Called By The King | Mark 1:16-20

INTRODUCTION

Because Jesus is the King who calls, His disciples must follow Him above all, be formed by Him, and join His mission.

ILLUSTRATION

One of the most famous moments came during the Quit India Movement in Bombay on August 8, 1942, when Gandhi’s call was associated with the words, “Do or Die.”

That invitation was serious because the cause was serious. To respond to that call meant people had to be willing to sacrifice comfort, reputation, security, and even their lives for the freedom of the nation.

But today, we come to a far greater call. This is not the call of a national leader to join a freedom movement. This is the call of the King of kings to follow Him and enter His kingdom mission.

Mark 1:16-20

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

¹⁶As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ¹⁸At once they left their nets and followed him.

¹⁹When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. ²⁰Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

Big Idea: Because Jesus is the King who calls, His disciples must follow Him above all, be formed by Him, and join His mission.

Context: In Mark 1:14–15, Jesus has just announced the arrival of the kingdom and the call to repent and believe. The King announces the kingdom and then gathers disciples into His kingdom mission.

1. The King Who Calls

Look at the simple pattern: It is a two-step process.

Look at the simple pattern in the text: Jesus calls, and the disciples respond.

Jesus speaks a direct command: “Come, follow me.” The disciples respond immediately. Simon and Andrew leave their nets. James and John leave their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men.

But the deeper emphasis is this: Jesus takes the initiative.

He sees ordinary fishermen. He calls them by grace. He gives them a new future.

This was radical. In that world, disciples often sought out a rabbi they wanted to learn from. Students often had to demonstrate their worthiness. But here, Jesus reverses the expectation. These men do not first come looking for Him. He comes to them. He sees them. He calls them.

Discipleship begins with the gracious and authoritative call of Jesus.

It is gracious because Jesus calls ordinary men who have not yet proven themselves. It is authoritative because He does not merely offer advice; He gives a command that reorders their lives.

And this call is not only for the apostles. The call to follow Jesus is for everyone who receives Him as Lord and Saviour.

Jesus does not call the qualified; He qualifies those He calls.

Emphasis: Discipleship begins with the gracious and authoritative call of Jesus.

Come Follow Me? Is that only for apostles? Is it only for these 4 people. No, the call the follow Jesus is for everyone who receives Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

2. The Cost of Following

There is a cost of following Jesus.

Mark 1:18, 20

.¹⁸At once they left their nets and followed him.

²⁰Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.

They leave real securities: Livelihood, business, family expectations, and future stability.

Mark 8:34-35

³⁴Then 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. ³⁵For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Mark 10:29-31

²⁹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel ³⁰will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. ³¹But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

In the kingdom you get a larger family, you get fellow believers, not saying to forsake your family. But when we are in that situation of family or others reject us because we follow Jesus, we lose all our possessions or inheritance because we follow Jesus, Jesus is worth it and he also compensates by giving us one another.

Luke 9:57-62

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

⁵⁹He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”

⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

⁶¹Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”

⁶²Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

Jesus makes this same cost clear in Luke 9:57–62. There, some people say they want to follow Him, but they also want to delay obedience. Jesus responds with strong words to show that the kingdom of God must have first place. His point is not that we should dishonour family responsibilities, but that no earthly loyalty can take the place of supreme loyalty to Him.

So when the first disciples leave their nets and family business, they are not saying work is evil or family is unimportant. They are showing that Jesus is greater.

Their relationship to their work changed. Their identity and loyalty were now reordered around Jesus. They may still have had access to boats later, but their old way of life no longer defined them. Jesus did.

This raises the question for us: How much are we willing to leave for Jesus?

We are not saved by the cost we pay; we are saved by Christ. But the Christ who saves us also calls us to follow Him.

Following Jesus reorders every loyalty.

Main emphasis: Following Jesus reorders every loyalty.

But Jesus does not only call us to leave something behind. He calls us into something greater—His mission.

3. The Mission He Gives

Jesus does not merely call them away from something. He calls them into His kingdom mission.

Mark 1:17

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

¹⁷“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Main emphasis: Every disciple is called to witness, though not all in the same way.

Church, “fish for people” does not mean every believer becomes a pastor or preacher. But it does mean every disciple becomes a witness. Jesus saves us and then sends us. In our homes, offices, colleges, neighbourhoods, and friendships, we carry the good news of the kingdom. We speak Christ, we reflect Christ, we invite people to Christ, and we depend on the Holy Spirit to open hearts.

Jesus is making His followers into witnesses who bring others under the good news of the kingdom.

4. The Grace That Restores

We also can fail in our discipleship journey but we have God’s grace that restores us.

Mark 8:34

³⁴Then 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.

Did the disciples do that? Did they take up their cross and follow Jesus? But his disciples say to Jesus, “We left everything, what are we going to get?” The disciples leave a lot to follow Jesus. But in Mark 14 – they will abandon Jesus to save their lives. The Romans had to bring a bystander, Simon of Cyrene to take up Jesus’ cross, because the disciples were in hiding.

In fact, this word for leaving things behind is the same word used in Mark 14 for the disciples leaving Jesus. In fact, they were in such a hurry to get away from Jesus:

Mark 14:51-52

⁵¹A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, ⁵²he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

They were willing to abandon other things for Jesus but when it came to laying down their lives, they abandoned Jesus for their lives. Yet Jesus did not abandon them. He went to the cross for disciples who failed Him. He died for sinners, rose again, and restored His people for mission. Jesus died for failed disciples. After the resurrection Jesus restores the disciples and sends them with His mission. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit and the mission is empowered by God, not human strength.

How much is Jesus worth to us?

However the disciples get back by the end of the gospel. Jesus does not lower the standards but he works with us to make us into what he has called us to do. Think of how these disciples, though weak at first, were later restored and used by God.

They left their nets for Jesus.

Later, they left Jesus to save themselves.

But Jesus never left them.

CONCLUSION

Church, the call of Jesus still comes to us today: “Come, follow Me.”

He is not merely calling us to attend church, admire Him from a distance, or add religious activity to an already busy life. He is calling us to Himself.

For Simon and Andrew, the net had to be left behind. For James and John, the family business had to come under the authority of Christ. For us, the net may look different. It may be career ambition, financial security, fear of people, desire for comfort, need for approval, hidden sin, or a future plan we are afraid to place in God’s hands.

So the question is not only, “What have I left for Jesus?” The deeper question is, “Have I truly seen the worth of Jesus?”

The disciples who left their nets in Mark 1 later abandoned Jesus in Mark 14. Yet Jesus did not abandon them. He went to the cross for failed disciples. He bore our sin, died in our place, rose in victory, and still restores those who come to Him in repentance and faith.

Jesus may not call every believer to leave their job physically, but He calls every believer to surrender their job spiritually.

Your office may remain the same, but your Master changes.

Your family responsibilities remain, but your highest loyalty changes.

Your money may remain in your account, but your heart must no longer belong to it.

So leave what holds your heart. Follow the worthy King. Join His mission. Trust His grace. Jesus is worth everything. Amen.

Let’s pray. Name the net you need to surrender.