The disciples were given a three-fold mission; to heal the sick, to drive out demons and to spread the word of Jesus. This would be tough and would involve sacrifice. In ‘The Mission’, Jesus says:
“Don’t take anything with you on your journey except
a stick – no bread, no beggar’s bag, no money in your pocket.
Wear sandals but don’t carry an extra shirt.”
Mark 6.8-9
But they made these sacrifices because in order to join God’s community they had to drop everything in their life and follow Jesus. This is the nature of discipleship and shows the urgency of the mission. Although the mission was urgent, difficulties were still encountered. They were shown prejudice and discrimination throughout their mission. But they kept going.
The disciples had to listen very carefully to the words of Jesus in order to learn all they needed to know. He explained a lot of things to the disciples, for example through parables. He explains to them the Parable of the Sower. He tells them that the sower sows God’s message and the four different surfaces they land on represent the different ways in which people react to it. The seeds that land on the rocky ground are like people who receive the message gladly. However, the message of God does not sink in deep enough so whenever persecution comes because of the message they give it up instantly. Other people are like those sown in the good soil. They hear the message, accept it, and bear fruit. Jesus’ conversation with the Rich Young Man made them change their attitudes towards materialism and other people because Jesus said:
“How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
Many who are last will be first, and the last first.”
Mark 10.24, 31
Jesus also taught them, through the Parable of the Mustard Seed, that the smallest seed can grow up to be the biggest plant and birds from all around will make their nests in its branches. This means that they are the small seed and they can make a vast kingdom, with many followers, where anyone is welcome.
As disciples, they were always learning new things from Jesus. Through observing his actions, they began to see what his role as Messiah was, but he always insisted on them keeping the Messianic Secret. Sometimes they needed to fail in order to learn things, like when they could not get the demon out of the boy. They learned that only prayer could drive that sort out. Sometimes they did not have faith in God’s power. For example they could not believe that Jesus could feed five-thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, but he did and there was baskets full to spare. They also failed to have faith that God would keep them safe in the storm. They had to wake Jesus because they were afraid they would die. All the way to Jesus’ death, they continued to let him down. Peter, James and John failed to stay awake for Jesus three times while he prayed, despite being asked to stay awake and keep watch. Peter denied knowing Jesus three times because he was afraid of what people would do to him. He deserted Jesus when he may have needed him the most. These tell us that the nature of discipleship is that they make mistakes like everyone else but never give up.
In ‘The Commission’, Jesus reminds the disciples that they must carry on his work, continuing to spread the Good News. He told them to:
“Go throughout the whole world and preach the
gospel to the whole human race.
Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved;
whoever does not believe will be condemned.”
Mark 16.15-16
He went on to say believers would be given the power to perform miracles. He says they will not be harmed by poisons, will be able to speak in ‘strange tongues’ and will heal the sick. This sums up the nature of discipleship. They had to make huge sacrifices to join Jesus on his mission and had to be prepared to suffer and even die. In the end, even if they had not enough faith sometimes, they had it in the beginning and in the end.
