The following sermon is by Boyd Johnson, pastor of Treasuring Christ Church in Athens, Georgia. More information about Treasuring Christ Church can be found at tccathens.org. Oftentimes when we think of the earthly ministry of Jesus, we think of the miracles and the healings that He performed. But surely it's significant that in each of the four Gospels, Jesus' ministry actually begins not with a miracle, but with preaching. His public ministry began after his baptism and trial in the wilderness. And from there, he traveled according to all four Gospels from place to place and preached, in the words of Mark, the Gospel of God. We've been learning in our study of Mark that Jesus came as the King of Israel, who announced that His kingdom was at hand, and that all Israel must repent and believe in the Gospel. The sum of His message was this, according to 1.15, the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the Gospel." And so he began his ministry preaching this message. But surely, it's also significant that in three of the four Gospels, immediately after Jesus began preaching, the authors record that He called disciples to Himself. These disciples were those who responded to Jesus' preaching by following Him. And so Jesus didn't come to preach interesting sermons that would help people live their lives a little bit better. He came to make followers who would tell His story and take His message to the ends of the earth In short, He came to make disciples. And His preaching was a means of discipleship. And we see that in the lives of two pairs of brothers who believed Jesus' gospel to the point that they were willing to give up everything in order to follow Him. These men were called to a unique ministry as Jesus' first disciples, but all of us believers have been called by Christ to discipleship. And we find important lessons in this story that will help us faithfully follow Him. Let's see what happened in Mark 1, verses 16-20. Mark writes, passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. And going on a little farther, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were in their boat, mending the nets. And immediately he called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him." Now on the face of it, this is a simple story and it doesn't seem like much happens. But there's much more to this story than a cursory read would reveal. And so I want to begin by studying this passage a verse at a time, as we typically do, and then we'll conclude with lessons we need to learn as we follow Christ. This story begins on a day when Jesus was passing alongside the Sea of Galilee. He was on His way to a town called Capernaum. At the time, Capernaum was Jesus' home. It served as His home base as He went throughout Galilee preaching the Gospel and casting out demons. Capernaum was located along the Sea of Galilee. It was a seaside town. And so it's not unusual that His travels would take Him alongside it. Now, the Sea of Galilee was actually a large freshwater lake. It's home to many species of fish, and in those days, it hosted a prosperous fishing trade. One ancient historian wrote that in the first century, more than 230 boats fished these waters, and there was more than a dozen ports around the lake. On its northern banks, a trade route ran through Capernaum, which made that city in particular important to the local economy. Now, many stories that you're familiar with in the Gospels took place in and around the Sea of Galilee. For example, along its shores, Jesus fed the multitude with the loaves and the fish. Nearby, Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount. On the water, Jesus walked across the waters and calmed the sea. And these are just to name a few. But before all that, On this particular day, probably during the morning hours, as Jesus was passing alongside the sea, He came upon two men who lived in Capernaum. According to verse 16, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. Simon is perhaps better known to us as Peter. Simon was his original name, but Jesus gave him the name Peter. He was married, and his mother-in-law probably lived with them, according to chapter 1, verse 30, in Capernaum. Simon's brother, Andrew, is less well-known to us, but the two of them were fishermen. Fish was a staple in the Greco-Roman world. And the fishing trade at the Sea of Galilee helped feed all of Israel. It was an important source of food. Now, in those days, four ways to fishing were common. The first was what you would think, hook and line, which is the kind of fishing we're most familiar with, with a rod. The second was spear fishing. where a lantern would be hung over the edge of the boat at night, and as fish rose to the surface, the fish would be speared. The third was drag netting, where, just like it sounds, a net was dragged behind a boat or between two boats to capture fish. And the fourth was net casting, where a circular net is cast into the water with weights along the perimeter. As the net sinks, it forms a dome and captures fish on the way down. A line is attached to the center of it, and when it's pulled, special threading in the net pulls together the edges, the bottom edges of the net, capturing the fish, and then the fisherman