. 4:11,12).
This is why the Bible exhorts us to study the Word of God with discipline and listen humbly to those who teach it with skill. Paul exhorted Timothy, Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
David said to his son, Hear my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching (Proverbs 1:8).
Having studied and listened to the Word skillfully taught, we should meditate on it, soak it in: Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly … but his delight is in the law of the Lord and on that law does he meditate both day and night (Psalm 1:2).
Jesus said, If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free (John 8:31,32).
For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebr. 4:12).
All Scripture is inspired by God (theopneustos, God breathed) and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16,17).
The Apostle Paul commended the church for receiving the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe (I Thes. 2:13).
The Bible is God’s perfect revelation of truth and therefore it is bread and milk for our souls, a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Ps. 119:105). As we feed on it with understanding, we are feeding on the very life of God. Jesus was the Word made flesh. To abide in His Word is to abide in His very life.
2. Following Jesus also means abiding in worship.
In Psalms 22:3, we read, Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel. Another translation says, Yet You are holy, O You who inhabits the praises of Israel.
God inhabits, is enthroned upon, dwells within the praises of His people. When we choose to praise and worship God, God makes a place of habitation in our worship. As we praise the Lord, we enthrone Him in the midst of our circumstances. We abide in Jesus as we worship Him and His presence resides in our worship.
3. Following Jesus also means abiding in prayer.
The Apostle Paul exhorts us, Pray without ceasing (I Thess. 5:17). Since the Spirit of the Lord lives in those who have been redeemed, since He goes before us, dwells within us and walks beside us, then we are able to carry on a constant conversation of prayer with our Lord, wherever we are.
Following Jesus means abiding in His Word, in worship and in prayer. And following Jesus means obeying Him as our Lord.
B. Obeying
Following Jesus also means obeying Him. We not only learn His will as revealed in holy Scripture. We also live it, walk it out. After the death of Moses, God said to Joshua, This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do according to all this is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success (Joshua 1:8).
Jesus said, If you love Me, you will keep My commandments (John 14:15).
Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46).
Abiding in Jesus means not only abiding in His Word as we read and study it. We must also live what we learn. This is the life of obedience.
What does it mean to call Jesus Lord? It means we are submitted to His Lordship.
I was reading a story by Mark Twain about a company of soldiers which he briefly joined during the early days of the Civil War. All of the soldiers in his unit were fiercely independent and absolutely opposed to any exercise of authority by anyone. When it came time to go to sleep, no one would stand guard, so they tied a horse to the door of the barn, figuring it would neigh if anyone came near. They put their lives at risk rather than obey anyone!
The concept of submitting to the rule and reign of absolute Lordship is unfamiliar to many of us. Most of us don’t have kings and queens who exercise dominion over us. But this is what it means to follow Jesus. Participation in the Kingdom of God requires yielding to the sovereign rule of the King.
Following Jesus means abiding in Him and obeying His Lordship. What happens when we do?
II. “I will make you become.”
Submission to the Lordship of Jesus is not harsh. Jesus tells us that if we will follow Him, if we develop a lifestyle of abiding and obeying, then it is His responsibility to enable us to fulfill His command.
Follow me— that is a command. It is our responsibility to commit to following Jesus.
I will make you become — that is the promise of divine help. It is His responsibility to enable us to become.
Notice the word become. When we placed our faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, we were born into the family of God as children of God. But God wants us to become, to grow up into mature, fruitful disciples.
As we follow Jesus — abiding and obeying — He makes us, creates us into that which He purposed. His responsibility is to create. Our responsibility is to develop the lifestyle receptive to His creative power. Follow and become.
As we commit to follow, Jesus commits the power that enables us to become.
In John 15:1-8, the Lord gives us a picture of the abiding life and its fruitful result. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. The branch draws its life from the vine, shares in the life of the vine, and fulfills the nature and goal of the vine.
So it is with us. At our new birth in Christ, the Lord came to indwell us. As we cultivate this fellowship by abiding and obeying, we come to share His life, draw life from Him and thus fulfill His purpose.
In John 15:5 Jesus promises that fruitfulness is the natural result of abiding in Him. As we follow Him, He shapes us, creates us, transforms us into that which He desires and brings us to maturity. His responsibility is to create. Our responsibility is to develop the lifestyle receptive to His creative power.
