The Nature of Discipleship According to Mark's Gospel
Discipleship is usually thought of as following Jesus, being a
preacher and a teacher. Somebody who believes in something, or who
believes in someone, and leaves everything behind them to try to make
others believe the same is my personal belief of a disciple. In actual
fact, the Old Testament word 'Talmid' is a 'learner', and more
obviously in the New Testament, a 'Diskipolos' is a 'follower'. The
other important area of discipleship is serving others. When a
disciple is healing a person, they are serving them, as he serving
Jesus and God. So discipleship can be summed up; to follow, to learn,
to preach, to believe, to serve. All factors are important to be a
true disciple. But to be a disciple, you must be a Christian, 'one who
belongs with Christ', 'Christ's one'. The disciples share Jesus'
faith, and his freedom to rise above all other concerns.
The disciples of Jesus received their 'call' from Jesus, and they
responded with immediate willingness. Jesus called, and the disciples
went to him. "Jesus said to them, come with me, and I will teach you
to catch people. At once they left their nets and went with him".
(Mark 1:17-18) In Mark Chapter Two, verse fourteen, Jesus tells Levi
to "Follow me"; "Levi got up and followed him". The response to Jesus'
calling is clearly that they want to follow, to be with Jesus. When
Jesus chose disciples in 'Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles', all
twelve were willing and went ahead to preach the word of Jesus.
Their mission was simple. To do as Jesus does. Jesus gave his
disciples authority over evil spirits and ordered them to take as
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... Jesus were not, “Go and preach” - these were his
last words, and before he gives this final commission, Jesus says, and
does, certain things in order to get his followers back on track.
Before Jesus gives his final commission, he helps his followers to
overcome three obstacles to evangelism; he helps them to overcome
discouragement, doubt, and disobedience.
The final commissions given to the disciples were very important as
they were given the job, to lead the way to God. This was a big
responsibility for them as they had only been with Jesus for 3 years
and would might of felt that they couldn’t take it on. They might feel
that the training given to them was not enough. These disciples did
what Jesus said and now we have about 1 billion Catholics in the world
today. It shows how far faith in discipleship can lead.
continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” (Acts 6:2-3) Therefore, the disciples
The beginning and ending of the Gospel of Mark really support the four main themes present within the Gospel. The four main themes in the Gospel are: Jesus as being enigmatic, Jesus as a sufferer, Low Christology and Apocalypticism present within the Gospel. The beginning and ending of this Gospel support Jesus as being misunderstood because in the beginning, there is no birth story of Jesus or any background information presented, Jesus is just there. This makes one question where did he come from and who was he born to? In the end of the Gospel, the tomb is described as empty and the last sentences of the Gospel in Mark 16: 8 says: “So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (1743). This ending of the Gospel is enigmatic because there is no mention of Jesus’ resurrection or whether anyone ever found out that Jesus had ascended to Heaven. The beginning and ending, not to mention the entire Gospel, leaves one wondering many things about Jesus, because his whole existence in Mark is very mys...
who "does what God wants them to do". This simply means that if we put
he lead them to Bethany he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he
I believe that to be a Christian you have to be a disciple. Each must
In the Gospel of Mark translated by Richard Lattimore, and in Borges’ Gospel According to Mark, paradox plays a key role in understanding Jesus and Espinosa, as well as understanding the larger meaning of each story. In the original Gospel of Mark, the resolution of these paradoxes assists in persuading the reader into viewing life the same way Jesus does, through the lens of faith and eternal life. In contrast, in Borges’ Gospel According to Mark, paradox is used to encourage the reader to examine Espinosa, and therefore Jesus, more carefully. Through the unresolved inconsistencies between the two stories, Borges uses paradox to challenge the idea of blind faith, which is a core theme of the Gospel of Mark.
I know who you are—the Holy One of God?’” and again in 3:11, “whenever the impure spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, ‘You are the Son of God’”. The disciples are ignorant to fact that the man who called them to drop everything and follow him was the Messiah. Peter properly identifies Jesus in chapter 8 when Jesus asks who they believe he is, but later when Jesus goes into the details of his death Peter denies it and Jesus addresses him as Satan. This is also the point in which Jesus says, “take up your cross and follow me” meaning that they too will
That calling is expressed in the pattern of divine initiative and human response that constitutes the heart of the biblical concept of covenant, manifested in the recurrent promise, "I will be your God, and you shall be my people." That call from Yahweh is reiterated in the call of Jesus, when he said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matt 11:28). God has called His people to represent Him on the earth, to be with Him in every circumstance of life, to be transformed in personal character to be like Him. That calling is at the heart of biblical discipleship, both in the Old and New Testaments. A primary goal of discipleship is becoming like Jesus (Luke 6:40).
At once they left their nets and went with him.” They left their lives behind for Jesus. Not all responded to this message as well for example the rich young man “When the man heard this, gloom spread over his face, and he went away very sad, because he was very rich.” He let his wealth bar him from his religion. This shows that in order to be a disciple you must be able to trust God and make an immediate decision without hesitation.
As if what you do is guided by gospel values then you will be directly
Mark 8:34 is the only time on the Gospel when Jesus calls the crowd together with disciples because his message is of very high importance. The price for discipleship is a complete denial of yourself in the name of God . And the mission of Jesus is to bring this message to humankind through his suffering and death on the cross. In Mark's gospel Jesus provides his identity which becomes the turning point in the human history. Before He was teaching, healing the sick, had scraps with authorities and established a group of disciples . Was it his mission? No. Jesus is the Messiah.
Jesus selected 12 men from his followers to become his closest advisers and disciples. After learning his teachings and following his resurrection from the dead, the Lord fully commissioned the apostles to teach the gospel message to the
When Jesus called His disciples, His invitation was simple. He invited them to follow Him. The same is true today. In Matthew 28, Jesus gave His last charge to His disciples, and the charge was simple. He called his followers to go and make disciples. Much effort has been placed by Christians to fulfill this charge, commonly referred to as the Great Commission. Jesus chose to fulfill the implementation of the New Covenant through 12 men who He called, appointed, and commissioned, and he only had a few short years to prepare them for the task (Willson, 1990). His methods were unconventional and were revolutionary for that time. His disciples were to be trained extensively by Jesus, living with Him for three years prior to His ascension. He taught about servant leadership and its meaning for both the leader and follower Matt. 20:25-28). From the beginning, Jesus put in place a careful plan, and an examination of His actions in the Gospels showed that Jesus left behind the pattern to be replicated. His methods, which included the incorporation of three different levels of discipleship, included His interaction with Peter, His closest three (Peter, James, and John), and finally the group of 12. This paper identified and analyzed the three levels of discipleship Jesus modeled, these discipleship methods were then measured against modern leadership theories, and Jesus’s level of involvement and interaction with his disciples were critiqued in light of these modern theories in an effort to determine the effectiveness of this approach.
Many important themes arose while I was reading the Gospel of Mark. In my week 2 group discussion posts, the themes I listed were faith, power of prayer, forgiveness, repentance, optimism, gratitude and mercy. However there are more that I found in the chapter and I read through it again such as the healing power of God and standing for righteousness.
Christians believe Jesus Christ was sent to Earth to fulfill the prophecies of the Old Testament. Christians believe Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again three days later. Jesus Christ ascended into heaven after the third day, and now sits at the right hand of God, the father, in Heaven. As Christians, we wait for the day Jesus Christ will return to judge both the living and the dead. But, before the judgment day comes, we are called to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Bible). The previous verse mentioned means, as Christians we are to spread the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, to everyone and give them the option to accept the Christian belief and have eternal life in Heaven when Jesus Christ returns.