hauls it in. It was labor-intensive. It required long hours with patience and perseverance. And it required physical strength to cast the net and to haul in the fish. But, if the net was cast into a school of fish, a lot could be caught all at once. This could be done either from the shore or from a boat. And it's not clear where Simon and Andrew were, but when Jesus came across them, whether they were on the shore or in a boat, they were casting their net for fish. Now this is the first time in Mark's Gospel that these brothers are mentioned, but this wasn't the first time that Jesus had met them. In fact, He had known them for a long time. How they met is an interesting story, and I think it gives context to why these brothers responded to Jesus so eagerly. And so for a moment, I want to show you this story from John 1. Turn over to John 1. Two books over. The first chapter. In John 1, we find really a series of stories that records a week in the life of Jesus. These stories occurred after the temptation in the wilderness and before John the Baptist was imprisoned. At this time, according to chapter 1, verse 28, John was baptizing in Bethany across the Jordan. Now, no one knows for sure where this Bethany was located. It's never been found in modern times. But the description across the Jordan tells us that it was east of Jerusalem on the other side of the Jordan River, and it distinguishes it from another village by the same name, Bethany, which was just around the backside of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem. So this is a different Bethany on the other side of the Jordan. Likely, it was somewhere near the Dead Sea where John had baptized Jesus previously. Beginning in v. 35, we read that on one of these days, John was standing with two of his disciples. And he looked at Jesus as He walked by and said, behold, the Lamb of God, Two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. We found out the name of one of the disciples in verse 40. One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter's brother. Now the other disciple, the disciple of John, who heard John say, Behold the Lamb of God, and who responded by following Jesus, this other disciple is unnamed. But that in itself is a clue. In the Gospel of John, the Apostle John never mentions his own name. Not once. The name John is written 23 times in his Gospel. But it never refers to the author. It always refers to John the Baptist, even though the Apostle John or the Disciple John is featured throughout the Gospel. Instead, John the Apostle refers to himself more circumspectly. For example, he refers to himself in 13.23 as one of his disciples whom Jesus loved. Or in chapter 21, verse 24, writing anonymously, this is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things and has written these things. These are just two of his examples of how he refers to himself, but never by name. Over and over again, John declines to write his name. I think he did this out of humility. He knew he played a key role in the earthly ministry of Jesus, but he didn't want to draw undue attention to himself. And so it's fitting that he doesn't mention his name as he tells the story of meeting Jesus while he was a disciple of John the Baptist here in chapter 1. And so Andrew and John were disciples of John the Baptist. They had traveled from their fishing trade in the Sea of Galilee down south to the wilderness of Judea near the Dead Sea to be baptized by John the Baptist and become one of his disciples. Now evidently, Andrew's brother Simon was also there. According to verse 41, Andrew found his brother Simon and said to him, we have found the Messiah, which means Christ. He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon, the son of John. You shall be called Cephas, which means Peter. And so Andrew introduced Simon to Jesus, and it was at this meeting that Jesus gave Simon his new name, Cephas in Aramaic and Peter in Greek. These three men, John, Andrew, and Peter stayed with Jesus that evening. Then, according to verse 43, the next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, follow me. Now, Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter, where they were born or where they grew up. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, we have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Nathanael said to him, can anything good come out of Nazareth? Philip said to him, come and see. So the number of Jesus's followers grew. They knew he was the Messiah. They knew He was the prophet of whom Moses spoke would come. The five of them, John, Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael, all traveled with Jesus for three days to Galilee, where they arrived, according to chapter 2, verse 1, at a wedding in Cana. Now, I won't go into detail about the events that follow, but in summary, after Jesus was in Cana for that wedding, He went to Capernaum, according to chapter 2, verse 12, for a few days. Then He went back south to Jerusalem for the Passover. Chapter 2, verse 13, the Passover of the Jews was at hand. Then, according to chapter 3, verse 22, he went into the Judean countryside, where John was continuing to baptize. He had not yet been imprisoned. Then, according to chapter 