“As he was walking along the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (called Peter) and Andrew. They were throwing a net into the sea because they were fishermen. 19 Yeshua said to them, “Come, follow me! I will teach you how to catch people instead of fish.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed him. 21 As Yeshua went on, he saw two other brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee preparing their nets to go fishing. He called them, 22 and they immediately left the boat and their father and followed Yeshua.” Matthew 4:18-22
“The eleven disciples went to the mountain in Galilee where Yeshua had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they bowed down in worship, though some had doubts. 18 When Yeshua came near, he spoke to them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. “And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.” Matthew 28:16-20
A Disciple is one who grows in Yeshua and in so doing, models and teaches Christians the precepts of the Bible, prayer, doctrine, relationship, Christian living, service and worship, to name the main ones. Yeshua ended His time on earth with an imperative command to the apostles to make more disciples (Matt. 28:19-20), which is also our call! John the Baptist did the same with his disciples (Matt. 9:14). Having disciples was a normal way for Rabbis to train and develop the people who would follow them in leadership.
Even the Pharisees had disciples (Matt. 22:15-16). It is interesting to note, that before WWII, this was the primary way ministers received their training in the U.S. They still went to a divinity school for formal teaching, but personal instruction from someone who is well experienced and versed was the best way to learn and develop ministry skills, and it still is! Sadly, few will undertake this because of pride, lack of time, and/or misplaced priorities. Thus, many young pastors will make a slew of mistakes at the expense of their congregation because there was too little supervised experience beforehand. To give a comparison, the average medical Doctor will go to four years of college, then another four years of medical school. After that, a one year internship and then a four year residency will be done before he/she can become a full board certified physician and allowed to practice medicine in the U.S. Thus, over 1/3 of their schooling is in the form of discipleship!
Yeshua said, Follow Me (Matt. 4:19; 9:9). Yeshua did not mean that they should just physically follow Him on the road. They were set apart, challenged and taught their call and mission. Just as they had worked at catching fish, now they would be catching men (Luke 6:39-40)!
What is a disciple?
The word “disciple” literally means someone who pledges to be a “learner.” It is someone who follows another’s teaching and adheres to it. It is a commitment and a process. It involves committing to the time it takes to learn, and, as a Christian, a yearning to imitate Yeshua!
Discipleship is also reciprocal, that is, when one learns, he/she makes the commitment to train someone else. That is what Yeshua meant by, “I will make you fishers of men.” It is not just catching them and then storing them (fish were processed and sold for the betterment and use of the community), it is training and placing, so they too, can catch, train and place!
Discipleship is the primary earthly goal of the Church as a whole and the Christian as an individual. It is our duty, and the one thing Yeshua directly commands us to do (Matt. 28:19-20). In so doing, we will become like Him in character and share His outlook and concerns (Luke 6:39-40). We are never to make disciples in our image, reflecting how we think, feel and act, but like Yeshua!
We are to become His disciple!
We are to be discipled!
We are to disciple others so they can in turn disciple others…
The 12 disciples spent three years of their lives following, learning, listening, observing, and experiencing life directly with Yeshua. Then they carried that learning and experience to the world (Matthew10:1-15; the Book of Acts).
It all comes down to a decision. Will we make our faith real and impacting, relinquishing our pride to allow us to learn and grow, and in turn teach others, or will we remain asleep and ignorant of what it means to be a true follower of Yeshua! Let us make sure our impact comes from a transformed life and is carried on to the people around us!
What we need to learn for today:
Discipleship has a cost. Following Yeshua will cost us and require effort and consistency (Matt. 8:18- 22; 10:38; Luke 9:57-58; 14:27). The original disciples left their family and good jobs (Matt. 10:37; 19:27; Luke 9:59-62; 14:25-33)! Yeshua did not call bums with nothing better to do!
Yeshua expects us to know what we are getting into and embrace it with vigor and faith. Nothing can come before Him (Matt. 3:8; 6:33; Luke 14:15-24; John 8:31; 14-15)! We must embrace our call and responsibility to be discipled and make disciples! If we are truly willing to learn and apply what Yeshua taught, we will truly be His disciples! The Church will be on fire by the Spirit and impacting the world!
Keep in mind, what we gain will far outweigh any suffering or loss on our part (Mark 10:28-30; 1 Cor. 15:58)!
Our ability to hear God’s call, depends on our ears, will and attitude (Matt. 22:14). God does not force us nor plead with us; He merely presents us the option (Isa. 6:8)! We must say, as Isaiah said, Here I am, send me! We must allow our spiritual eyes to be opened and our will to be relinquished to His for real discipleship to take place. Then, our churches will grow in prayer, worship and maturity, and revival may take place! Let us allow the power of the Holy Spirit to open our eyes and break our will so we can be receptive to our Lord and Savior, and so we can do as He called!
Questions:
1. What is a disciple to you?
2. If your life were lived in one day, where would you be, sunrise, morning, noon, afternoon, sunset, evening, or night? In what part of the day did Yeshua become real to you, if He has?
3. How can you embrace what discipleship means, and apply it to the time you have left?
4. A call was asked of them and a response was given. A call without irresistible pressure, yet with passion and conviction. Follow Me. What would have been your response? What is your response now? (Keep in mind what you would leave behind and the cost involved.)
5. Do you spend more time on fishing or hobbies and recreation, than you do with His call to be fishing for people?
6. Which comes first for you, your family, your job or businesses, or Yeshua and His call for you? What is a healthy biblical balance?
7. Are we so busy in building our lives, or enjoying our retirement, that we forget what life as a Christian is all about? In so doing, does the Lord’s Church suffer?
8. Yeshua broke the pride and arrogance to model that we are to be seekers of disciples and not just waiting for them to come to us. What is in your way from being discipled, and/or taking in someone to disciple?
9. Does saying that Yeshua’ main goal or reason was the importance of discipleship, which outweighed His preaching, surprise you? Why, or why not?
10. Christianity does not end at repentance and conversion. It begins there! How has this been so in you? If not, what is in the way?
11. How does it make you feel that few of us ministers or Christian leaders will undertake discipleship for ourselves or train others because of pride, lack of time or misplaced priorities?
12. Have you ever seen problems in a church because young pastors make mistakes at the expense of their congregation because they did not undergo enough supervised experienced beforehand?
13. Discipleship has a cost. Following Yeshua will also cost us, requiring effort and consistency. This can cast fear and trepidation amongst most Christians. How can you develop
an attitude to embrace what society, family, friends or even people in your church fail to see and do?
14. What will you do to become a better disciple now?