Deurpost

Here are some verses and questions for when you are getting together with your small group.

Transformed Mind
Read: Colossians 2:8; Colossians 3:1-4; 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

• What are some of these philosophies or human traditions that we have to deal with?
• What kind of weapons has Jesus given to us to destroy these arguments?

Transformed Character
Read: Matthew 4:1-11

• What does Jesus’ reaction on the three temptation say about His character?
• How do the three temptation relate to 1 John 2:16, and what does that mean for us?

Transformed Relationships
Read: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, Jude 1:20-21

• How does 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 relate to the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)?
• What does it mean to “keep yourself in the love of God”?

Transformed Habits
Read: 2 Timothy 2:3-6; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

• What do the three analogies of the soldier, athlete and farmer mean?
• How do you exercise self-control in all things?

Transformed Service
Read: Matthew 6:24; Titus 3:14

• What are possible masters in your life that you need to get rid off?
• What are good works that are needed in your city or neighborhood?

Transformed Influence: Lead the Way Jesus Led
Read: John 13:1-11; Acts 4:5-13

• What does Jesus’ washing of the disciples’ feet tell you about influence and/or leading?
• How did the apostles’ discipleship by Jesus affect their mission?

These are my teaching notes of yesterday evening.

Back in March I gave a teaching called “Discipleship 101″ where I tried to provide a definition for what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. The teaching notes for this can be found here:

• Discipleship 101, Part 1 – Old School
• Discipleship 101, Part 2 – Jesus Made It Unique
• Discipleship 101, Part 3 – Paul, An Example
• Discipleship 101, Part 4 – New School
• Discipleship 101, Part 5 – What Shall We Say Then?

In summary, a disciple of Jesus can be defined in the following five points:

• A disciple is a reborn follower of Jesus (Matt. 4:18-20; Matt. 8:18-22; Jn. 10:27);
• A disciple submits to at least one other person who teaches him how to follow Jesus (1 Pet. 5:5; 2 Tim. 3:10-11; 2 Tim. 2:2; 1 Cor. 4:15-16; Eph. 5:21);
• A disciple learns Jesus’ words (Jn. 18:31-32; Ps. 19:7-8; Ps. 1:1-3; Ps. 119:11);
• A disciple imitates Jesus’ life and character (2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Tim. 4:7; Gal. 5:22-23,25; Lu. 14:25-27,33);
• A disciple finds and teaches other disciples who also follow Jesus (Matt. 28:18-20; Matt. 9:36-38);

This teaching can be considered the follow-up, Discipleship 201, and discusses the transformational aspects (or marks) of when you imitate Jesus’ life and character.

Beholding the Glory of the Lord
According to John 15, we need to be abiding in Jesus, in order to bear fruit, we so we can become like Him, be transformed in His image. Since we are in Christ, we have a new regenerated heart from which we can live, with the help of the Holy Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says it like this: “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.“

I think there are three questions that Paul wants to answer for us here:

How are we being transformed? – “with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord“
We are transformed into His image by looking at His glory. How do we get an unveiled face? Paul tells us two verses earlier: “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed” (2 Corinthians 3:16). You become what you constantly behold. It is about fixing our gaze on Him, look at Him, think about Him, and put Him before us again and again. This is key to becoming like Him.

To what are we being transformed? – “transformed into His image“
As we look into God’s mirror, we will be changed into the same image of the Lord. When we spend time beholding the glory of the God of love, grace, peace, and righteousness, we will see a transforming growth in love, grace, peace, and righteousness. We are being transformed – progressively, degree by degree – into the image of Christ the Lord. This work of transformation is a process. We are becoming like Christ. We are growing in our capacity to show Christ by being like Christ. That is God’s will for us. That we be progressively be conformed to the image of Christ.

Who is doing the transforming? – “For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit“
With these last words, Paul is emphasizing two things. First, this access to God and His transforming presence is ours by the new covenant, because it is through the new covenant we are given the Spirit of the Lord. Secondly, this work of transformation really is God’s work in us. It happens by the Spirit of the Lord, not by the will or effort of man. We don’t achieve or earn spiritual transformation by beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord. We simply put ourselves in a place where we can be transformed by the Spirit of the Lord.

