Immediately they followed Him

Mark 1:1-28 from the daily reading in the One year Bible

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

² As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:  “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; ³ The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’”

⁴ John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵ And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. ⁶ John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. ⁷ And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. ⁸ I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

⁹ In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰ Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; ¹¹ and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”

¹² Immediately the Spirit impelled Him to go out into the wilderness. ¹³ And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.

¹⁴ Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

¹⁶ As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” ¹⁸ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. ¹⁹ Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. ²⁰ Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.

²¹ They went into Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach. ²² They were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. ²³ Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out, ²⁴ saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” ²⁵ And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!” ²⁶ Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him. ²⁷ They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” ²⁸ Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.

Today’s text begins saying:  The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:  “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’”  John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching, and saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the thong of His sandals. I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”    Today, in much of the church the message that is preached is not of repentance and forgiveness of sins, but rather grace and the forgiveness of sins.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says:  By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.  But the full context includes verse 10 which says:  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.   Walking in and doing the good works which God prepared before hand requires that along with faith and grace, there must also be repentance. We are not saved by grace to continue in sin, but rather in repentance we do the good works of God. James 2:14-17 says:  What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.  In the same way that faith without works is dead, grace to forgive sin without repentance without repentance from sin; without changing and doing good, still leads to death. Grace is a gift from God, but without repentance we nulify God’s gift. The text says:  After John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”   The gospel that Jesus preached was not the gospel accounts of His life, death and resurrection. It was the good news of salvation through repentance.

In today’s text it says:  As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were also in the boat mending the nets. Immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him.   We see throughout the gospel accounts that those who determined to follow Jesus usually did it immediately.  In John 16:8, Jesus speaking of the Holy Spirit says:  “He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.”  The power of the word of God in conjunction with the power of the Holy Spirit, has the power to immediately convict people concerning sin and righteousness. Conviction differs from condemnation. It has the power to cause then to immediately repent and follow Christ. Yet so often in the church today we try to lure people to Christ. We entice them with programs and promises. We tell them what they will get, without telling them what they need to do.

The text ends saying:  Just then there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit; and he cried out,  saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”  And Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be quiet, and come out of him!”  Throwing him into convulsions, the unclean spirit cried out with a loud voice and came out of him.  They were all amazed, so that they debated among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.”  Immediately the news about Him spread everywhere into all the surrounding district of Galilee.   Returning to James 2, verses 19-20 say:  You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?  Even the demons know who Jesus is and they recognize and obey His authority. Perhaps if we would balance the message that we preach; perhaps if we preached the gospel of the kingdom, that there is grace to forgive and that faith in that grace is demonstrated by repentance to do the good works of God, we too would see people changed to immediately follow Jesus.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit; thank You for the gift of grace. Thank You also for the power of Your word and the Holy Spirit to convict us and not condemn us regarding sin and righteousness. Thank You for the power to immediately and forever change the way we think and act; that by faith we would do the works that You have prepared for us.  Amen.