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The Verse
Mark 1:19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.
My Paraphrase
Going just a little further, Jesus saw James and John working on their nets.
My Thoughts
Again, we see Jesus quietly observing men before calling them. Again, this is a moment before the moment. In this verse, we catch James and John--two of the most influential and beloved disciples--in this "pre-" state. In this verse, they were just James and John, sons of Zebedee. In the next verse, they would become "Sons of Thunder" (Mark 3:17). I never bothered to think about these "moments before moments" before I started studying this book verse by verse. It's amazing what jumps out when you slow your study down! What a precious moment in time to have the Creator of all things physically observing His creation, and yet. . .being in mortal form, having the willing suspense of "What will happen next?" and "These two men will become my best friends, and they don't even know it yet." Have you ever had that moment when you see a person across the room for the first time and think, "I am pretty sure he/she and I would get along. . ."? It's a strange human anomaly. Some people call it serendipity. I call it Providence. Anyways. . .that's what is happening here.
But what REALLY stands out to me in this verse is this point: The men are working. How many people (Christians notwithstanding) do you know that are just sitting around waiting for jobs and purposes to drop into their laps? In fact, with the advent of social media apps like "Go Fund Me" a trend has formed not just to ask for supplemental mission support or temporary help in a moment of destitution, but rather to ask for entire support in lieu of working at all! What is it that tells us that we don't need to be proactive about our own futures, but yet entitles us to foist that responsibility onto other people? I think a lot of times we say, "My future is in God's hands," so much so that we act like we are completely powerless. This isn't true. The Bible plainly tells us that we have been given His power (II Timothy 1:7) and that a man who doesn't want to work, shouldn't eat (II Thessalonians 3:10).
God calls people who are diligent. Think about it. If you are just waiting around for an opportunity to drop into your life and not actively working, why would God bother to call you? An earthly boss doesn't give a promotion unless a worker has done good work. Why would God be any different? God doesn't promote lazinss. Ever. Think of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). The only ones who are rewarded in that story are the ones who worked hard to make good investments. It's not God's job to fix all our problems. That would actually be spiritual rape, if you think about it. God doesn't force Himself onto people--even during times of pain and hardship. It is up to us to hear God's voice above the cacophony of life. It's God's job to make us stronger, and that can only happen if we are willingly and actively seeking His plan in those hard times.
True, in this particular story, James and John aren't exactly suffering. They are just doing their daily routine jobs, that is, only if the word "preparing" means "getting ready." However, most translations translate the word as "mending" or "repairing." If that is the case, then we do in fact, see a problem here. Maybe they were suffering a little, after all. Apparently, these once-working nets had ripped. If that is the case, then we do see them struggling in life. If that is the case, this adds to the point that they were extremely hard workers. Not everything was perfect in a fisherman's life. Sometimes, one even had to forgo time spent fishing with preparation and mending. If they hadn't spent this time working on the nets and getting them to their optimal state, the entire time spent fishing would have been wasted. These were not men who went to work unprepared.
Jesus observes them as they work to make their own lives better, and knows that the life He was about to call them toward would only make their lives seemingly harder: More responsibility, more time, more heartache, etc.. However, He could see by their prudence and industry that God would receive glory through these diligent men. These men who would take the time to work on damaged nets, would eventually take the time to work on people with damaged souls. It would be a hard life, but it would be a life of legacy and ultimately a life of fulfilling God's plan.
But it wouldn't have happened if they hadn't already been working.
I think this means that we--instead of sitting around waiting for God to call us--need to be diligent and hard-working, performing tasks already set before us--as lackluster and mundane as they may appear. Throughout the gospels, the disciples continue to fish, so we can't automatically think that God will call us to be lazy or tell us to quit our regular jobs for some "higher calling." The jobs we are already in are either preparing us for our "higher callings" or are already our "higher callings"! Actually, this point is observable throughout the entire Bible. Ruth was gathering food when she was noticed. Samuel was living and working in the temple when he was called. David was tending sheep. Even Paul, who was a persecutor and murderer of Christians, was working when he was called! I think there is an important lesson to learn here! Diligence is important to God!
Whatever job you are currently working, you are in the exact right place. And. . .if you aren't working. . .GET A JOB!
The Verses
Mark 1:14 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!”
My Paraphrase
After John's capture, Jesus proclaimed the gospel in Galilee. "You're wait is over. God's Kingdom is right here. Turn from sin and believe the Gospel!"
My Thoughts
Since John was a harbinger of the Gospel, his job was done. He says in other gospels that he must decrease while Jesus increases. Jesus now takes over the role as repentance-commanding prophet, but becomes so much more than that. I find it interesting that Jesus didn't just start His ministry healing people, preaching love, and doing miracles. Like. . .Listen guys, He's gonna start doing miracles in a just a few days, but He doesn't start there. He started with repentance. Repentance is super important to God, so much so that He had a guy come and lay the ground work before He even got there.
