mark 1:16-1:28

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.
17. And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
18. Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
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.
20. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.
21. They *went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach.
22. They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24. saying, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!"
25. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"
26. Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.
27. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
28. Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

the first disciples (1:16-20) (jesus gathers a posse)

plot summary

jesus calls two sets of brothers to join him.
this is definitely one of the first things jesus does in his ministry; the first thing mark mentions, and one of the first things in every other gospel as well.

study note: a note on 'gospel story style'

- time/chronology is more our obsession than theirs

when we read a story, we tend to want things to follow chronologically. that's one of the reasons we lots of christians read chronological bibles. but...the bible isn't arranged chronologically. it is loosely, but not exactly.

storytelling in the bible varies by author, but many of the authors (including the gospel authors) seem less concerned with giving the sequence of events by time than by theme.
apparently this is normal for the culture, but it's something for you to note.

- story order is given based on what fits their emphasis, and secondarily how events followed.

matthew seems to arrange his book to rotate between action and teaching, often grouping similar events that happened within a close time period together.
mark arranges things more geographically (though that does follow a chronology). the whole book takes place on the road to jerusalem, building in expectation the whole way.

takeaway: the order of events mark has is usually done for a reason. it may be to emphasize a particular aspect, or to fit the flow, or to recall a theme...
we'll look a bit more at what is being emphasized here by this order later on, but bear this in mind as we move through today.

peter/andrew had met christ before this event.

first time in mark...

this is the first time jesus sees these people in mark.
but that doesn't mean mark is trying to tell you that these guys followed after some hobo looking stranger just because he said to.

john includes a few details on an earlier meeting...

john 1:35-42 (this is after john has baptized jesus)

35. Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,
36. and he looked at Jesus as He walked, and *said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
37. The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
38. And Jesus turned and saw them following, and *said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi (which translated means Teacher), where are You staying?"
39. He *said to them, "Come, and you will see." So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.
40. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.
41. He *found first his own brother Simon and *said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which translated means Christ).
42. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas" (which is translated Peter).

so...this is the start of something, perhaps their official discipleship.

1:16-18 peter and andrew

the first two called...simon (peter) and his brother andrew.

jesus says, "follow me, and i will make you become fishers of men."

they were fishermen.

not so much 'a river runs through it'... this involved taking a boat out, throwing a weighted net over the side, then gathering it back, hopefully when it had fish in it.

on the bright side, this type of work may have made it easier for them to chuck it and follow jesus.

jesus is indicating a complete change of career

the disciples know what jesus is asking, and respond

remember, they were disciples of john previously...
they've met jesus before.
when he says, "let's do this", they may have already had desire.

either way, since this is mark's story, they respond 'immediately'.

1:19,20 james and john

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

the next pair of brothers...james and john.

like peter/andrew, they are fisherman.
jesus calls them as well, and they leave the boat and come along.

there's a nice note there that they had a father, but didn't leave him alone/abandoned (hired servants).

principle: jesus is about disciples

study note: why is this here? because they're important to the story

not all the disciples are introduced. only 4 of 12.

these are introduced because their names are going to come up a bit more in the story.

the three disciples who receive the most 'development' are peter, james, and john.
they're present at the transfiguration, they go off to pray with jesus in the garden of gethsemane, etc...

you'll see the mark only mentions the important parties a number of times, including the healing of blind bartimaeus (luke mentions two beggars).

christ's ministry is, in many ways, primarily to his disciples

this is early in mark for a reason (first thing he does in his ministry actually).
jesus' ministry will focus on his discipleship.

that should give you a big clue on how the rest of the new testament plays out; his ministry is focused on prepping his disciples to know what they need to know to represent him to the world.

biblical pattern

god uses humans to communicate to humans.

not because he doesn't have choices. god can use talking donkeys if he wants, or angels.
but he tends to use people, going from moses through to us.

who does jesus pick as disciples?

well...we don't know tons about them.
- they likely had interest that they acted on, since they had followed john and were willing to follow jesus.
- didn't have a whole lot of status or cash though.

summary:

jesus called his disciples, they came along. they weren't fancy folk, but they were interested and willing, and he chose them.

the first teaching (1:21-22)

the first healing (1:23-28)

23. Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,
24. saying, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are--the Holy One of God!"
25. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, "Be quiet, and come out of him!"
26. Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.
27. They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
28. Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

i'm sure you're all *shocked* to hear that someone with an unclean spirit might be found in a house of worship.

the demon identifies christ

not only does he teach differently, but demons call him 'the holy one of god'.
this will be consistent - the supernatural world identifies christ correctly, while the natural world fails.

