Tag: Mark 1

Let’s Go Fish!

Mark 1:17 NIV for SGL

Old Testament: Numbers 17 & 18

Poetry: Job 15

New Testament: Mark 1

I used to own a pair of fish that my best friend gave me. I thought I was a decent fish owner. But then I went off to Australia for three weeks and when I returned, I came home to find that the slow-release food supply that I put into the tank, didn’t dissolve. My poor fish starved to death. Oops.

So your reservation to take seriously any of my mentioning of fish, fishing, or fishermen would totally be understandable.

But I ask that you hear me out, just this once, for this particular topic. After all, I did my due diligence and Googled some information.

Mark 1:17 says, “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Being a fisherman was way back then and continues even today to be a daily job. Likewise, as we follow Jesus daily, our casting of nets should happen every day we are around others. If we are called to be fishers of men, all of our interactions need to be with the purpose of building relationships and showing others, verbally and nonverbally, what life with Jesus as our Lord looks like.

Peter and Andrew knew when the best time to go fishing was. According to www.takemefishing.org (I’m totally serious… ) the best time to fish is usually later on in the day. I know that there are probably a gazillion other variables that should be considered, so don’t go dismissing the bigger picture here. Later in the day, the fish are primed for feeding because their metabolism and digestion are roaring. There is a lesson for us here – in order for people to win others to Christ, they need to be primed. In God’s own timing, a person’s heart will be open to receive the Gospel. As fishers of men, we need to be praying for those opportunities to present themselves so we are able to discern what to say and when to say it.

We know from verse 16, that Simon (later called Peter) and his brother Andrew used nets for fishing. Not a pole, line and lure, but nets. They caught hundreds of fish at a time. When Jesus says that he will make us fishers of men, I think His intention is that we not just teach a few people about Jesus, but that we influence hundreds of people, over our lifetime, to consider what life as a follower of Jesus would look like.

We also know from verse 16, that fishing was not a solo effort. It demanded at least a pair to get the job done. Our faith is meant to be in a community. Yes, Jesus goes off to a solitary place in verse 35 of Chapter 1, but that doesn’t mean we live in a vacuum. Working and serving with other believers is how our faith is supposed to be carried out.

I fully admit that sharing the Gospel is not my strength. But as I read this verse, I became convicted that this is something that I need to take more seriously. That’s partly why I chose it to be the verse to memorize for the week. So even though it is a short verse and easy to commit to memory, it’s potential to change my life and the lives of those around me, is significant.

Wanna go fishin’?

-Bethany Ligon

(Originally posted for SeekGrowLove on September 11, 2017)

Reflection Questions

  1. How have you been helped by your fishing community? How can you help them?
  2. How committed are you to following Jesus and fishing for people? What do you find hardest about these jobs? What gets in the way?
  3. Pray to God about how He would like to see you fishing for men/people. What does it look like? When and where will it be done? Who will your fishing partners be?
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The Action Story

Old Testament: Zechariah 9-10

Poetry: Psalm 146

*Theme Week – Celebrating Jesus: Mark 1

            Every writer, speaker, film-maker has their own particular style for telling a story or giving a presentation.  When I preach a sermon I usually choose one particular theme.  I often start with a story that I have personally experienced and then try to help the listener make a connection to that same kind of story/situation and then connect the Bible story/text to that same theme.  It’s a slow build up to the main theme.  That’s one way to do it.

            Some choose to jump right in and focus on the action.  If you’ve ever seen a James Bond movie or a Tom Cruise Mission Impossible movie, you notice that almost always it begins right in the midst of the action.. very little warm up, just a kind of… boom! You’re right in the middle of the action- jumping out of an airplane, skiing down a mountain, climbing up the outside of a skyscraper, whatever.

            When it comes to the four Gospels, each one is different in how they begin.  Matthew goes back to the Old Testament and give a genealogy for Jesus, showing how his is connected to some of Israel’s great people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and King David and then he tells the story of Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem and how Mary’s betrothed, Joseph, was a good and honorable man.  Luke starts with the announcements of the pregnancies of John the Baptist and Jesus followed by their birth stories.  John’s Gospel follows the pattern of Genesis one and goes back to the beginning with God’s word, his promise and plan and then showing that Jesus fulfills that plan.  All three of those Gospels give back stories and slow roll outs.  Then there’s Mark.  Mark starts out… Boom!  John the Baptist is an adult and doing his ministry of preaching and baptizing.  Then Jesus appears as a grown adult and gets baptized by John and God’s voice descends upon Jesus proclaiming that he is God’s son and that God is pleased with him.

            Mark’s Gospel is an action story.  We know nothing about Jesus as a baby, how he came to be conceived of a virgin or in a manger.  Mark doesn’t mention wise men.  What matters to Mark is:  “What’s Jesus doing now that his mission is getting ready to start?”  We still know from Mark that Jesus is the son of God, because God announces it from heaven.  Mark doesn’t feel the need to share how Jesus happened to be the son of God, God just tells us.  Boom! Action!

