¹⁴ Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. ¹⁵ “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

¹⁶ One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon^[g] 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.

Mark 1:14-20

Dear God, I think it’s interesting that, at least in this translation, Mark doesn’t bother to give the circumstances around John’s arrest here. He waits until chapter 6 to describe the whole thing with Herodias. Here, he just wants us to know that John gets arrested and Jesus gets to work. He started preaching. He started recruiting disciples. It makes me wonder if you had to get John out of the way so Jesus could be Jesus.

So what does it mean that the Kingdom of God was at hand? What was he functionally telling them? It’s a question that seems like it should have an obvious answer, but as I try to type one out, it seems like it is a very nuanced answer. You were near through Jesus. Nearer than normal. People could see what you were like and hear directly what you had to say. And the closer you are the more my sin is evident to me.

I am also not sure how I feel about how simply Mark tells the stories of the calls of Peter, Ander, James, and John. Thinking about Peter being Mark’s source for this materials, I would have thought we would get a little more insight into what Peter saw and why he said yes.

Father, in this moment, I don’t really feel that close to you. Is it the “hangover” from coming off of the retreat? I would think I would feel more “on fire” afterward, but right now I’m just feeling a little mentally and emotionally scattered. So help me to hear your call today. Help me to answer it. Help me to worship you and love you well. And help me to pray for others thoroughly and through your Spirit.

And with that, I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen