Mike
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Mark Passage:
1:16 ¶ As he went along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, Simon’s brother, casting a net into the sea (for they were fishermen). 17 Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will turn you into fishers of people.” 18 They left their nets immediately and followed him. 19 Going on a little farther, he saw James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother in their boat mending nets. 20 Immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
Journal entry 1 (first read through):
As the passage opens Jesus is walking down by the Sea of Galilee. Then he calls out to the brothers Simon and Andrew, who were fishing. What Jesus calls out is probably one of the most widely know saying of Jesus, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of people.” After the brothers join him they go a little farther and Jesus again calls out to a set of brothers, James and John the son’s of Zebedee, and the drop their fishing nets, leave their father and follow Jesus.
Jesus is calling these men away from their livelihoods to come and follow him. Something interesting is that he calls them off of the Sea of Galilee. Water was seen as chaotic in the ancient world. So it appears Jesus is calling these men out of the chaos of the world to come and follow him, even if they don’t really know what he is calling them to do.
Drawing:
Drawing of Mark 1:16-20
Journal Entry 2 (drawing):
When I drew the scene I had to make a distinction between the two separate parts of this text. First I decided to draw the calling of Simon and Andrew. In this scene I placed the brothers in the boat because Jesus called them while they were out fishing. I also made Jesus actually speaking the word of calling to the brothers. Next I drew the calling of James and John. This was a bit different because the brothers were on the shore mending the fishing nets. I also drew in their father and one of his reportedly many workers. Another thing different with this scene is that we don’t have the words that Jesus used to call the brothers in this account; I assume they were the same words but they could have been different.
Journal Entry 3 (reading out loud):
Reading the text out loud was much different then just reading it to myself. For instance reading it out loud I placed a pause between the two accounts of the calling of the two sets of brothers. Also my tone of voice changed when I was reading the brothers back ground information, 16b and 19. This was in an effort to distinguish between the story and what the author wanted the audience to know.
Journal Entry 4 (final impressions):
One thing that comes to my mind now is the question, what was James’ and John’s father thinking when his sons just up and left him on the shore? Was he mad that they left him and their business? Or was he happy for them? Another thing that comes to my mind is why did these men just up and leave their livelihoods and follow this total stranger? It must have been divinely inspired.
October 3rd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Thanks, Mike. I like that the drawing assignment required you not only to split your story but to compare/contrast them. I also think your observations about how you would read the text out loud are quite accurate.
Your final impressions open you to some possibilities down the line for your final presentation. For example, how might this story be told be from the perspective of J&J’s father?
October 8th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Mike, your comment on J&J’s father…somehow I think that the answer might lie with some of our families. We did much the same thing, coming to seminary. What we do have that they did not, the Lutheran church and Jesus are known to our families and we are continuing a relationship rather than starting a new one. Kt