So if we are to be transformed into the image of Jesus, what is it that will be transformed:

1. Transformed Mind: Believe What Jesus Believed
2. Transformed Character: Live the Way Jesus Lived
3. Transformed Relationships: Love as Jesus Loved
4. Transformed Habits: Train as Jesus Trained
5. Transformed Service: Minister as Jesus Ministered
6. Transformed Influence: Lead the Way Jesus Led

Transformed Mind: Believe What Jesus Believed
We need to be transformed to have the same mind as Jesus. Believe what He believes. It’s one thing to believe in Jesus. It’s quite another to believe what Jesus believed. And the first cannot be what it should be without the second. The key verse here is Romans 12:2: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” The world (in other words, the popular culture and manner of thinking which is in rebellion against God – will try to conform us to their pattern, yet we need to resist this process. Renewing the mind has not as much to do feeling nor with doing. A life based on feelings says: “How do I feel today? How do I feel about my job? How do I feel about my wife? How do I feel about worship? How do I feel about the preacher?” A life based on doing says: “Don’t give me your theology. Just tell me what to do. Give me the four points for this and the seven keys for that.” It is not that God is against either feeling or doing, but rather we should ask “What is true here? What does God’s Word say?” It also not necessarily mean to get more knowledge (or better knowledge), for Ephesians 4:23 says that we should “be renewed in the spirit of your minds,” but it is the ability to set our mind on the right things.

Some more verses for personal study on the mind: Psalm 26:2; Proverbs 28:26; Matthew 16:23; Luke 24:45; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:2, 4:7; Colossians 3:2; 1 Peter 3:8.

Transformed Character: Live the Way Jesus Lived
We need to be transformed to have the same character as Jesus. Character being defined best in this case as maturity. The key verse here is Romans 5:3-4, which says, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope” From suffering to endurance to character to hope. This is sort of a golden chain of Christian growth and maturity. One virtue builds upon another as we grow in the pattern of Jesus. We build character through endurance (or perseverance) which comes through suffering (or trial). James says it like this: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:2-4). When it comes to daily worldly opposition trials fall under the three categories of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life (2 John 2:16). And if you think this is a new thing, consider that these three were exactly what caused Eve to sin in the garden. We read in Genesis 3:6, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food [lust of the flesh], and that it was a delight to the eyes [lust of the eyes], and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise [boastful pride of life], she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.“

Some more verses for personal study on character: Matthew 4:1-11

Transformed Relationships: Love as Jesus Loved
We need to be transformed to show the same type of love in our relationships as Jesus did. The key verse here is John 13:34-35: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” The Greek word for new (kainos) here implies freshness rather than recent or different. It’s for instance also used in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation“). It’s not that Jesus just invented this command, but that He presents it in a new and fresh way. So what’s so fresh about it? Whereas the Old Testament demanded that men should love their neighbors as themselves (Lev. 19:18), the New Commandment is that they should love the brothers better than themselves, and die for their friends. The command to love wasn’t new, but the extent of love just displayed by Jesus was new, as would be the display of the cross. Love was newly defined from His example.

Some more verses for personal study on love: 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a; 1 John 4:7-21; 1 John 5:3-4; Jude 1:17-21

Transformed Habits: Train as Jesus Trained
We need to be transformed to incorporate the same habits as Jesus. The key verse here is Luke 6:40: “A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.” Training is not trying. We must not try, but train. Training means that we commit to rearrange our lives around the practices of Jesus. We don’t try to practice spiritual disciplines, but we train ourselves to implement them into our lives because Jesus did. And over time, through a patient process, we allow the positive effects of discipline to change us. We need to train hard, be disciplined, so that we will be perfected in unity with Jesus Christ (John 17:23), perfected in holiness (2 Corinthians 7:1), perfected in patience (1 Timothy 1:16), perfected in faith (James 2:22), perfected in love (1 John 4:12). We get encouragement for training and discipline by reading Paul’s statement in Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.“

Some more verses for personal study on training: Proverbs 22:6; 1 Timothy 4:7-8; 2 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 1:5-7; 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Transformed Service: Minister as Jesus Ministered
We need to be transformed to have the same servant heart as Jesus had. The key verse here is Galatians 5:13-14: “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’.” Clearly, we can choose to use freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. That option (or danger) is open to us. We can take the glorious freedom Jesus has given us, spin it, and use it as a way to please ourselves at the expense of others. This is the antidote for using freedom as an occasion for the flesh. The flesh expects others to conform to us, and doesn’t care much about others. But when we through love serve one another, we conquer the flesh. This is exactly the pattern set by Jesus. He had more freedom than anyone who ever walked this earth did. Yet He used His liberty to through love serve one another. The idea is that as we naturally take care of ourselves, we should also take care of others.

