Mark 1:16 - The Moment Before the Disciples

The Verse

Mark 1:16 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.

My Paraphrase

Walking beside the Sea of Galilee, Jesus watched as fisherman brothers, Simon and Andrew, threw a net out to catch fish.

My Thoughts

In this verse, it's almost like we see Jesus taking a break. In taking a leisurely stroll, He comes upon two fishermen brothers, Simon and Andrew. I wonder what thoughts ran through Jesus' mind as He watched them. As God, did He flash their childhoods through His memory? As a man, did He watch, notice, and appreciate the fisherman skills a poor carpenter would not have known? As God, did He think about the future Peter denying Him three times before His crucifixion? Did He see Peter as the amazing leader of the church that he then becomes? As a man, did He see their huge muscles--a fisherman's necessity for pulling large nets--and have any sort of hesitation about what He would command them next?

It also makes me wonder how long He watched them before speaking. Was it instantaneous? Or did He watch for several minutes before speaking? Was He in full view of them before approaching them? Or did He hold back and silently gaze before stepping forward and stating His purpose? The whole scene seems so lackluster and normal compared to the amazing miracles that are to follow, but yet these men's lives and destinies were about to change forever, so it is worth it to slow down and consider this moment.

So much can happen in just a moment. This verse catches that last vestige of Peter's and Andrew's lives as mere fisherman, just working class cogs in a worldly Mediterranean machine. In the next two verses they will suddenly start becoming spiritual forces with which the devil himself could not reckon.

Are Modern Christian Songs Shallow?

When I was little, pastors used to preach against modern Christian music because the lyrics in them were too "lovey-dovey." The argument was that the words in them were too shallow, words that you would sing to your girlfriend or boyfriend, and certainly not something you should be singing to God.

As an adult, I have come to think differently on this subject, primarily because a short dissection of modern secular love songs proves to show exactly the opposite.

Think of popular lyrics in love songs: "You are my destiny." "You are the air I breathe." "You mean everything to me." "I'd die without you." Actually, those words seem shallow because they are words of worship. When the subject of those words is a human being, the philosophies behind them seem trite because they are suspect.

Early in our marriage, my husband and I agreed that we love each other dearly, but never in any sense of the word are either of us the other's "destiny." That is too high a burden to put on another person, because neither of us can handle being worshiped. In order to receive worship, one has to be incapable of failure, otherwise he will eventually betray the worshiper. When I understand that I should worship God but give my husband a break for being fallible, I can actually love my husband more. That's called "freedom."

Now if we apply those quotations above to God, they make all the sense in the world. God is the air I breathe. God does mean everything to me. These words are no longer trite because they now can be sustained by a non-failing Subject that is worthy of them.

Humans in love can and should sing love songs to each other. I'm not saying they shouldn't. However, the problem is not that Christian music has become shallow. The problem is that modern secular music has become worship.