Likewise, we cannot jump into the story of Jesus without repentance. Otherwise, He makes no sense as our Savior and just becomes another figure in history for us to study. I mean, think about it. Why did Jesus change history more than any other figure? Lots of guys have healed. Lots of guy have run their mouths for the cause of an agenda. Lots of guys have rallied for revolution. None of them are as big a deal as Jesus, because Jesus is our Savior and fulfillment of repentance. For salvation, repentance is key.
I wonder what people thought when they heard Jesus tell them that time was fulfilled. What a truly bold statement! "Your wait is over! Here I am! God's gift to all of you!" (I mean, we see people who act like this all the time. . .And. . .you know what I'm sayin'?) This was a ballsy move, not only because the message He proclaimed had a certain potential arrogance about it (arrogance only if it hadn't been true, of course), but also think about this: John had just been thrown in jail because of preaching the Gospel--which I'm sure was no secret to anyone, since "the whole Judean countryside and all. . .of Jerusalem" (vs. 5) heard him and knew about him. I wonder how many people John had openly baptized who went into hiding at this point--fearful of Herod's muscle-flexing. Fearful of what fates they might suffer if Herod caught wind of their being "John Followers." But then, just at the moment when everyone is on edge and full of anxiety, here comes his Cousin--right out in the open--yelling the same message (with a decidedly MORE poignant twist) throughout Galilee! Like, at least John did all his stuff out in the wilderness and didn't claim to be God Himself!
I think there is a silent message within these verses that if we are to follow Christ's example truly, we definitely shouldn't fear men. If it's our time to go, then we go down proclaiming Christ. Otherwise, if it's not our time to go, there's really NOTHING anyone can do to us!
(Note: Of course in later verses we are going to see Jesus constantly telling people not to talk about Him and not to tell people about Him, but that's only after He starts doing miracles and He gets so popular it hinders His actual ministry. . .Like, hinders as in. . .not being able to walk through town because of all the people in the way wanting "a piece.")
(Continuing my Bible Journaling of Mark. . .)
The Verses:
Mark 1:4-6 - 4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey.
My Paraphrase:
4 - Following the Spirit, John lived in the desert, baptizing and calling people to repent.
5 - This attracted everyone from the surrounding areas and they obeyed this calling.
My Thoughts:
John obeyed God's calling on his life. I think we take for granted the obedience we see in Biblical characters. Did John struggle with his calling? Did he have a wayward adolescence? Or did he readily embrace the poverty and humility of his prophesied profession?
Whatever the case, because of his obedience, an entire city and countryside were attracted to his message--and an unlikely message to be so attracted to! Think about it, people turned from sin and selfishness, without the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and agreed to be dunked underwater by a bug-eating nutcase in the desert! This shows me that the power of God--and specifically the power of obedience--is not something to take lightly. He is not impressed with showmanship or Pharisitical propriety AT ALL. If He can get people to listen to His message in such an unlikely way, none of us should ever feel prideful if people happen to turn their hearts to Him because of some "amazing" thing we did.
My Paraphrase:
6 - John dressed like a dirty hippy and ate bugs and honey.
My Thoughts:
Okay, so my paraphrase was kind of to make you laugh. . .but honestly. . .read how Mark himself writes it! Verse 6 is TOTALLY out-of-the-blue, non sequitur. It's almost like each verse builds on itself to make this crazy picture complete. First of all, John--as fulfillment of Scripture--is in the desert, baptizing, and calling people to repentance. Okay, great. . .Then--get this, guys--this message actually ATTRACTS tons of people from the main city and they actually OBEY this crazy message!. . .And then finally. . .wait for it. . .the climax: On top of it all, John has very questionable eating habits and dresses like a caveman!
Seriously, read those verses again and see if that thought doesn't pop out at you as very odd. See, Mark is not the most detail-oriented writer (his gospel is the shortest, his statements are matter-of-fact, he lacks sentimental embellishment, etc.), and yet he bothers to tell us these strange details about how John is dressed and what he eats. I mean, do you just go around defining people like that normally? Is there ANYONE else in the Bible, for instance, who is described by dress code and diet? No. So obviously, Mark thought it was weird too!
I do think this description is to help us remember that God isn't interested in pride. . .However, did John really have to dress like a Jedi Knight? Or was he just having fun? Or was he just embracing the whole "prophet look" (apparently, Elijah and other prophets wore camel hair clothes)? After researching it a bit, I learned that it was actually a normal diet to eat bugs if one lived in the desert, and apparently locusts were on the list of "clean" things to eat. However, it does give one pause to think, 'Did John have to go to such lengths to prove his prophethood?' and 'Why did Mark bother to tell us these details if they were at all considered normal?' I guess we are to assume that even his appearance was an act of obedience since Jesus later calls him the greatest prophet ever to have lived.
Still. . .I can't help but love Ps. Mark Driscoll's assessment of John as "Jesus' weird home-school cousin"!!
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