Hello, my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
With two days remaining in 2025, what are your priorities for finishing this year well? Pause and ponder that…
Any relationships that need some refining before this year ends? Is your physical and financial health each where you’d like them to be? And are you finishing 2025 on a spiritual upswing?
Those are fair questions with less than 48 hours remaining in this year, don’t you think? And here’s one more: how do we best position ourselves to launch into the new year of 2026, assuming it will likely be even more globally tumultuous than ’25 has been?
In our “Grand Narrative” journey thus far, we’ve ‘leap frogged’ through 4000 years of human history as we traveled from Genesis to Malachi, through the entire Old Testament of the Bible.
As we’ve begun the New Testament with the Christmas story, have you ever considered the first four books of the New Testament, called the Gospels, focus primarily on only about 3 years of history! Four men tell us the story of Jesus and we’re going to walk alongside them in getting to know Jesus in these first few weeks of 2026. Are you ready?
Question: If you were given 3 minutes to tell us the most important things you knew about Jesus Christ, what would you say?
Yesterday we watched as Jesus was, for the first time, publicly announced to be Jesus the Messiah. Who made that proclamation? John the Baptist and Almighty God Himself! Both with loud voices, heard by everyone who was present that day at the Jordan river. (John 1:29-34; Matt. 3:16,17)
Mark tells us it was not long after this that Jesus was walking along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee and He invited four fishermen to leave their nets and follow Him. He promised them they would experience a total change of life priorities and purpose! Seems a very important scene for us to watch with two days left in 2025, do you agree? These four men were not strangers to Jesus. Jesus had already spent a day with John and Andrew and He recently met Peter. (John 1:35-42)
We assume John and Andrew had told their brothers Peter and James everything they were learning about Jesus. Jesus boldly challenged the men that day as they cleaned their fishing nets: “Come and follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.“ (Mark 1:17) Now what do you think that means, and what would you have done if you had been there that day?
They handed their nets to other fishermen who worked for Zebedee, father to both John and James, and they headed off down the beach walking with Jesus, not knowing exactly where they were going or what was about to happen to them, but certainly intrigued. (Mark 1:20) Mark tells us they walked to Capernaum, a nearby town on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. They all would have known that town very well and in fact Capernaum became a base for Jesus and His disciples over the next three years.
Capernaum was large enough to have a Synagogue and, on the Sabbath, they went there, as all the good Jewish men of that area would have. We should assume the two sets of brothers would have been well known in that Synagogue and probably Zebedee was there with them too for the Sabbath service.
Jesus, as a visitor to that Synagogue that day, was evidently invited to share His thoughts about the Torah reading that day, and as He was talking suddenly a man stood and started shouting at Jesus! “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are – the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24) Pause. What was happening here?
Stunned, everyone sat mesmerized. Jesus stared at the man and sternly said: “Be quiet! Come out of him!” (Mark 1:25) The man started to shake violently and fell to the ground. He uttered a shriek and lay still for a few seconds, then got up looking reasonably normal. Mark explains the reaction of the people who saw this: “The people were all amazed and asked each other: ‘What is this? A new teaching and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey Him!” (Mark 1:17)
Jesus was demonstrating His authority over demonic forces of the dark kingdom. In fact, if you continue reading Mark’s first chapter. you’ll see that evening Jesus did it again, with several people brought to Him who were suffering from demonic oppression!
So, the first thing these four men learned about Jesus, that they concluded might become part of their new identity and life purpose… if they followed Jesus, is that Jesus has full authority over the dark kingdom. Do you and I recognize the ravages of demonic forces in our world today? Do you and I understand how significant this is? Do we understand that Jesus wants to empower all His followers to defend ourselves and help others battle the schemes and power of the dark kingdom? (Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Peter 5:8)
Mark tells us the next morning, very early, Jesus went out to a quiet place, alone to meet with His heavenly Father. When the four men awakened and found Jesus gone, we assume they scattered searching for Jesus. When Peter found Jesus alone, Peter was confused. An early morning crowd had already gathered because news had spread about what Jesus had done the day before.
We understand that don’t we? Good news spreads quickly and people come running, don’t they? There is no shortage of need, anywhere in the world, is there? But Jesus’ response shocked the four men when He said: “Let’s go somewhere else – to the nearby villages – so I can preach there also, for that is why I have come.” (Mark 1:35-39)
What’s happening here, my friends? It was time for a very important SECOND lesson from Jesus, for Peter, James, John and Andrew, and for you and me. In fact, on one occasion, a few months later, Jesus gave this explanation: “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have Me.” (John 12:8) So what’s the important life lesson here?
Jesus could have spent the day there in Capernaum healing the sick, casting out demons, speaking God’s truths. But these four men needed to learn that Jesus came from heaven to earth for the entire world, not just one city; and every person, not just Jews or needy people. Furthermore, Jesus came, sent by God the Father, on a specific earthly mission which would require that Jesus keep in close, frequent contact with the Father to be sure Jesus was ‘staying on mission’! Have you thought about that?
The crowd that was gathering that morning represents two of the most powerful distractions which can so easily pull God’s people off track, away from what God is trying to accomplish. What two distractions? Applause and Appeal!
Our human hearts naturally are drawn to cries for help and maybe even more, shouts of praise! Jesus went out early that morning to make sure His heart was in full alignment with God the Father. These four men, and you and I, need to learn that lesson well before we step into 2026!
Now let’s pause and reflect deeply on all this with the “lessons learned” notes in the “Grand Narrative” link below, and another great worship song, and I’ll be here waiting for you tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: Mark 1:16-39.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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