1:15
There are several key elements of the good news which are so succinctly summed up in this one verse. First, “the time has come”. This is the time when God’s purposes and plans are being made manifest, they are being actualised. Second, “kingdom of God has come near”, or “is at hand”. There is a different kingdom at hand. We can probably all agree that man’s kingdom is not very good, often utterly evil and horrendous. We may replace the current rulers, whether by the ballot box or by revolution, but then we find that things are no better, or even worse. In the words of the Who “meet the new boss, same as the old boss”. It then goes on “won’t get fooled again”, yet we do keep on falling for the same trick. God’s kingdom is different. Thirdly, we need to repent. Our rulers may be a bunch of incompetents, sometimes positively evil, but we are also part of the problem. We, you and I, need to repent. We need to acknowledge the wrongness of ourselves and our ways. Finally we need to “believe the good news”. We need to follow Jesus.
1:16-18
We now read of Jesus calling His first disciples. The “Sea of Galilee” was actually a lake, and only the locals referred to it as a “sea”, this reflects the information in the gospels coming from locals. Andrew and Simon had been influenced by John the Baptist (John 1:40-42). John was now in prison, so they were back at their “day job” of fishing. Jesus calls to them “follow me”. “At once they left their nets and followed Him”. Mark is demonstrating what it means to believe in Jesus. Jesus calls them out, and sets them out on a different purpose for their lives, namely to be “fishers of men”. As disciples we are to be “influencers”, to have an effect on the lives of others, calling them to Christ.
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