For we are His workmanship (poiema, artwork), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them (Eph 2:10). The Lord designed us and is transforming us into the art that that brings Him glory.
Follow and become.
Become what?
III. Fisher Folk
What are Fisher Folk?
Jesus said, For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus is a seeker of lost souls. Following Jesus, we learn to love what He loves, we learn to do what He does. We become seekers of lost souls, inviting the world around us into the rule of God’s grace.
Having submitted our lives to the rule and reign of Christ the King, He now dwells within us (Galatians 2:20, Romans 8:9-11). We are the temple of the living God (2 Corinthians 6:16). We carry the treasure of Jesus in the earthen vessels of our lives (2 Corinthians 4:7).
Following Jesus — an intentional lifestyle of abiding and obeying — allows Him to conform our life to His life, to fill our life with His life, to overflow our life with His life.
Witnessing to others, fisher folking, is simply the release of our Lord's life through our lives, the release of His truth through our words. He is not asking us to “drum up” some works of discipleship. He is asking us to allow Him to live His life through us.
Whatever we say to the world, they will not believe us unless they can see Jesus in us. Our witness is least of all our words. Our witness is who we are. Who we are is a function of Whose we are. Fisher Folk are people filled with the life of Jesus, speaking His truth, sharing His love, through whose lives Jesus is doing the work of the kingdom of God.
Many years ago a pastor was speaking in a large city, staying at a downtown hotel. He had trouble getting to sleep one night, so about midnight he got up and went to a diner across the street.
After a while some ladies came in, ordered coffee. As he sat there and listened to them talk, he realized they were prostitutes, warming themselves, taking a work break. Listening to them, he heard one of them ask, “Do you know what day this is?” No one answered, so she continued,
“This is my birthday.” No one noticed, they kept on chatting. In a tiny, pathetic voice, she said, “I've never had a birthday party.” But no one noticed.
Presently they finished their coffee, went back to work.
The pastor turned to the cook behind the counter. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” came the gruff reply.
“She said it was her birthday, said no one had ever celebrated it.”
“So what, she's a whore. Who cares?”
They were alone again, the diner silent except for the clatter of dirty dishes being stacked into a bus pan.
The pastor asked, “Hey, are they gonna be back tonight?”
“Yeah, you can set your watch. Five o'clock in the morning.”
“Why don't we have a birthday party for that lady?”
The cook turned and stared at the pastor — he was incredulous. “You're crazy” he snorted, but there was something in his voice that had not been audible a moment before.
The pastor persisted. “I'll pay for it — will you bake a cake? Maybe serve up some ice cream and coffee? I'll see if I can find one of those all night stores and pick up a few favors.”
“You really are crazy.” The cook shook his head in disbelief, but there was a softness in his words. “Sure pal, I'll bake a cake. Why not.”
At five o'clock the ladies came trooping back in. Out came the cake, complete with candles, ice cream, hot coffee, some little knick knacks.
The pastor launched in, “Happy birthday to you …"
The birthday girl jumped up, startled. “What is this?”
“It's your birthday.”
She ran out the door. The others stayed and ate, then, one by one, drifted back out into the near sunrise.
Two solitary men remained in the diner, one silently washing dishes, one finishing his coffee.
After a few moments, the guest walked over to the counter, paid his check, turned to leave. As he reached for the door, the cook called out to him.
“Hey buddy, are you a preacher or something?”
“Or something, I suppose. Why?”
“Where's your church?”
“Not here, I'm only visiting. Why?”
“Because I've always wanted to attend a church that gives birthday parties for prostitutes.”
What was he really saying? I think he was saying, “Hey, if your God cares about them, do you reckon He’d care about me?”
Can you sense the heart of Jesus yearning over those ladies, over a cook in a nearly empty diner? What was Jesus looking for in that diner? Someone who would be a contact point, someone through whose life He could release His life.
No, you may never witness to a prostitute or a cook in a greasy spoon at Five A.M. But you are surrounded by hurting, broken, lost people. And Jesus is yearning to be released into their lives.
Those who say “Yes, Lord” are Fisher Folk.
Jesus replies, “Follow Me and I will make you to become fishers of men.”