4, verses 3 to 4, he left Judea towards Galilee, but he journeyed through Samaria. And after staying in Samaria for two days, according to chapter 4, verse 43, he came again to Cana in Galilee. Chapter 4, verse 46. Now all of this took place over a long period of time, and our passage in Mark 1 begins after all of these events have occurred. You could say that these events in John's Gospel that I just referred to occurred between verses 13 and 14 of Mark 1. Let's go back to Mark 1. All of those events occurred, you might say in the white space, between verses 13 and 14 of chapter 1. Now there's some debate on exactly how much time all this took, but from the time of Jesus' temptation in the wilderness, which Mark refers to, until the time of our passage here in v. 16, it may have been a year or more. A significant amount of time. And so Jesus had known these brothers for at least a year. They believed that He was the Messiah. They believed that He was the prophet of whom Moses had spoken. For some of that time, they'd actually followed Him for how long, we don't know. But for at least a portion of the time as they made their way back to their home region of Galilee. They were at the wedding when Jesus did His first miracle. but they weren't yet permanent followers of Christ. Disciples of rabbis often followed a rabbi only for a season, so this wasn't unusual. And at some point, they returned to their fishing trade, perhaps once John the Baptist was arrested. And so they knew Jesus. and were already convinced that He was someone worth following, when Jesus came walking along the Sea of Galilee. Now back to Mark 1, verse 17. While they were still fishing, Jesus called out to them, Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men. With these few words, Jesus called Simon and Andrew to make the most consequential decision in their lives. To follow Jesus. This was as much an invitation as it was a command. It was an invitation to come and learn from Him. To spend time in close fellowship with Him as He traveled around. And to learn from His example and from His teaching. but it was also an authoritative command because of who Jesus is. This was no ordinary teacher who was telling them to come. He is Christ, the Son of God. Follow Me. Jesus beckoned and exhorted these two brothers. Though Simon and Andrew knew Jesus, There's no way that they would know all that following Jesus would require of them, or what it would mean for their lives. They knew Him, but not like they would. They had heard His teaching, but they didn't yet know the revelation Jesus would tell them. They might anticipate He'd travel around Galilee, but they wouldn't yet understand that His journey would lead Him to Jerusalem to die. They knew He was the Messiah and would bring in the kingdom, but they didn't yet know how or when. They would anticipate that they would be like His apprentices, but they wouldn't yet know that they would be His apostles and would be sent to preach the gospel to the world after His resurrection. What they did know was Jesus' promise to them. Verse 17, I will make you become fishers of men. He didn't spell out what that meant, but the play on words grabbed their attention. The fishermen would become fishers of men. Rather than capturing fish for customers, they would be capturing souls for Christ. Now that word, become, I will make you become fishers of men." Indicates that they would need to be trained in order to become fishers of men. They knew how to fish, but they weren't yet equipped to do what Jesus was calling them to do. How would they be trained? Well, the answer is found in the rest of Mark's Gospel. They would follow Jesus for the next few years, observing what He did, and hearing what He taught. Their character would be shaped by their fellowship with Him. And they would be given opportunity to preach and do the works that Jesus did. They would preach the same message that Jesus preached. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Though Jesus' invitation was brief, there was no hesitation in their response. Verse 18, "...and immediately they left their nets and followed Him." Left their nets doesn't necessarily mean they dropped their nets on the shore and walked away. What Mark is telling us is that they left their trade. They would now be doing another kind of fishing. They responded to Jesus' call by following Him so that they could be fishers of men. Well, after this, Jesus continued down the shore with Simon and Andrew following Him. And it wasn't long before He came across another pair of brothers. We read in verse 19, These two brothers were also fishermen. After a long day or night of fishing, nets could need repaired, and these brothers were busy mending their nets. Likely they were done fishing for the day. As we've already seen, Jesus knew John for a long time, and probably his brother James, too. In fact, he may have known them quite a bit better than we've mentioned. It's very possible that they were his cousins. The Gospels don't say this directly, but the facts point that way. It takes a bit to piece this together, but the evidence is found in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' crucifixion. All four Gospels indicate that at