Lange Commentary - Mark 1:16 - 1:35

Online Resource Library

Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | Download

Lange Commentary - Mark 1:16 - 1:35


(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)

This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

SECOND SECTION

CONQUEST OF THE FIRST DISCIPLES AT CAPERNAUM, VICTORY OVER THE DEMONS IN THAT CITY, AND WITHDRAWAL INTO THE WILDERNESS

Mar_1:16-35

________

1. The Authoritative word of Jesus, which calls the four first and greatest Disciples. Mar_1:16-20

(Parallels: Mat_4:18-22; Luk_5:1-11; comp. Joh_1:35-42)

16Now, as he walkedby the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. 19And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. 20And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

See on Mat_4:18 seq.

Mar_1:16. As He walked by.—The Evangelist would make prominent the apparently fortuitous character of this first vocation.

Mar_1:19. Who also were in the ship.—Both pairs of brothers were called while in the earnest prosecution of their craft. The first two were throwing their nets into new positions in the water; the two others were mending them for new draughts.

Mar_1:20. With the hired servants.—Why this addition? Paulus: It was to be made clear, how they could without impiety forsake their father. Meyer (after Grotius): It was only a proof that Zebedee did not follow his craft in a petty way, and that he probably was not without means. In any case, it also shows that Zebedee was not left helpless. That they forsook so thriving a business (Ewald), is indeed of less significance.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Christ Himself is the great Fisher of men. He catches the four elect ones as it were at one draught. These are the three (Mar_9:2) and the four (Mar_13:3) confidential Apostles of after-times. Therefore there were first four fishermen called.

2. The power of Christ’s word over these souls here appears direct and immediate. We learn the mediating circumstances of this vocation from John 1. At the same time, this calling was something entirely new (see on Mat_4:19), and their following so wonderful, that they at once forsook their calling, in the very act of pursuing it. The fishing life of these men was a preparation for their higher calling, as being fidelity in that which was least.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The Lord knoweth His own.—The Lord and His elect quickly know each other.—The great increase of grace swiftly enters into our daily life.—Christ’s waiting by the sea apparently for relaxation, but at the same time the most noble work.—Christ’s mark in this world the heart of man.—The great Fisher of men, and His art of making human fishers.—The calling of Jesus a call to become something new.—The mighty calling of the Lord: 1. Gentler than any human request; 2. mightier than any human command; 3. unique as the victorious wooing of heavenly love.—The calling of Jesus a calling at once to one thing and to many: 1. To one thing: into His discipleship and the fellowship of His Spirit, or to the Father; 2. to many: to discipleship and mastership, to coöperation, to fellowship in suffering, and community in triumph.—The greatness of the following of the four disciples was the effect of the great grace of their calling. They broke off suddenly in the midst of a new career of their labor, as a sign of the decision of their following.—The spiritual and the worldly vocation of Christians: 1. Opposition; 2. kindredness; 3. union.—The twofold earthly companionship of the disciples a foundation for the higher: 1. Companions in fishing,—companions in fishing for men; 2. brethren after the flesh,—spiritual brethren.—Leaving all for Christ’s sake.—The Christian and ecclesiastical vocations in harmony with the sacred natural obligations of life.

Starke:—Never be idle.—Pious handicraft acceptable to God.—The calling into Christianity binds us to faith and the following of Christ; how much more the vocation to spiritual office!—A true follower of Christ forgets everything earthly.—He who follows Christ loses nothing, though he may forsake all; for he finds in Him a full sufficiency, Mat_19:29.

Lisco:—The forsaking all must be experienced inwardly by every believer; and must be fulfilled outwardly also, in particular circumstances and occasions, Mat_19:27.—Schleiermacher:—The two tendencies in the life of the Redeemer: preaching to the multitude, and the separation of individuals to Himself.—Gossner:—The Lord’s fishermen actually catch the fish; the world’s fishermen swim with the fish.—Bauer:—One glance of the Lord, and He knows the heart under its rough garment.

Mar_1:16.—The expression ðáñÜãùí is recommended by B., D., L., Lachmann, and Tischendorf. Instead of áὐôïῦ Lachmann and Tischendorf read Óéìῶíïò .

Mar_1:18.—Not “their” nets: áὐôῶí is wanting in B., C., L., Lachmann, Tischendorf.

Mar_1:19.—’ Åêåῖèåí is wanting in B., D., L., Tischendorf; bracketed by Lachmann. It accords with Mat_4:21.