when jesus was on earth as a man, he was not fully revealed to mankind; see revelation for that bit, but note that judgement/wrath is a necessary part of full revelation.

a brief note on demon possession

does it happen today?

i don't have a biblical reason to say that it doesn't, thought i can't say i've ever seen a case and known it.

can demons 'possess' people?

in some way, yes.
we don't get a clear explanation of what that means, except that the demon seems to have control of their body, and can cause suffering.
some christians believe that christians can be demon possessed, others don't. not a huge issue, but i would personally vote that they can't.
i don't personally think so, as...demon posession implies control, christ's parable in matt 12:43-45 seems to imply no, and the bible never mentions the idea.
but whatever.

demons are clearly subject to christ, and his authority

christ shows up and demons start shreiking, not unlike what happens when i play the violin.
he can (and does) delegate this authority to his disciples (and the church) later on; this is much of what is meant by the words 'power' that you'll read about in the NT.

why does he silence the demons?

well...honestly, since it doesn't say, we're just inferring.
but it seems as though he is limiting the amount that he is shown as who he is; in other words, he doesn't want to be shown fully as god.
this is reserved for his second coming, when the whole world will be confronted with the open revelation of god. until then, god keeps much of himself hidden.

but still, his personal authority demonstrates his place over demons (who have position over men, possessing them). the clear identification by the demon of jesus as 'the holy one of god' just makes it more direct.

big idea: christ has authority, even over demons

the comment on the demon possession says everything..."v27 They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, "What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him."
MOVE ON TO FINAL SECTION DON'T WASTE TIME

principles and application

"fishers of men"

jesus calls his disciples, and tells them that he will make them fishers of men.
this has a few aspects:

the disciples are seeking after men, not fish.

1 tim 1:15 says this nicely, "christ came into the world to save sinners."
this was the work of christ, and this is the work of his disciples today.

we all know this, but...

this is the point in a sermon where you check out, because you know that christ's disciples should endeavor to spread christ's salvation.
but really...everyone knows this, but as a whole, there isn't that much effort put into it.

i don't want to beat this to hard, so please just do me a favor - think and pray about your role and effort as a part of the spread of god's grace on earth.

don't deny the supernatural

(we had demons in this passage)
quick note...we, in our culture and age, tend to default to disbelieving that the supernatural world exists.
if you believe in god, the human soul, or a cause for the creation of the physical world, you believe that there are things that are outside of physical matter.
that means the supernatural.

don't need to belabor this point, but i would like to remind us that just because we don't see demons on a daily basis doesn't mean that we should forget about the spiritual world.

the authority of christ

outline note

from the book standpoint, this is the big purpose of this passage.

mark 1:1-8:26 - yankee jesus "a lot of miracles and supernatural validation show jesus to be the messiah; expectation builds for his work, and the stage is set for his trip to jerusalem."

mark is showing us that jesus was clearly the messiah. there's going to be an emphasis on power, teaching,

1 (he calls disciples) he does not have a mr miyagi, an obi wan kenobi, or a dumbledore.

story patterns...our hero usually has a mentor.

not here. christ gets baptized to mark his start, then he goes off to some personal duel with satan.
he returns, and gathers disciples.

he is the ultimate mr miyagi to the disciples; but he never needs to have this passed on to him.

2 (he teaches on his authority) he tells you how it is

teachers usually teach what they have learned from other teachers. especially with religion, where our interest in those who were 'closer' (chronoligically) to the source seems important.
plus, we all have personal errors, so making sure what we say isn't out of left field is useful.

not so with christ. he shows up, and tells everyone what's what.

3 (he casts out demons) he shows up and demons cower.

demons recognize him more clearly than humans; they are in full subservience.
they do not fight and lose; they cower.
and remember, these are demons, spirit beings that have power over humans to possess, torment, etc

jesus shows up, and the power equation changes.

christ's authority still stands

1. christ still has authority over demons and the world.

a few of you have had encounters with what seems like demonic activity; be confident that "greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world." (1 jn 4:4)
reserve your fear for god, whom you serve, and remember his authority.

2. his authority means that being his disciple is a jump in status.

satan said that it's better to reign in hell than serve in heaven (per milton).
but really, peter/andrew/james/john got the ultimate deal - they were able to, quite literally, follow god around, learning his thoughts and patterns.
thank god they wrote some stuff down for us.

ultimately, that's kind of what the church is - the preservation of the knowledge god has revealed since creation, so that those who are seeking after him, those who he calls to follow him, can do so.

Mark 1:16-1:28

intro: expectations

mark 1:16-28