Advent 2025: Mon 8 Dec
Mark 1.16-20 Fishermen follow
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. 17 ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Did you read that passage literally, assuming that Jesus went up to strangers and told them to follow him? It might be what happened, but it doesn’t feel like the way a normal person would behave. I take a guiding line that keeps me in mind of Jesus as a human like us, as well as God incarnate. Jesus was fully human and fully divine, but we should not augment Jesus’ humanity into superhumanity nor diminish his divinity – it’s a very complex theology beyond our full human understanding.
I assume, then, that Jesus had these four fishermen in mind as disciple material. I’d hate to think he just thought, “These ones will do!”, and picked them there and then. He’d have been lucky four times over to get an instant positive response from all four fishermen. I suppose I ought to wonder if he’d called others, too, and they’d refused – cattle to tend to, wives to marry, or fields to inspect, etc. You know the sort of excuses people come up with.
Perhaps Jesus had walked along that shore earlier. Had he spoken with lots of fishermen who worked the lake. Had they heard Jesus’ message (see yesterday’s reading) and the four above were positively challenged by it. I would like to imagine them talking with each other and their family and friends about Jesus and his message. Perhaps something was stirring in their hearts, or had been even before Jesus turned up. Who knows? I just think that we shouldn’t read and automatically accept things at surface-level if they present as a bit unusual.
Who picked the disciples, Jesus, Father God, the Holy Spirit, or a combination?
Father God, there are people who need to hear Jesus saying, “Follow me”. Use me as you warm hearts and prepare them to hear and receive the Good News. Amen.
A beautiful reflection on the nature of Christ Jesus.
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence – Keith & Kristyn Getty
Let All Mortal Flesh keep Silence – The Living Stones Quartet
Paul