Discipleship - The word disciple comes from the Greek word
R.E Coursework - Discipleship
Introduction:
The word disciple comes from the Greek word "Mathétés". It means, one who learns. The twelve disciples were chosen to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. There are four lists given of the names of the disciples. In Mark's gospel the list is in Mk3: 16-19. In Mark and Matthew's gospel they both include Thaddeus but in Luke's gospel he has Judas Son of James nicknamed Thaddeus since the name Judas was hated by the early church. But at that time disciples were very common, everybody had them because in MK 2:18, we are told that the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting. All rabbis had disciples. They hoped to become rabbis themselves and thought that they'd get glory, wealth, honour and maybe even a place in heaven for leading a good life. What is unique to discipleship for Jesus is the type of people who followed him, the values needed to be a true disciple, how he called them to follow him and what they were charged to do.
The calling of the Disciples:
Jesus called the lowest people in Jewish society, fishermen and tax collectors, etc. The way he called them was extraordinary. Because being a fisherman and owning your own boat like Simon and Andrew would have been a well enough paid job and would have been a good enough life. And to give it up in an instant just because Jesus said, "Come follow me" would have been a very big leap of faith for them. They must have trusted Jesus entirely to do this. Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew were fishing & James and John were mending their nets when Jesus said to them;
"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men" (MK1:17)
Jesus says this as it shows that the disciples are to bring people back to god. Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist at the time but left him to go follow Jesus. As Jesus was talking to the crowd, Levi, son of Alphaeus (later known as Matthew) was sitting at the tax collectors booth. Jesus said follow me, and straight away, Levi got up and went with Jesus just as the others had done. People would have been shocked at him asking a tax collector to be his follower.
The First Disciples:
What was different was that Jesus chose his disciples and it was usually custom for the disciples to come to you and ask could they follow you. Jesus came, not to start a new religion but to proclaim the kingdom of god. Twelve disciples were chosen to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. The values associated with discipleship were innocence, obedience and trust, compassion and love, hope, courage and last of all, sacrifice.
"Let him renounce himself, take up his cross & follow me."(MK 8:34-38)
This is also shown in ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
The First Disciples:
What was different was that Jesus chose his disciples and it was usually custom for the disciples to come to you and ask could they follow you. Jesus came, not to start a new religion but to proclaim the kingdom of god. Twelve disciples were chosen to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. The values associated with discipleship were innocence, obedience and trust, compassion and love, hope, courage and last of all, sacrifice.
"Let him renounce himself, take up his cross & follow me."(MK 8:34-38)
This is also shown in the case of The Rich Young Man & The Widow's offering. In "The Rich Young Man", the man has kept all of the ten commandments since he was a boy but needs to sell all he owns and give all his money to the poor if he wants to get a place in heaven. But the man is so wrapped up in his materialistic world that he cannot do this and goes away from Jesus sad. This also turns the Jewish religion on its head as they always believed that if you were wealthy, good was rewarding you for being good in a past life. And if u were poor or had a disease, they believed that god was punishing you for a crime that you had committed
"One thing you lack. Go sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven". (Mark 10:21)
In the case of "The Widow's Offering", the rich people give lots, but the old woman who only gives two small pennies has given a lot more because it's all that she has.
"I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all give out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything. All she had to live on" (MK 12:44)
The mission of the twelve:
In Mk1: 16-20, the disciples are sent out by Jesus. They are told to go out in pairs. This is for a number of reasons;
* They could help and protect each other on the long, lonely roads.
* For authenticity; the evidence of two disciples can be trusted more than one.
Things that they were not allowed to take were;
* Bread, as they should trust God to provide for them.
* A bag, because this could be used to collect money or carry food.
* Money in their belts. It was usual to carry small change in a belt.
* Two tunics. This could mean they were not to take a robe and a cloak, (A cloak was necessary to spend nights in the open air) or it could mean they were not to carry a spare inner garment.