Jesus' crucifixion, there were women who were there who saw what happened. Women who were witnesses of His death. Luke only mentions that women were there, but Matthew, Mark, and John give the names of some of the women who were there. John lists four women. Three are named Mary, which was a common name in that day. And one is unnamed. He says in John 19, verse 25, Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, Mary number one, and his mother's sister, second woman, unnamed. Mary, the wife of Clopas, third woman, and Mary Magdalene, four women, three named Mary. One is unnamed. John's account is the only one that tells us that Jesus' mother was there. It's significant in the story that he tells. But for our purposes, the significant detail is that the sister of Jesus' mother was also there, but that she's unnamed. However, in Mark's account, he gives the name of three women at the crucifixion. He writes in Mark 15, verse 40, There were also women looking on from a distance. Among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Younger, and Joseph, same Mary the wife of Clopas, and Salome. A new woman. A woman we haven't heard of before. Or have we? Mark doesn't include Jesus's mother, but he lists three women who were there. Two are named Mary, just like in John's account, and the other is Salome. Could Salome be the name of the sister of Jesus's mother? It seems likely that John and Mark were writing about the same women. And if that's the case, then Salome is this unnamed woman. And if we add to this Matthew's account, we gain another detail. Once again, Matthew lists three women. Two are named Mary, and one is unnamed, but she is described by who her sons were. We read in Matthew 27, verses 55-56, there were also many women there. looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph. She's been mentioned three times now. And the mother of the sons of Zebedee. So just like before, three women are listed. Two are named Mary, then there's a third woman. If all three accounts are describing the same woman, then Mary's sister was named Salome, and she was the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee. And that might help explain why James and John were brought into Jesus' inner circle of disciples, and why John called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. They were all family. And it also might explain why John doesn't name his mother in his account. He doesn't even name himself. Well, we can't be dogmatic about James and John's mother's name, but we're presuming that all three of these accounts are speaking about the same woman. The facts point that way. But at least we know that the mother of James and John was at Jesus' crucifixion, which indicates a closeness that developed between Jesus and that family. But we can be dogmatic about James and John's father. His name is Zebedee. He was a fisherman. In those days, sons almost always took the vocation of their fathers, which is why James and John fished. They learned their trade through their father. In the Gospels, James and John are often called the sons of Zebedee, though we never hear from Zebedee himself. He's named 12 times in the Gospels in reference to his sons. That's unusual. It may indicate that he had some degree of prominence in the community. That he was someone people knew. Perhaps he gained prominence through a prosperous fishing business. According to v. 20, he was able to hire servants to help along with his sons, which probably indicates they were doing quite well. He was able to hire essentially employees to help with the fishing business. The livelihood of fishermen tended to be better than peasants who worked the fields, but perhaps Zebedee's operation did better than most. We learn from Luke's Gospel that James and John had a fishing partnership with Peter and Andrew. And so they all knew each other. They all worked together. And James and John knew Jesus. So when Jesus saw them, according to verse 20, immediately He called them and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed Him. This time Mark doesn't quote Jesus' words, just that He called them. No doubt Jesus said something similar to what He had said to Simon and Andrew. These brothers responded in much the same way as the other brothers. They left their father and their fishing trade and followed Jesus. Zebedee wasn't left without help. He had his servants. But for his sons to break from their father's vocation would be unexpected and perhaps jarring. We don't know how Zebedee reacted. Whether he reacted negatively or positively, we can't say, but they responded to the call of Jesus as they should have. James and John obeyed Christ, the Son of God. Now, as we reflect on this story, what should we learn from it? What's in here for us? What are the implications for our lives as we think about Christ's call to discipleship? Well, let me give you two brief lessons. First, the call to discipleship is costly. We learned that lesson from this story. The call to discipleship is costly. These brothers gave up a lot by following Christ. Simon and Andrew left their nets. James and John left their father. That's how it's worded. They left behind all they had ever known. Throughout their time of following Jesus, they