Mark 1:17 (KJV)

Passage

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Nearby Context

Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Mark 1:16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Mark 1:18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

Mark 1:19 And 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.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "jesus", "said", "come", "after", "make", "become", and "fishers". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "jesus" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "Now as he walked by the sea..." into verse 18's "And straightway they forsook their nets and...", so "jesus" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Mark context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "jesus" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.