            Mark’s favorite word seems to be “immediately”.  Jesus comes out of the water and “immediately” the heavens are torn open and God’s speaks.  Then “immediately” the spirit sends Jesus out to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.  Compared to the other Gospels not a lot of detail.  We don’t hear from Mark how Jesus was tempted by Satan or how he responded, just that it happened.  Then Jesus is suddenly back in Galilee announcing- “It’s time! The kingdom of God is coming right away”.  Can you feel the urgency in Mark’s storytelling? 

            Next, Jesus is by the sea calling the fishermen to follow him and “immediately they follow him.” He moves on down and finds two more fishermen and “immediately” he calls them.  He goes to Capernaum and “immediately” enters the synagogue and starts teaching.  Then he “immediately” casts out an unclean spirit from a young man. Then he “immediately” leaves the synagogue and goes to the home of Simon and Andrew where Simon’s mother in law is sick and “immediately” they tell Jesus about her illness and he heals her.  From there every sick person in town is being brought to him to be healed.

            Next, Jesus is getting up very early in the morning to go pray and the disciples come looking for him.  There is urgency- “everyone is looking for you.”  Jesus then leads them from town to town preaching and casting out demons.  He meets a leper and touches him and “immediately” the leper is healed.

            Each of the four gospels tell the story of Jesus but do it in different styles.  Luke spends over 19,000 words telling the story, Matthew is right behind at over 18,000 words, John uses just over 15,000 words, and Mark, you guessed it- it is by far the shortest, telling the story of Jesus at just over 11,000 words- in just a little over half the words that Luke uses.  Mark probably had his own reasons for telling the story with so much action and so few words.  It’s still the story of Jesus, told from Mark’s perspective and it still touches on the main points- Jesus is the son of God, Jesus was baptized and tempted, Jesus preached the good news and healed people, and Jesus was on the move.  Mark goes on to show that Jesus was crucified and that God raised him from the dead.

            Isn’t it great that God allows us to keep our own personality and style as we serve him?  The story of Jesus has never and will never change, but how we present Jesus to others may depend on all kinds of factors including our own personality and style as well as the needs of our conversation partners.  God doesn’t make cookie cutter disciples.  God tells the story of Jesus through many different people.  How is he using you to tell the story of Jesus?

-Jeff Fletcher

Reflection Questions

  1. Why do you think God chose four different writers to tell the story of Jesus? 
  2. What do you appreciate about Mark chapter 1?
  3. God tells the story of Jesus through many different people.  How is he using you to tell the story of Jesus?

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No Excuses

Old Testament: Isaiah 23 & 24

Poetry: Psalm 70

New Testament: Mark 1

In Mark 1 Jesus calls his first disciples.  He calls four people.  Now these four are all fisherman with jobs and lives.  But they leave those lives and jobs to follow Jesus.  Take a second to really think about how much they’re giving up there.  They’re losing their job, their lifestyle and leaving their own homes.  All to follow someone after he says just one thing to them.  Now it doesn’t say that they stopped ,thought about it, and followed Jesus, but that “At once they left their nets and followed him” (Mark 1:18 NIV) and “Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and follow him” (Mark 1:20 NIV).  They left immediately to follow Jesus; they were willing to give up their own lives which they had plans for.  They gave that all up to follow Jesus.  They did it quickly and without hesitation.  Now they could have had insight like in Matthew 16:17, “Jesus replied, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven’”.  I would think that they did but we can still learn from their example here.

Another thing to notice here is that Jesus is not calling scribes or priests who might know the old testament the best and who are the most well educated.  There is plenty of reasons for this.  He is calling fishermen as his first.  The first time something is done it’s setting a precedent.  Everything Jesus did set a precedent for us to follow.  But he’s showing us here that you don’t need to be the most educated, or the smartest to follow and serve him.  That is the precedent he is setting for us.  The precedent that continues even to this day.  And he took these fishermen and made them into the vessels he would use to spread the gospel even after he was gone, when they were no longer fishermen, but fishers of men. 

Now we can apply this to our own lives as well.  We’ve all been called to follow Jesus just as the first disciples were.  Yet so many times we hesitate, because we don’t want to give up things, or we’re too scared.  Take a page from these disciples, they left their lives and their homes to follow.  We should be willing to do what is asked of us as well. Most of the time what we are called to give up isn’t even as much as they gave up.  Not only that, but when we are called to do something, we should be doing it right away.  They didn’t have the full picture of who he was and were willing to follow, we should be able to as well.  Let me qualify all that by saying we should give thought and prayer if we’re going to do something, and if we are called to do something that doesn’t mean you have to give up everything you know like the disciples, they were after all in a different situation than most of us. 

