In Which We Discuss True Christian Discipleship
What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? You might hear the phrase, “Christ follower” used by folks in your church or parish. People like to use this moniker because they don’t like the association with the word “Christian.” But Jesus calls people not to just follow him. He calls them to live as his disciples.
What’s the difference, you ask? Many people followed Jesus during his earthly ministry in the first century. At one point, over 70 to 100 people followed Jesus wherever he journeyed. His teachings intrigued them. But then something happened. Jesus described to them what it meant to be his disciple. Let’s look at the New Testament book of John and see what happens when Jesus shares what it means to truly follow him.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.
After Jesus said this, many turned back and no longer walked with him. We don’t need to get into the actual teaching of Jesus here except to note that the followers didn’t understand what it meant to feed on his flesh and drink his blood. This kind of language often frustrated and confused Jesus’ hearers. And remember, the people of Israel anticipated a messiah, that is, a political savior who’d deliver them from the hand of Roman oppression.
But Jesus did not come to deliver them politically. He came to deliver them spiritually. His kingdom was of heaven, not of earth.
When the masses stopped following Jesus, here’s what Jesus asked those remaining:
So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve?
So, you see, the twelve who stayed with Jesus believed he was who he said he was. And they desired to learn from him, to hear his word and apply them to their lives, to feast on the words of eternal life.
A Student and Learner
We get our word disciple from the New Testament Greek word, mathetes. It means, “a committed learner and follower.” When a student learns from a teacher—truly learns—she takes the information given, considers it, and applies it to her situation.
In Jewish culture, to become a student of a rabbi was a significant commitment. The education of Jewish children centered in the families. Outside the family, children would attend classes with the local rabbi, a word of respect for teachers or masters. The best students went on to study in a secondary school. And from there, the most outstanding students—very few—became actual followers of a famous rabbi. This entailed leaving their homes and often traveling with him.
These students were called, talmidim. The relationship between the talmidim and rabbi was intimate. The talmidim listened and practiced everything the rabbi’s said regarding the teachings of Scripture—the whole point was to become like the rabbi.
A talmid’s goal was to learn not only how to live, but first, to be able to properly understand how to study or understand the Scriptures and then practice it.
As you can see, there’s more going on here than simply following a teacher. The intent is to be like him. And how does one do that? By not only following how he lived, but by learning from him how to learn from the Scriptures.
This aspect of Christian discipleship is easily lost today. So many believe it is enough to express faith in God. But Jesus calls us to an intimate relationship with him; to learn from him. Remember, we don’t have Jesus walking with us in the flesh, but he did leave the Holy Spirit. And he said it was better for us that the Holy Spirit come. For we learn from the Holy Spirit as we study the Scriptures.
“To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self denial can say is: “He leads the way, keep close to him.””
So, if we only look at the Gospels and what Jesus said and did, we are missing a big aspect of our discipleship. The whole of Scripture God gave to us to learn from, to understand him more intimately, and to practice what he teaches us throughout the whole Bible.
Let’s look at what Jesus said it meant to follow him and consider the level of commitment he expects from those who seek to be his disicples. We’ll look at his words in the Luke’s Gospel.
Carry the Cross
In Luke 14, Jesus says something radical. He says that anyone who wanted to be his disciple must hate his own father and mother, and he must bear his own cross and come after him. Here’s the whole passage for your reference:
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’
Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace.
So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Disciples in the Early Church
How did the early church view discipleship?
To help us answer this question, we can look at a few early church documents (1st century). One of the most widely referenced works, that gives insight into how the early church did things, is called the Didache.
In the Didache, we learn what it means to be a catechumen.
Further Reading & Resources
Leon Morris, Luke: An Introduction and Commentary, vol. 3 of Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. IVP/Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 253.
M. J. Wilkins, DJG, s.v. “DISCIPLESHIP,” 187.
I. Howard Marshall, Luke, ed. D. A Carson et al., New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition. Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1994), 1004.
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 2d; Accordance electronic ed. (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2014), 219.
J. B. Green, DJG, s.v. “DEATH OF JESUS,” 159.
D. A. Hagner, New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, s.v. “Matthew,” 266. The word for ‘disciple’ (mathētēs) occurs far more often in Matthew (73 times) than in the other Synoptic Gospels, and the verb ‘to make disciples / be discipled’ (mathēteuō) is found only in Matthew among the four Gospels (13:52; 27:57; 28:19). This underlines the importance of discipleship for Matthew.
That the World May Know, “Rabbi and Talmidim,” That the World May Know, accessed June 28, 2020, https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/rabbi-and-talmidim.