Some verses for personal study on serving: Matthew 6:24; Mark 10:45; Luke 22:24-27; John 12:26; Romans 12:11; Romans 14:18; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 4:10, Titus 3:14

Transformed Influence: Lead the Way Jesus Led
We need to be transformed to have the same influence as Jesus had. The key verse here is Matthew 5:13-16: “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Disciples are like salt because they have a preserving influence. Salt was used to preserve meats and to slow decay. Disciples are like salt because they add flavor. Christians should have a preserving and flavorful influence on their culture. We are not only light-receivers, we are also light-givers. Jesus never challenged us to become salt or light. He simply said that we are – and we are either fulfilling or failing that given responsibility. The world will see the light of the kingdom through the good works done by Jesus’ disciples (and believers today), with the result that the Father who is in heaven will be glorified.

Some more verses for personal study on influence: Matthew 28:18-20; Acts 26:9-23; Philippians 2:5; Acts 4:5-13

So, looking at all that has been said, what shall we say then?

All of this can be summed up in what Jesus said to the Pharisees: “But when the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question to test Him. ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ And He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.’” (Matthew 22:34-40)

So, the question I have to ask is: Do you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind? Do you really love Jesus with everything you got, trusting Him and following Him no matter what? Do you have the Word of God (the Bible) as the highest authority in your life? Do you read it, study it, meditate on it, memorize it, and apply it into your life? Do you really seek God with your whole heart? (Psalm 119:10). Do you really long for Him with your soul? (Psalm 84:2). Do you really want your mind to be renewed? (Romans 12:2). Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Do you love your enemies? (Matthew 5:44). Do you consider all to be your neighbor, as Jesus explains in the parable of the Good Samaritan? Do you live by the “golden rule” of Matthew 7:12? “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets“

Discipleship is something you are, not something you do. It is a way of life for all of life in all areas of life (work, school, marriage, family, friends, etc.). It is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. We are called to be and make disciples!

I am currently reading the book “Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ” by John Piper, and the topic of the first chapter is about the glory of God, which ends with a prayer that I thought conveys beautifully the heart all of us should have towards God, and so I want to close off with this prayer by John Piper:

“O Father of glory, this is the cry of our hearts – to be changed from one degree of glory to another, until, in the resurrection, at the last trumpet, we are completely conformed to the image of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Until then, we long to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord, especially the knowledge of his glory. We want to see it as clearly as we see the sun, and to savor it as deeply as our most desired pleasure. O merciful God, incline our hearts to your Word and the wonders of your glory. Wean us from our obsession with trivial things. Open the eyes of our hearts to see each day what the created universe is telling about your glory. Enlighten our minds to see the glory of your Son in the Gospel. We believe that you are the All-glorious One, and that there is none like you. Help our unbelief. Forgive the wandering of our affections and the undue attention we give to lesser things. Have mercy on us for Christ’s sake, and fulfill in us your great design to display the glory of your grace. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.” (John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, p17-18)

So, what does this all mean for us in our daily lives? What is it that a disciple of Jesus does? Let me list five things a disciple of Jesus does.

A disciple is a Reborn Follower of Jesus
There is no distinction between being a Christian and being a disciple. Christian means “belonging to Christ” and thus that Jesus Christ is your Master, your Rabbi, which means that you are His disciple, and thus follow Him. Now, here we could go into all sorts of discussions of belonging to Christ means justification, and that those who are being justified also will be glorified (Romans 8:30), so that no sanctification or following is required of a Christian/disciple/follower of Christ, for you will be glorified anyways. But regardless of the fact that this is true, this doesn’t take away the fact that Jesus Christ demands a lot from a Christian, which (if He is your Master, because you are His follower) must be obeyed. For those interested to find out what Jesus exactly demands from a Christian (and the world), a good book to read would be John Piper’s “What Jesus Demands from the World” which lists 50 demands from Jesus. Like I said in my first post, in the old Jewish tradition, the relationship between a disciple and his teacher is one of complete loyalty, dedication and submission. In Matthew 4:18-20 we read about the immediacy of following Jesus where it says, “While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” And in Matthew 8:18-22, Jesus tells us what it means to follow Him, “Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. And a scribe came up and said to him, ‘Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another of the disciples said to him, ‘Lord, let me first go and bury my father.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.’” But I think John’s writing is the most clear when he wrote, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)

