Mark 1:20 Commentary | Jesus Calling

Mark 1:20 Text & Translation

20 καὶ εὐθὺς ἐκάλεσεν αὐτούς. καὶ ἀφέντες τὸν πατέρα αὐτῶν Ζεβεδαῖον ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ μετὰ τῶν μισθωτῶν ἀπῆλθον ὀπίσω αὐτοῦ.¹

Straight away, He called them. And leaving their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired workers, they went away after Him. (Mk 1:20, AT)

• Softly and Tenderly
• Students Wanted
• Follow Him?
• Costly Discipleship
  • Faith Over Finances
  • Faith Over Family
  • Faith in Following
  • Drop Everything?
  • Cost and Cross
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Softly and Tenderly…?

The old hymn goes, “Softly and Tenderly Jesus is calling… Calling for you and for me…”² It’s a lovely song I’ve sung many a time.

However, there is no soft and tender call here.

Call (καλέω | kaleō) was a technical term for being summoned into court.³ This, is a summons to be a disciple.⁴

As we’ve said before, Christ the King issues authoritative commands – like that of a commanding officer.⁵. When the King of the world commands something, it’s wise to take heed.

Students Wanted

Now, first century Jews would have noted the extraordinary backwardness of this account. Why?

Well, potential pupils typically approached rabbis;⁶ not the other way around! Very few teachers would call their own disciples⁷ (cf. Mk 3:14, 6:7).⁸

They do not search for him, but he searches for them.⁹

The only parallel in the Old Testament is the calling of Elisha by Elijah:

19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. 20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,” he said, “and then I will come with you.” “Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?” 21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant. (1 Ki 19:19-21, NIV)¹⁰

In this account, Elijah allows Elisha to say farewell to his family; Jesus had no times for goodbyes (cf. Lk 9:57-62).¹¹ In Luke, we read:

59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” 60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” 61 Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Lk 9:59-62, NRSV)

Jesus summoned people to complete and utter devotion. No turning back.

Follow Him?

Furthermore, students of Jewish rabbis were to follow the Torah (i.e., the Law) – not the rabbis themselves!¹² Even the Old Testament prophets did not call for people to follow them — but to follow God.¹³

In contrast, Christ calls people to follow Him. Christians (Ac 11:26) are those who follow not mere principles, but a Person.¹⁴ Christ commands loyalty to Him above all else.

This is an audacious claim that only the Messiah, the Son of God (Mk 1:1),¹⁵ has the authority to make.

Costly Discipleship

Went away after is basically equivalent to following after Jesus (as a disciple).¹⁶ As we’ve said, there are many expressions and words used throughout Mark to express this same notion.

Faith Over Finances

Hired workers were likely free people who worked as laborers¹⁷— perhaps on a day-to-day basis.¹⁸

So, like Simon and Andrew, James and John were likely not poor; they had paid staff!¹⁹ All four were likely more like “managers” than “laborers”.²⁰

This is important to note, not only because many mistakenly lead people to believe that Jesus’ disciples were all poor, but also to highlight the magnitude of their sacrifice.

I suspect it’s easier to give up all you have when you don’t have much to begin with. I doubt few of us would quit our jobs for the sake of the gospel; these brothers gave up their entire business — their family business.

Faith Over Family

Having a hired worker abruptly quit would be tough; having a son leave would be even tougher.²¹

Moreover, many contemporary Jewish teachers taught that the greatest commandment was to honor’s one’s parents²² (cf. Ex 20:12; ²³ Dt 5:16, Pr 23:22-25)²⁴

The fifth commandment states:

12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. (Ex 20:12, NIV)²⁵

Also, in Proverbs we find:

Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. (Pr 23:22, NIV)²⁶

Jews took honoring one’s parents very seriously. Thus, to abandon one’s parents would be unheard of²⁷ — even blasphemous (cf. Sir 3:16, NRSV)²⁸

In the book of Sirach, written sometime in the late third to early second century by a devout Jew named Yeshua — “Jesus son of Eleazar son of Sirach of Jerusalem” (Sir 50:27, NRSV)²⁹ — it reads:

Whoever forsakes a father is like a blasphemer, and whoever angers a mother is cursed by the Lord. (Sir 3:16, NRSV)³⁰

One just didn’t up and leave one’s family all willy nilly. This was a grave offense — and an enormous sacrifice.³¹

Faith in Following

At least temporarily, in the first century, becoming someone’s disciple often meant leaving one’s livelihood, wife, children, etc.³² Becoming someone’s follower meant following them around — literally.