continued to experience this sense of loss. In Mark 10, When Jesus said it was difficult for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God, Peter responded in verse 28, on behalf of all the 12 disciples, see, we have left everything and followed you. Perhaps there was pain and sorrow behind those words. Ultimately, all four would suffer greatly in their lives because of their allegiance to Christ. Peter would be crucified in Rome during the reign of Nero. Andrew may have been crucified in Achaia, which is modern-day Greece. James was executed by sword at the hands of Herod the king, according to Acts 12. John was exiled to the island of Patmos in his old age and died sometime after, perhaps in Ephesus. All of them made costly sacrifices as they followed Jesus. Following Jesus is a call of sacrifice. Jesus said in Mark 8, 34, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. That's required in order to follow Jesus. Faithfulness to Christ requires that we sacrifice our selfish pursuits and bear the reproach that He bore, and follow after Him wherever He leads. When Jesus called these men to follow Him, where was He headed? Well, ultimately, He was headed to Golgotha, the place of the cross. He was headed for His death. If you want to follow Jesus, that's always the first step. Toward the cross. On the cross, Jesus died for sinners like you and me, because none of our good works could ever please God. And we deserve death and hell for our sins, but Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. And if you repent of your sin, and trust in Christ alone, Your sins will be forgiven. And you'll be saved. But make no mistake. Once saved, you never get over the cross. And you never get around it. The destination never changes. Every day, you follow Jesus to the cross. This is the path of every disciple of Jesus. This is the life that He has called you to. As Diedrich Bonhoeffer said, when Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die. It's a life of sacrificial service to God and to people. So the call to discipleship is costly. The second lesson is that the call to discipleship is rewarded. It's not only costly, praise the Lord, it's rewarded. Following Christ is worth the cost. Though you may lose everything here in the cause of Christ, Jesus promises you'll gain far more in return. He said in Mark 10, verse 29, "'Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers, or sisters, or mother, or father, or children, or lands. That's essentially everything for a first century person. Home, livelihood, and family. There's no one who has left those things, he says, for my sake and for the Gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children in the lands with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life. The path of discipleship is hard. But what makes it bearable in this life is that Jesus said, follow, what's the next word? Don't you ever forget it. Follow me. That's what makes following worth the cost. You're following Jesus. We follow Jesus and therefore we can keep going when the path is hard. Because Jesus is the leader. The road is bearable wherever He takes us. He's the Good Shepherd. He is gentle and lowly. A bruised reed He will not break. He will not forsake you or leave you on this path. He will give you everything you need for what He's called you to do. This He promises you. And so the cost of discipleship will be rewarded with Christ Himself. Who else would you want to follow? Jesus is calling you. Jesus is calling you to follow Him. Whether that's for the first time to the cross, as you lay down your life before Him as your Lord and Savior, or whether you've been saved for many years, many decades, Today is the day we follow Him. He's calling you to take up your cross and walk the road toward calvary with Him as you sacrifice for God and for His people. Will you heed His voice? Will you follow Him even today? Let's pray together. Father, thank you for this reminder that we must follow your Son. The road is many times hard, but the reward makes the cost worth it. Thank You that You have given us Jesus as our example. The One with perfect character. The One who always did right and spoke righteously. And so help us to follow after Him. Help us as we survey your Gospels, as we read your Word, to remember that these pages point towards Him as the author and perfecter of our faith. And so may our lives be characterized forevermore as those who are Jesus' followers. And we do ask, Father, that for those here who have not come to saving faith, that they would put their faith in Christ right now. Lay down their lives before Jesus. All they know of themselves to all they know of Christ as the Lord and Savior who came as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to this message from Treasuring Christ Church in Athens, Georgia. Feel free to make copies of this message to give to others, but please do not alter the content in any way without permission. Treasuring Christ Church exists to spread a passion for the fame of Christ's name in Athens and around the world. We invite you to visit Treasuring Christ Church online at tccathens.org. There you'll find other resources available to you and information about our upcoming gatherings.