A disciple Submits to At Least One Other Person Who Teaches Him How to Follow Jesus
Character develops in community, but in order for character to develop it requires something. It requires submission. You need to be willing to submit to someone and letting that person speak into your life, and this requires humility (“Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’” (1 Peter 5:5). So, humility leads to submission leads to character development (which means transformation into Christ-likeness). Humility is a starting point, not an end goal (see my post “Good Works Versus Humility” for more insights). The Apostle Paul in particular points this out in several of his writings. He says to Timothy, “You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me” (2 Timothy 3:10-11), and “what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2). And Paul says to the Corinthians, “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:15-16). And we read in Ephesians 5:21 to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Being a disciple means to be a servant, and in this case it is a servant/servant relationship towards each other.

A disciple Learns Jesus’ Words
On this point obviously much can be said. Like the old Jewish disciple had an oral tradition which required them to memorize everything their rabbi said (and often meant memorizing the whole Law (the Torah or the Pentateuch or the five books of Moses) and much of the Prophets), so we should learn Jesus’ words. This should not be taken lightly at all. We should know Scripture by heart. It should ooze out of us, ready to be used “for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We should have Jesus’ words ready in our heart for all circumstances, which means next to the aforementioned verse also for defending and confirming the gospel (Philippians 1:7) and for fighting the devil (Ephesians 6:11-17), which includes the Word of God being a sword (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12). I like what Donald S. Whitney says in his book “Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” when talking about Scripture memorization, where he explains the Word of God being a sword to be used. He says that if you need to defend yourself and you take out your sword, that knowing only Genesis 1:1 and John 3:16 will not be sufficient to defend yourself in most situations. (This obviously does not mean that we should turn the Word of God into a list of handy verses to be used for different situations!).

“Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” (John 8:31-32). We need to abide in His Word if we are truly are His disciples. Why? Because we will know the truth! But there are more reasons, and the Psalmist says it quite beautifully. “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Psalm 19:7-8), and “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-3), and “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:11). So, the Word of God is perfect, it revives the soul, it makes wise the simple, it rejoices the heart, it enlightens the eyes, and it keeps you from sinning. In other words, it is life-giving!

A Disciple Imitates Jesus’ life and Character
This could actually be the most important one, although this should flow naturally out of submitting yourself to Jesus. Yet, this is a thing that many times is skipped in the process of being a Christian. Imitating Jesus’ life and character means sanctification, means spiritual formation, and means transformation into the image of Christ. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18). It means that we should “have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).

Imitating Jesus’ life and character leads to living a life of humility, for “do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3). Imitating Jesus’ life and character leads to living a life of sacrifice, for “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” (Romans 12:1). Imitating Jesus’ life and character leads to living a life of submission, for “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21). Imitating Jesus’ life and character leads to living a life of obedience, for “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” (John 3:36) and “Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’” (Acts 5:29). Imitating Jesus’ life and character leads to living a life of persecution, for “indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).

A Disciple Finds and Teaches Other Disciples Who Also Follow Jesus
Jesus spent three years teaching and training the apostles, and when He left He told them in Matthew 28:19-20 to “go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” The Great Commission is the normal job of a disciple: to raise up more disciples, and we could say that the Christian faith has done a pretty good job in ‘going’ and ‘baptizing,’ but that unfortunately the ‘making disciples’ and ‘teaching them’ could be described as the Great Omission. Something Dallas Willard wrote a whole book about. With the great commission transformation became mission. It reveals Jesus’ heart and priority. It launches a rescue mission. All followers receive orders to take action: “When he saw the crowds, He had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.’” (Matthew 9:36-38). When all who become disciples make disciples, the result is not reproduction (adding one disciple at a time), but multiplication (one become two, becomes four, etc)

These are the things that Jesus demands from His disciples.

As an example of what Jesus meant by discipleship, let’s have a brief look at the life and ministry of Paul.

