Daily Devotions
Mark
Day 26
Text: Mark 1 "Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully..." 1 Peter 1:10a
CALLING MORE TO FOLLOW
Simon and Andrew were potentially good disciples. But having just two disciples would not be sufficient. Mark went on to note how Jesus called others to follow Him.
“When He had gone a little farther from there,
He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother,
who also were in the boat mending their nets.
and immediately He called them, and they left their father
Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.”MARK 1:19-20
Now there were four disciples, and these were all fishermen. They were indeed good friends with each other, for they plied the same trade, in the same region.
REASONS WHY THESE MEN FOLLOWED JESUS INSTANTLY
Mark did not cite the reasons as to why these men were prepared to leave their all to follow Jesus as full-time disciples. We are indebted to John to provide the answers (Cf. John 1)
1. A multitude of Followers of John the Baptist
John the Baptist had a huge following (Cf. Mark 1:5; Matthew 3:5). These who heard the word preached about the coming Messiah duly confessed their sins and were baptised.
2. Disciples of John the Baptist
Out of the multitudes, some became disciples. We read about this in the following text.
“Again, the next day, John stood with two of his disciples.”JOHN 1:35
3. The Identification of Jesus
John declared to the multitudes who Jesus really was, after having baptised Him.
“And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said,
‘Behold the Lamb of God.'”JOHN 1:36
4. Initial attempts to learn more about Jesus
The disciples of John, one of whom was Andrew, had a long talk with Jesus.
“The two disciples (of John) heard him speak,
and they followed Jesus.”JOHN 1:37
5. Responding fully to the Invitation of Jesus
These fishermen who gave up their all to follow did so because they had become fully convinced that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and the Lamb of God!