Call To Discipleship
A disciple can be referred to as somebody who is following, learning or attaching himself to a particular teacher or master. He is with his master in order to learn and propagate his teachings to the world, especially after the death of his master or teacher. Every great teacher of the past who is well known, such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Confucius, Buddha, e.t.c, had disciples. Jesus, as a great teacher, also had disciples just like other great teachers.
Before a disciple could take over from his master, he has to undergo certain training called Discipleship. For someone to be successful in this training, he must be self sacrificial, totally committed, dedicated and loyal to the master or teacher in all things. Jesus taught His disciples concerning the demands of discipleship.
A disciple after training is expected to be a good ambassador to the master. This is the wish of Jesus to all Christians.
Call to Discipleship
The writers of the synoptic gospels are in agreement that peter and Andrew, his brother, and two other brothers in the person of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were the first four disciples called by Jesus. The books of Mathew 4:18-25 and Mark 1:15-20 have the same order for the call of the disciples, but Luke 5:1-11 has a different order. Levi was the fifth to be called.
Levi, also called Mathew, was a tax collector, (Matthew 9:9-13; Mark 2:13-17) and Luke 5:27-32. After Jesus had called these five disciples, many people began to follow Him about. Out of these people, Jesus chose only seven more people to add to the original five to make twelve disciples. These twelve disciples were established by Jesus as the foundation members of His church.
According to Mathew’s account, as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He met Peter and Andrew, who were brothers, casting their nets into the sea, for they were fishermen, when Jesus saw them, He moved closer to them and said to them:
“Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. They obeyed and followed Jesus immediately as they moved on a little further, Jesus saw two other brothers, James and John with their father, Zebedee, inside their fishing boat, mending their nets, for they were also fishermen.
Jesus also called them. They immediately left their father, and followed Jesus.
After Jesus had healed a paralytic man, Jesus saw a man called Matthew, sitting at the tax office, for he was a tax collector by occupation. Jesus then said to him:
“Follow me” and Mathew rose up and followed Him immediately. They later arrived in Mathew’s house where he held a feast of Jesus, the disciples, tax collectors and sinners.
The Pharisees were surprised when they saw Jesus eating with tax collectors and sinners; they said to the disciples, “Why does your master eat with tax-collector and sinners? “When Jesus heard it, He said to them:
“Those who are well have no need of Physician but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I came out not to call the righteous but the sinners.”
According to Luke’s account, Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret addressing many people listening to the word of God. Then he saw two vacant boats by the lake, the fishermen had gone out of them to check their nets. Jesus entered into the boat that belonged to Simon (Peter) and asked him to put out a little from the land. When he had done this, Jesus sat down and taught the people who had gathered there to listen to the word of God from inside the boat. At the end of His sermon, Jesus asked Simon to put out into the deep and let down his nets for a catch.
But Simon answered Him in reply that they had fished all through the night and did not catch any fish, but in obedience to Jesus’ word, he would let down the nets. When he did, they caught many big fishes and as their nets were breaking as a result of the weights of the catch, they called to their partners who were in another boat to come and help them. The two boats were filled with fish they caught and they started sinking.
When Simon (Peter) saw what had happened, he fell down at the knee of Jesus and said: “depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”. Peter said this because he was greatly surprised at the miracle he had seen. All other people who were with him were equally surprised. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were equally there. Jesus then said to Simon (Peter): “Do not be afraid, henceforth you will be catching men”. When they, Simon (Peter), Andrew, James and John had brought their nets to the land, they left everything and followed Jesus.
The Significance of the Call of the Disciples
- Jesus called the disciples to keep Him company to fellowship with Him and to learn from Him about how to go about their assignment because without this, they cannot be well-discipled. We also should follow Jesus.
- The call of the disciples shows us as an example of how the Christina should respond to God’s call to serve Him. Peter, Andrew, James, John and Levi (Mathew), responded quickly to their call to discipleship. We should also do likewise to respond fast when we are called to serve God in various capacities in the Church.
- Christians must quickly respond to God’s call to serve the nation whenever their services are required in any capacity.
The Demands of Discipleship
The gospel of Mathew (8:18-22) and that of Luke (9:57-62) are the only two gospels that give the account of would-be disciples whom Jesus encountered. They were three in number. On each occasion, Jesus made demands. These demands point to what is required of true discipleship. In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus spoke clearly on the demands of discipleship. A scribe came to Jesus and requested to be allowed to follow Him about. But Jesus replied him by saying: “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head”.
From Jesus’ reply, we can deduce that those who want to follow Him should not expect a comfortable life. In discipleship, self denial is involved. Jesus might have known that this man was expecting a life of pleasure without realizing the dangers, risks and personal sacrifice attached to discipleship.
Jesus told the second would-be disciple to follow Him but the man asked Jesus to allow him first to go home and bury his father. Jesus then said to him:
“leave the dead to bury their dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.
We can see from Jesus’ reply that those who do not receive the Gospel are dead spiritually. It also means that discipleship demands that a disciple must consider God first in all things.
This man was willing to follow Jesus and become His disciple but he wanted to first and say by-by to those at home. Jesus told him: “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”.
Jesus is saying that following Him demands total commitment. He continued His teaching on the demands of discipleship in Luke 14:25-33. Jesus, speaking to a large crowd, said: “if any one 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, he cannot be my disciple”.
Here, Jesus is saying that discipleship demands personal sacrifice. The interest of the family and that of self must be secondary to God whatever the case may be. God must be treated first, followed by the interest of the family before self interest.
Discipleship demands that one should carry his cross and keep on following Jesus. In the period of Jesus, those who carried a cross were those accused of a crime and were sentenced to death. They carried their cross by themselves to the place of execution. It required suffering, persecution, shame, disgrace and even death. When we are carrying our cross as disciples, we should expect these.
Jesus said in the parable of the tower builder, that anyone who wanted to build a tower should sit down first and count the cost involved in the project. He should find out whether he had enough materials to complete the project. If he could not complete the project after the foundation has been laid, people would mock him.
Jesus also said which king going to was against another who would not consider first whether he could with ten thousand troops face an enemy of twenty thousand. If otherwise, while the enemy is on the way for attack, he would send an ambassador to make peace. In conclusion Jesus said: “Therefore, whoever of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple”. We should therefore examine ourselves to see whether we have spiritual and moral qualities to be disciples of Jesus. This is what Jesus expects from us.
The Significance of Jesus Teaching on the Demands of Discipleship
- The demands for discipleship, according to the teaching of Jesus, require personal sacrifice which includes both spiritual and physical commitment. Christians are expected to make personal sacrifices for the gospel‘s sake.
- As the disciples of Jesus Christ, Christians can make sacrifice in various ways by giving financial assistance toward the growth of the work of God and through evangelism to reach the lost.
- We can also sacrifice our time by regularly making ourselves available in fellowship and participating in any organization where we can function effectively. We have such organizations around us, as for example, the Student Christian Movement, Scripture Union, Red Cross Society, etc.