Traditional Upbringing
He spent the better part of his life learning the ins and outs of traditional Jewish discipleship from Gamaliel, which means Paul was accustomed to the “old way” of discipleship. Paul says, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day” (Acts 22:3). In other words, Paul was raised up based on the traditional way of Jewish discipleship, which means he knows and practiced what I have been talking about in my first post.

A Father to Many
Paul regarded himself as a father in Christ to both the Corinthians, the Thessalonians and to Timothy. He said to the Corinthians, “I do not write these things to make you ashamed, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. I urge you, then, be imitators of me.” (1 Corinthians 4:14-16). Of Timothy Paul said, “But you know Timothy’s proven worth, how a as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel.” (Philippians 2:22). And to the Thessalonians he said, “For you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.” (1 Thessalonians 2:11-12)

The father/son language is characteristic of the Jewish teacher/disciple model. Furthermore, he urges the Corinthians to imitate him, thus spurring them on to live out their discipleship. Paul’s language of father seems to contradict Jesus’ words of “call no man your father on earth,” but Paul doesn’t instruct them to call him ‘father’ (as in the “old way” use of language), but merely refers to the fact that he laid the foundation of the church and the gospel among them. They were made Christians by his ministry. He is their spiritual father, but he does point them to Jesus for he said, “What I mean is that each one of you says, ‘I follow Paul,’ or ‘I follow Apollos,’ or ‘I follow Cephas,’ or ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” (1 Corinthians 1:12-13)

A Disciple-Maker
Paul made disciples in Christ everywhere he went. In Corinth, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you” (1 Corinthians 11:1-2). In Philippi, “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” (Philippians 3:17). In Thessalonica, “And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you received the word in much affliction, with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became an example to all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.” (1 Thessalonians 1:6-7)

In the previous post I took a look at how the Jewish tradition dealt with the topic of discipleship. Now, the question that could be raised is whether Jesus’ views on discipleship were an exact copy of how the Jews did it, or if Jesus used the method of the Jews just as a stepping stone for deploying His model. You probably guess that Jesus’ model is unique, and actually twists the Jewish way at some very important points.

It Was Unique In Whom Jesus Chose
The first thing to notice is that Jesus chose His disciples, whereas in the Jewish culture the disciple chose his Rabbi. Jesus also specifically chose the Jews and their culture (rather than any other culture), and Jesus also chose unlikely Jewish people (like farmers, fishers, and carpenters as opposed to the rabbis or the sages) for His mission. Doug Greenwald, executive director of ‘Preserving Bible Times’ has a really good insight into the Jewish culture and why it worked perfectly for Jesus’ mission. He said, “The Jews had a passion to be pure. Purity being defined as doing those things that would honor God as interpreted by their rabbis. This means that they would never set foot on Gentile land or house; they would never dine with sinners; they would never seek out and fellowship with lepers; they would never see disabled people as being right with God; they would never see anything of redeeming value in a tax collector; they were zealous not to be compromised with Greco-Roman culture; they knew the Scriptures well; they were men of mostly ritualized prayer, and would pray at different times of the day; and they knew their own culture well.

Jesus chose men who had the basic raw material to help Him rescue the world, starting in Jerusalem. They had a passion and spiritual hunger; they were common enough to work outside the religious system; they had to give up a lot.”

It Was Unique in How He Defined Being a Disciple
In Matthew 23:8-12 we read how Jesus instructed His disciples to never raise up new disciples for themselves and take the role of master themselves (which was the Jewish tradition), “But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.“

Now you may think that this contradicts other parts of the New Testament which clearly talks about elders, teachers and leaders being ordained in the community. But Jesus is specifically talking about the traditional disciple/teacher here. Jesus says that his disciples are not to be like other disciples in that regard. Other disciples, when they are trained go and raise disciples for themselves and then they become the teacher, the father, the rabbi, the master. But Jesus’ disciples are not to raise up disciples for themselves, taking on the role of master, but raise up other disciples and point them to Jesus, as He is the only Master.

We see how Jesus applied this Himself to the twelve apostles. In the beginning of ministry in Mark 3:14, Jesus “appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach,” and at the end of his ministry in Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus says to the twelve, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Now, this is a very familiar section of Scripture, but pay attention that Jesus says to His disciples that when they make disciples they should teach them everything that He commanded (as opposed to teach them everything that they commanded – which was the Jewish tradition). Why? Verse 20 says that He will be with them always. Jesus did not die, like all the “normal” Jewish rabbis did.

