Learning About Discipleship from Mark’s Gospel
A disciple is someone who believes in and helps to spread the
teachings of another. Jesus chose his disciples by picking them out
from his followers. The disciples were chosen for three main reasons,
§ to be trained for the task of sharing in Jesus’ mission,
§ to be the first group of followers who would bring others into the
community, and
§ to be the ones to continue Jesus’ mission when he had gone.
Jesus often taught the disciples in private and there he explained his
teaching in great depth for them, when they were alone Jesus also
taught them what it means to be a disciple.
When Jesus was choosing the disciples he had to be careful of who to
choose, because Jesus chose twelve and made them apostles, they were
then preachers and had the power and authority to drive out demons.
Jesus chose twelve disciples, this might have been symbolic because in
the old testament Jacob, who was one of the great patriarchs of the
Jewish faith, had twelve sons who then became founders of the twelve
tribes of Israel and so Jesus choosing twelve disciples may have been
a suggestion to all the Jewish people that he had been sent for them
by God.
Discipleship is an important subject in Mark’s gospel, and the story
of ‘the widow at the treasury’ is a good example of true
discipleship. In this story it tells us of how many rich people were
coming and giving large amounts of their money to the treasury but
when a poor widow threw in just two copper coins she was being a
better disciple because she had given all she had, and while the
others “gave out their wealth; she gave out her poverty.” Jesus
teaches that the story shows that someone who commits everything to
God is more precious to God then someone who has a lot and is less
committed because discipleship requires total commitment.
12:31 shows us that certain gifts are greater than others. In that verse, Paul encourages us
Thus, while man shows his human nature, desiring and coveting physical riches and treasures, God demonstrates his truly divine nature as he possesses true spiritual riches, in the form of love, mercy, and forgiveness.
had great faith in Jesus and teaches us that we should do the same. In
who "does what God wants them to do". This simply means that if we put
with you at all times. To become a Christian you must try and be the
and John 10: 43-44. He tells them "… if one of you wants to be great
“For to him who has will more be given; and from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away”
has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. (Proverbs 13:4, KJV). The key word
Simply stated, “the word "gospel" means simply good news.” With that definition, then the good news would summarize all of the information found in the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul recaps the most basic components in the gospel message. These are found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, specifically listed in 15:3-4 (NRSV) “For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,”. “These verses, which were an early Christian confession, give us the heart of the gospel” and show the importance of three incidents; that Christ died
Discipleship is the process of making disciples; students or followers of someone (Oxford Dictionaries, 2016). Although discipleship existed long before Jesus, the disciple-making process as expressed by Jesus is the most impactful example for Christianity. The following is an analysis of discipleship as it was applied to Jesus’ ministry, Jesus’ discipleship model in light of modern leadership theories, and a discussion of what can be gleaned from Jesus’ discipleship model.
whole life to God and the Church. This is one major Cost of being a
“And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he
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.
When Jesus asked his disciples about what people thought about him, they answered that some considered Jesus to be e prophet, some - John the Baptist. But Jesus wanted his disciples to understand his mission, the reason why God brought him to Earth. That is why it was important for him to make sure that people realize who he is and that his sayings are vital for the whole mankind. Jesus was the Messiah, the anointed one, above all other prophets. He was sent to suffer for the all human beings and the reasons why his suffering was necessary are described in Mark's Gospel 8:27-9:1.
The Gospel of Mark is an extremely influential and important chapter for the Christian religion. Mark chapter 14 begins two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This is when the Chief Priests and scribes are making their plans to trap Jesus and kill him. They will do this before the festival because they do not want to provoke the large crowds and cause a riot. There was a dinner in the suburbs, and a woman anoints Jesus with a very expensive ointment which angers some people, because they believe it to be a waste. Jesus then defends the women for what she did, because he believed it to be kind. Meanwhile, Judas sneaks away and agrees to betray Jesus to the chief of priests, who promise him money in return for his