And if you’re stuck thinking that “I’m not qualified” or “Someone else better can do it because I’m not good enough” you should forget those thoughts.  Because Jesus set the precedent that we all, no matter how skilled or unskilled, can serve.  Just like the disciples he equips us for what we are called to do.   You don’t need to be the best to serve.  Moses who is famous for leading the Israelites out of Egypt was a flawed person.  And if you’re saying “I’m not ready yet because I’m too young, not good enough, etc yet” then when do you become ready.  Setting a random age where you say that you know enough now?  We are called to serve, not called to serve in 20 years. 

Don’t be afraid to serve in what way you are called and do it without delay when you are called. 

-Philip Kirkpatrick

Reflection Questions

  1. What do you feel the Lord has called you to do? How are you being called to follow Jesus? If you are unsure, pray to hear directions more clearly.
  2. What excuses have you given in the past for not following the calling right away?
  3. Would Jesus think any of these excuses are valid?
  4. What are you willing to give up in order to follow Jesus well?
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Dedicated to Prayer

Mark 1

Saturday, July 23, 2022

As usual, there are many areas we could focus on in today’s devotion.  I’d like to start with a very quick recap of Mark 1.

Mark 1 starts out with John the Baptists preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (1:4) to prepare the way for Jesus.  Compared with the Old Testament sacrifices, this was revolutionary – introducing a new and better way to reconcile with God.  Confess sins, turn away from those sins, and be baptized for the forgiveness of those sins.

Mark 1 continues with Jesus’ baptism, when God declared, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you, I am well pleased.”  After which Jesus went into the desert to be tempted by Satan for 40 days.

After that, as Jesus performed miracles, “News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.” (1:28)  After sunset one evening, Mark 1:33 says, “The whole town gathered at the door”, because Jesus was healing many who had various diseases and casting out demons.

Mark 1:35 gives some insight into Jesus’ prayer life, “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.”  He was interrupted by his disciples, who said, “Everyone is looking for you.”  But Jesus left to go preach elsewhere because that was why he was sent.

Then, Mark 1:40-42 tells us, “A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, If you are willing, you can make me clean.  Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  I am willing, he said.  Be clean!  Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured.”  As a result of his healing, this man told everyone what Jesus had done.  Mark 1:45 tells us, “As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places.  Yet the people still came to him from everywhere.”

The three things that stand out to me in Mark 1 are:

  1. Jesus’ dedication to prayer.
  2. Jesus’ compassion.
  3. Jesus’ popularity – because people couldn’t stop themselves from telling all that Jesus had done.

After staying up very late at night healing people who started to arrive after sunset, Jesus got up very early in the morning while it was still dark to go to a solitary place to pray.  Obviously, prayer was more important to Jesus than sleep.  I think there is a correlation between Jesus’ prayer life and his successful ministry.  How’s your prayer life?

Jesus healed so many people because he had compassion for them, and wanted to relieve their suffering.  I’m especially touched by his reaction to the man with leprosy who came to Jesus, begging to be healed.  Remember that leprosy made a person unclean.  According to the Old Testament law, such a person was an outcast, who had to stay away from people, wear a covering over their mouth, and yell “unclean”.  By coming to Jesus, this guy was breaking the law.  But he knew he likely had a terminal illness, and Jesus was his only possibility of a cure.  

And instead of shrinking back from this man, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man.  This man had probably not felt another human touch for years.  And Jesus deliberately touched him and healed him.

Do you recognize that your sins are a terminal illness?  Will you come to Jesus, and beg him on your knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”?  If you do, Jesus is still compassionate and will forgive your sins.

Finally, after Jesus healed people, and changed their lives, they couldn’t help but tell everyone what Jesus had done for them.  I can just imagine one of them saying something like, “You know this horrible problem I had?  Well, Jesus completely healed me and gave me a new lease on life.  I know you have some issues too, and I think you should go to Jesus to be healed like I was.  It will change your life too.”  – And as a result, Jesus’ fame and popularity exploded.  Because people couldn’t stop talking about what Jesus had done for them.

What has Jesus done for you?  How are you doing telling everyone you know?

In closing, I’d like to challenge you in a few areas.  First, step up your prayer life.  Give it a test.  Deliberately dedicate time early in the morning to pray, and seek God.  After a week, see what a difference it has made in your life.  If you see a great change, continue the practice.

Second, take all of your problems to Jesus (in prayer).  Your sins, your suffering, your concerns.  Jesus is still compassionate.  Sometimes, he grants physical healing, more often spiritual healing.  Give it a try.

Finally, once Jesus has done something for you, tell everyone you know how He has changed your life.

–Steve Mattison

Application Questions –

Today’s questions came from the devotion – go ahead and give some more time thinking about, and acting on, them.

  1. How’s your prayer life? What could you give up to make more time for prayer? Try the prayer test this week.
  2. Do you recognize that your sins are a terminal illness?  Will you come to Jesus, and beg him on your knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”?  What will spiritual healing look like?
  3. What has Jesus done for you?  How are you doing telling everyone you know?
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