When Jesus started his ministry and people started following Him, his early followers did not ask any questions about becoming a disciple. We read in John 1:38 that his early followers immediately started calling Jesus ‘Rabbi’ (which means teacher) and started following Him. Why? Let’s see if we can find out why that was, shall we!

Now, the Old Testament doesn’t really talk much about disciples or discipleship, but that doesn’t mean we cannot infer discipleship relationships. We know that Isaiah had disciples (Isaiah 8:16); Samuel probably had disciples (1 Samuel 10:5); Elijiah discipled Elisha (1 Kings 19:19). But probably the most prominent discipleship relationship in the Old Testament is that between Moses and Joshua. Moses took Joshua with him when going up the mountain for the tablets of stone (Exodus 24:12-14). Joshua did not depart from the tent of meeting when Moses talked face to face with God (Exodus 33:11). God commands Moses to charge Joshua to lead the nation of Israel into the promised land (Deuteronomy 3:28). God commissions Joshua to lead the nation of Israel (Deuteronomy 31:23, Joshua 1:1-3). Joshua finished well in the eyes of the LORD (Joshua 24:31).

So long before the days of Jesus, discipleship was already a well-established institution within Jewish culture. All the great sages (people famed for their wisdom), the rabbis, the sages among the Pharisees and the teachers of the Torah (the law) had disciples. The Hebrew word for disciple is ‘talmid,’ which means student. We translate this as disciple. A talmid’s job was to learn everything that his master had to teach. Discipleship was the primary institution for higher religious education in the days of Jesus. There were no Bible schools. There were no seminaries. There were no freely available Bibles. A young man seeking a future in teaching Torah would apprentice himself to a rabbi to learn the trade. The teacher/disciple relationship was a powerful bond. Disciples regarded their teachers higher than their fathers. They regarded themselves as slaves to their teachers. It was as it were a father/son relationship.

Looking at the relationship between a disciple and his teacher, we can say that a disciple performed five tasks, and these tasks describe the cultural context of the institution of discipleship in the gospels:

They decided to follow their teacher
There was an absolute dedication, loyalty and submission to their teacher which is basically incomparable to any situation in our own culture and experience.

They learned their teacher’s traditions and interpretations
It was a disciple’s job to learn the tradition of how his teacher kept the commands of God and interpreted the Scriptures. Every detail about the teacher was important to the disciple. The disciple needed to learn how the teacher washed his hands, how he kept the Sabbath, how he fasted, how he prayed, how he gave charity, how he said the blessings over food, etc. Furthermore, the way the teacher interpreted passages of Scripture, the meanings he drew out, the parables with which he clarified, the way he explained a verse or understood a concept, each of these was of utmost importance to the disciple. Details of this sort were not just trivia. To a disciple, these were like gems and pearls meant to be gathered and treasured.

They memorized the teacher’s words
The oral transmission process was the only inter-generational communication practiced among the sages. The great rabbis and Torah scholars of First Century Pharisaic Judaism did not write scrolls or compose books for their students to read and study. Instead, they taught orally and their disciples studied by memorizing their words. Through constant repetition, disciples memorized their teacher’s words and were able to repeat them to subsequent generations

They imitated their teacher’s actions
A disciple’s highest calling was to be a reflection of his teacher. A disciple studied to learn, to act, to speak and to respond the same way his master would act and speak and respond. A disciple studied to do the things his master did. His highest goal was to walk after his teacher. There is a story in ancient tradition that tells of a rabbinical student so devoted to his teacher that he hid in the teacher’s bedchamber to discover the mentor’s sexual technique. To be sure, this is a bit extreme, yet it demonstrates the level of commitment required to be a disciple. In Luke 6:40 Jesus said that “a disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.”

They raised up their own disciple
It was the job of a disciple, when finally trained, to raise up his own disciples. He was to create a new generation of students and to transmit to them the memorized words, traditions and interpretations and the actions and behaviors of his Master. The goal was to pass the torch of Torah from generation to generation.

These functions describe the cultural context of the institution of discipleship in the gospels. When Jesus called his disciples, these five tasks are the things they were called to do. This is how they understood their job. And that’s how we should view ourselves being disciples of Jesus.