"Take nothing on your journey except a staff - no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic." (MK6: 8-9)
The 12 Disciples:
The 12 disciples were chosen by Jesus, and he chose fishermen, tax collectors and Zealots. This brought him into disrepute from chief priests and the Jewish high council. They didn't really mind him going around saying that he was preaching the word of god, but they did mind the fact that he mixed with what they called sinners and that he was preaching the word with them and giving it a bad name.
The disciples are called to;
a. Be with Jesus
b. Preach
c. Cast out demons
Their names were;
. Simon Peter
2. James
3. John
4. Andrew
5. Phillip
6. Bartholomew
7. Matthew
8. Thomas
9. James Son Of Alphaeus
0. Thaddeus
1. Simon The Zealot
2. Judas Iscariot
Suffering of the disciples:
To follow Jesus, the disciples left everything behind, home family and any wealth they may have had. One of the values associated with discipleship This was the fact that they had to give up everything if they wanted a place in the Kingdom of God. Being called by Jesus as a disciple involved a radical metanoia of heart, a change that the gospel writers symbolised as leaving everything behind.
"Let him renounce himself, take up his cross & follow me."(MK 8:34-38)
This is shown above in "The First Disciples" section in the story of "The Widows Offering" and "The Rich Young Man", which are two contrasting stories, one gives all she has in order to help others whereas in TRYM, he cannot find it in himself to give up his riches even, as Jesus says, it means a place in Heaven for him. And again, as said above, this confuses the man and he goes away disappointed because at that time in Jewish society, everyone believed that if you were rich and powerful, God was rewarding you for a good deed. The disciples were doing exactly what Jesus said, bearing their cross, leaving everything, preaching the word of god and generally helping others.
Modern Day Disciples
People say it's impossible to be a disciple in today's modern world. These days, we live in a materialistic world where peoples success is judged not on what they have done or achieved but on how much money you've got, what you own, and what you do. People are so corrupt and are lives are based on economic status and trying to look better and impress other people that all most people can think about is money. We live in a world where everyone wants to be rich and they believe this will bring them happiness. Commercialism has completely taken over to the point that the companies who are providing us with the goods are almost controlling us. People also say that there is no longer a need for god in the modern world because science has the answer to everything. Scientists believe that people who believe in God or Jesus are stupid because everything has been explained, but the chances that the Big bang is true is 1 in a number we cannot even begin to comprehend. It's a number so big that it's almost an impossibility
Though, even with all the commercialism and the materialistic views of this modern world, there are still people who can be true disciples. One example of this is Maximilian Kolbe. Max Kolbe was a Roman Catholic priest and was on a concentration camp when 3 men escaped. A man was chosen to die as punishment, but when he yelled that he had a wife and kids; Kolbe stepped in and offered to take his place. Kolbe was the last to die in the bunker where they were all put to starve. He gently eased the others through death and was always praying. He never died of starvation and instead was given a lethal injection because the Nazis thought that he had been alive too long.
Maximilian Kolbe is a great example of modern day disciple because he took up his cross in order to help others and was ready and willing to die so that the life of another could be spared. He once said;
"Every man has an aim in life. For most men it is to return home to their wives and families, or to their mothers. For my part, I give my life for the good of all men."
Also, a Polish bishop later wrote:
"The life and death of this man can be proof and witness of the fact that the love of god can overcome the greatest hatred, the greatest injustice, even death itself."
Maximilian Kolbe was a great man, and a great disciple because he helped others and lived for the good of man. He also followed the words of Jesus and let them guide him through life.
"Let him renounce himself, take up his cross & follow me."(MK 8:34-38)
We see that Max Kolbe responded to this call in the way Jesus' disciples did. He took on the challenge and helped others and when they were in a time of need, he helped them through it. He also had the most important central value needed to be a true disciple... courage. He also gave up the most precious thing in the world to help another... his life. This is why Max Kolbe is a true disciple.
Sean McQuade
