Jesus and Discipleship

Jesus and Discipleship

“Anyone who wishers to be a follower of mine must leave self behind,

he must take up his cross, and follow me”, Jesus tells his disciples.

What is a disciple? The word “disciple” means a learner, but not only

of theoretical knowledge, he is one who learns by putting into

practice the principles of his teacher. A disciple is a follower. It

is someone who is prepared to leave everything he has in order to

follow.

There had to be someone prepared to carry on Jesus’ work. After

spending the night alone in the hills in prayer, Jesus chose twelve

disciples. He gave them authority to share in the work of teaching and

healing. He chose twelve, which represents the number if tribes of

Israel, the Kingdom of God which He and they together were to

inaugurate on earth. They were now to be Jesus’ representatives in the

new Israel.

These men he chose are probably typical of many who were attracted by

His teaching, and by the kind of man he was. These twelve men were

called to do three things: to be Jesus’ companions, to preach, and to

cast out demons. Jesus did not chose them because were particularly

religious or good. He saw their potential. This is seen during the

“call of his first disciples”. The first four, were fishermen. On the

shore of Lake Gennesaret, Simon and his brother Andrew were fishing,

while James and his brother John were mending their nets. Jesus has

just finished preaching when he told to Simon, “Push the boat further

to the deep water, and you and your partners let down your nets for a

catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we worked hard all night long and

caught nothing. But if you say so, I will let down the nets.” So they

let the nets down and caught such a large number of fish that the nets

were about to break. They motioned for help, and filled two boats with

much fish that they were about to sink.