Many rabbis would travel from town to town³³ — as did Jesus.  As we find in Luke:

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Lk 9:57-58)

As we especially see in Mark. Jesus is a Man on a mission — and He’s a Man on the move. Becoming His follower seems to have been less about one’s lips (i.e., what you said) and more about one’s feet (i.e., what you did) (cf. Mt 7:21-23).

Sacrificing so much and becoming someone’s devoted follower was usually a decision that took much thought.³⁴ Yet, Simon, Andrew, James, and John all drop everything and follow Him immediately.

King Jesus’ authoritative summons necessitates an immediate response.

Drop Everything?

That being said, what is in view here is not necessarily complete abandonment.³⁵

Galilee was not very large. Thus, the disciples were able to return home periodically (cf. Mk 2:1;³⁶ Mk 1:29-31).³⁷

Also, though they left their fishing business, it seems the disciples were able to use their boat for Jesus’ earthly ministry (Mk 3:9, 4:1, 35, 5:21, 6:32, 45, 54, 8:13)³⁸ (and afterwards  in Jn 21:3).³⁹

God can use resources, talents and skills — which He gave us in the first place — to be used for His kingdom.

If one is an artist, one can use art to draw people to God. If one is a singer, one should sing to draw people to God.

If one is a physician who helps people become physically healthy, one should also write referrals to the Great Physician — Who makes people spiritually healthy. We should all be fishers of people.

Furthermore, in their later travels, it seems that many of the apostles were accompanied by their wives. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:

5 Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas [i.e., Simon Peter]? (1 Cor 9:5, NIV)⁴⁰

Cost and Cross

So one does not necessarily have to abandon everything about one’s past. But everything in one’s present must come second to Jesus. As we’ve said, “If We’re Following Christ, Christ Comes First“.

All other loyalties must be supplanted by loyalty to Christ.⁴¹ In fact, as mentioned previously, some prior loyalties may be broken. For Christ takes priority.

Neither fishing nets nor family ties are inherently wrong. Yet, they can become hindrances to wholehearted devotion to Christ. If so, “even these must be abandoned…”⁴²

Even a right eye or right hand that causes one to stumble when following Jesus is liable to be cut off (Mt 5:29-30).⁴³

Not family (Mk 10:29 cf. Lk 14:26, 18:29; ⁴⁴ cf. Mk 3:33-34),⁴⁵  nor possessions,⁴⁶(cf. Mk 10:21-24)⁴⁷ nor occupations,⁴⁸ nor our self(ish desires):⁴⁹ nothing should get in the way of following Christ.

Later in Mark, Jesus explains things bluntly:

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” (Mk 8:34-38, NIV)⁵⁰ (see previous sermon and Bible study on this text for more information)

As it’s been said, “Faithful discipleship is more about doing God’s will than about feeling good”.⁵¹ It entails obedience and surrender.⁵² Following Christ is about self-denial — not self-indulgence.

The Gospel is not merely about solving earthly problems and making earthly life tolerable or enjoyable.⁵³

Count the cost! In the words of Billy Graham, “Salvation is free, but discipleship costs everything we have.”

Conclusion

Like Simon and Andrew, Jesus calls James and John — an authoritative summons from the King. They respond appropriately: immediate, radical discipleship.

They leave their family and their family business and begin to follow Jesus — to Whom everything else must be secondary.

For more commentary on Mark, please visit the Book Study Overview page. For the sources cited, please see the bibliography.