TEXT [Commentary]

II. Jesus’ Public Ministry (1:16–8:26)

A. Calling of Disciples and Beginning of Miracles (1:16–1:45)

1. The first disciples (1:16-20; cf. Matt 4:18-22)

16 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon[*] and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 18 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

19 A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. 20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

NOTES

1:17-18 followed him. Gr. akoloutheō [TG190, ZG199]. This key verb referring to discipleship is an important term in Mark (BDAG 36-37; TDNT 2.210-216; Mark 1:18; 2:14-15; 8:34; 10:21, 28; 15:41). With one exception (Rev 14:4), the use of this term to refer to discipleship is limited to the Gospels. “Following” involves a commitment that makes all other ties secondary, which is why Jesus’ followers often left other things behind (1:18, 20; 2:14; 10:21, 28; cf. Matt 8:22; Luke 9:61-62). Although Jesus’ disciples are often compared to rabbinical students, this term is never used of a rabbi’s student (Hengel 1981:50-57), so the expression with this nuance appears to be of Christian origin. Here is radical discipleship. Jesus is put first, so family and vocation become secondary.

fish for people! This expression is also without solid precedent in the OT, inasmuch as similar examples are negative and point to being caught in judgment (Jer 16:16; Ezek 29:4-5; Amos 4:2; Hab 1:14-17; Cranfield 1959:70). The sense here is positive since, contextually, people are being caught for the Kingdom. Perhaps the need to catch involves a need to rescue, with its underlying assumption that those who are not caught will be judged (Witherington 2001:85-86) or that once the fish is caught his old life will be changed orever (Garland 1996:69).

COMMENTARY [Text]

The call of these four disciples seems abrupt. The first thing Jesus did after announcing the approach of the Kingdom was to gather disciples who would make following Jesus a priority over everything else, even their livelihood. They went from casting their nets at schools of fish to Jesus’ school on catching people for the Kingdom. It is significant that Jesus called such people from everyday life, for God involves himself with everyday people, and that involvement then changes them. Rather than being students of the Law as rabbinical students were, the disciples were engaged with people (Guelich 1989:52-53). These men were willing to turn, believe the gospel, and redirect their lives accordingly.

Not everyone who responded to Jesus was called to follow him in such an absolute manner (5:18-20; Meier 2001:40-50). These would be special disciples, numbered among the Twelve. Their intimate proximity to Jesus would prepare them well to share Jesus’ teaching with others. Their calling was in the tradition of previous callings, such as those of the prophets. Elisha followed Elijah, for example (1 Kgs 19:19-21). It should also be noted that Jesus initiated the call of these disciples, whereas in rabbinical circles it was more common for students to choose their teachers.