3rd SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Mk 1:14-20

v. 14. After John had been arrested, Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God:

Arrested: This conveys the sense of the Greek word in this passage, but the word itself is a general one (“hand over”) which had many overtones for Mark (see 9:11). The word is also used in the LXX (Septuagint) version of Is 53:6 and 12.

The gospel of God: This could mean 'the good news about God', but more probably here it means 'the good news from God', i.e. the news of his intention to bring in his kingdom immediately. The phrase was widely used in the early Church (cf. I Thess. 2:2. 8-9; Rm 1:1, 15:16; and 2 Cor. 1I:7) to describe the Christian message of salvation. And if it be asked how Jesus could have been thought to have preached that when he makes no reference to himself, the answer will be that to the Evangelist, Jesus, in preaching the gospel of God, or the gospel of the kingdom of God, must ultimately be referring to himself.

v. 15. “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

This is the time of fulfillment.: The idea is that God had from the beginning determined the length of time that must elapse before the coming of his kingdom, and that time is now up. Such beliefs were common in apocalyptic. See Dn 12:4. 9 and Ez 7:12, Gal. 44, Eph. 1:10. For closely related ideas see Mark 13:20. 33.

The kingdom of God: It may be translated as the kingship of God or the reign of God. This ‘kingdom’ is not a place but rather a web of relationships. Those belonging to the kingdom are those who accept the life vision that Jesus gave to us and whose lives are based on that vision of life. It does not matter who they are or where they are and it exists here and now. The Kingdom extends far wider than the Church, which is called to be the sign pointing to the Kingdom’s presence among us.

Is at hand: This is the meaning most scholars assign to the Greek word (engiken) Though others translate it as "has arrived", or 'is here'. The difference is not very great since in any case only a comparatively short interval is thought of as intervening between Jesus' proclamation and the arrival of the kingdom. More significant is the question how far, and in what sense, Jesus believed the kingdom actually to have arrived during his earthly life. Here at any rate he seems to envisage its coming as being in the immediate future.

Repent: The Greek word (metanoein) means literally 'to change one's mind', but as it is used in the New Testament, it comes very near to the Old Testament word shubh ('to turn back', cf. Jl 2:12-13), implying a coming to one's senses, a deliberate turning away from one's sinful past towards God, with the corollary of a change in conduct. In its New Testament usage it implies much more than a mere "change of mind". It involves a whole reorientation of the personality, a "conversion".

Believe in the gospel: It is not just to accept as true what Jesus or the Church teaches. To believe IN involves a total commitment, a throwing in of one’s lot with Jesus without any guarantees or preconditions. It is to invest one’s whole self (as people do in a good marriage, for better or for worse, in good times and in bad…).

Certainly “repent and believe in the gospel” is exactly how the later Christian preachers summarized what men must do to be saved.

v. 16. As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen.

As he passed by the Sea of Galilee: The construction in the Greek (paragein para) is unusual, and commentators generally are agreed that the reference to the Sea of Galilee is an addition made by St Mark - no doubt a deduction from the contents of the story. The Sea of Galilee was about 19 km. long and about 9.5 km. across at its widest point.

v. 17. Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Follow me: The language may suggest that in which a rabbi summoned new disciples to his school, but the Gospel means far more by 'following Jesus' than is implied in that sort of relationship. The present story shows that it may often mean a total renunciation of one's past relationship and way of life. Later stories will bring out further aspects of what is involved.

I will make you fishers of men: In Our Lord's time 'catching' men was already widely used as a metaphor, both by Jews and Gentiles (cf Hb 1:15. 17 and Prv 6:26) But it is doubtful if this would have prepared the two disciples for its use here, for the metaphor seems always to have been applied to harmful activities, especially in the Old Testament haling men off to divine retribution. Cf. Jer. 16:16, Amos 4:2, Ez 19:4f. To the modern reader, looking back, the phrase seems readily intelligible in the present context, and perhaps the two brothers, if they knew something of Jesus beforehand, could already have understood it, as meaning to win further converts to his movement. But the call is in the first instance to discipleship rather than to apostolate, and the words make much more obvious sense in the light of later Christian practice and usage (cf. Mt. 13:47ff. and John 21:3ff. and the metaphor of the 'Ark ' of the Church). So we cannot rule out the possibility that the saying owes at least its formulation to the early Church.

v. 18. Then they abandoned their nets and followed him.

If the details are pressed as biographically accurate, we are bound to suppose that the two men had had previous contact with Jesus (cf John 1:35-42). In order to understand the significance the early Church found in the verse, we must realize that the word translated “followed” was the term they generally used for acceptance of Jesus' call and attachment to his person. We are thus meant to see in the conversion of the Prince of Apostles what such 'following' must always be like. Jesus' demands brook no delay (immediately) ; the response must be decisive and must include willingness to give up one's means of livelihood and make a clean break with one's past. The best commentary is Luke 9:57-62. See also Mk 10:28ff. The Evangelist no doubt had the story of Elisha's call in mind (1 Kgs 19:19-21). To many of Mark's original readers all this will have had very immediate relevance.

v. 19. He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets.

He walked along a little farther: This linking phrase may well be due to St Mark, who wanted to record the call of the three pre-eminent apostles (cf. 5:37; 9:2; 14:33) before that of any others, and it does not necessarily follow that the two incidents occurred at the same time. Indeed some scholars, impressed by the similarity of the two stories, have regarded them as variant accounts of a single episode. Such a view is certainly not inescapable, though for the possibility of such a thing, see on 6:35- 7:37 and 8:1-26.

v. 20. Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.

The previous story shows how 'following' Jesus may involve the severance of economic ties; this one shows that it may involve the severance of personal and family ties (cf. Luke 14:26 and Mt 10:37. Does the reference to the hired men serve to defend the apostles against the charge of completely abandoning their aged father, or does it add to the pathos - he is now left entirely at the mercy of 'hirelings'? The Greek word (misthotos) is frequently used in a bad sense (cf.Jn 10:12-13) Can it be that the contrast here is between the apostles, who answer Jesus' call, and the 'hirelings', who are held back by mercenary considerations?