Last week we looked at the way the “disciple call stories” unfolded in John’s Gospel. This week we’re back to Mark, who is often short on details. On the face of it, this encounter appears absurd:
“As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
A guy comes by, promises to make you good at, what? Fishing for people? Sounds vaguely like human trafficking… And you drop your livelihood and follow him? We must be missing something.
Well, if the stories in John’s gospel fill in this account, what we’re missing is that Jesus had already met Peter and Andrew. Andrew had already proclaimed him the “Real Thing,” and Jesus had already given Andrew’s brother Simon the nickname Petros, or Peter. All that had taken place by the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.
Now we’re in Galilee, and Jesus is getting started in earnest on his mission of proclaiming and demonstrating the power of God’s in-breaking realm. Now he comes along and invites them to take the next step – actually becoming part of his inner circle. And they go.
If this is the way it unfolded, we can be encouraged that perhaps Jesus invited more than once – and that it might take us a few steps to commit ourselves to following him heart, mind, body and time.
When in your life do you feel you’ve been asked or challenged to commit yourself to following Jesus in a deeper way? How did the request come? How did you respond? Have you responded differently at one time than another?
What does “following Jesus” mean for you? What is God asking of you? What is exciting about going deeper? What is scary or inconvenient or otherwise causes you to hesitate?
That day Jesus was passing by the Sea of Galilee. Another day he was passing by a tax collector’s booth. Today he might be passing the halls of your office building or on the roads you travel. Might we start today with this prayer:
“Jesus, open my spirit to see you, to hear what you’re inviting me to do. Open my heart to saying ‘yes.’”
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