The request of James and John is something that we all can learn from, because you do not have to be the greatest to sit at the right and left hand side of God, but you have to serve and not expect to be served. Even Jesus said; “For the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.” The nature of discipleship is not just about being able to go to mass every week, but as well as that it is to serve others and not expect to be served.
The cost of discipleship can be dear. If you love and trust in God you would be prepared to die for God, and for this you would be later rewarded in heaven. You have the promise of eternal life with God. In the request of James and John Jesus said, “Can you drink the cup of suffering that I must drink?” and James and John replied with, “Yes we can!” but could they? Jesus is asking them to ‘deny one’s self’, ‘take up the cross’ and follow him. They would do this if they had total trust and faith in God.
Faith is important for true discipleship and can cause a Miracle. Many miracles occurred because of different people’s faith in Jesus and God. For example, ‘The boy with an evil Spirit’ in this miracle the disciples needed faith, and perhaps needed to pray more for their healings to work. The crowd also needed faith because they did not trust in God and did not believe that Jesus or anyone could heal this boy. Also the father needed faith, but he asked for more faith from Jesus and Jesus knew that anything was possible if you had true faith in God.
In the story of the ‘Rich Man’ the rich man wanted to receive eternal life but he was not willing to give up all that he had for God. This shows that he did not have total faith in God that he would look after him. This also shows that the nature of discipleship is hard for those who are rich. But being rich does not mean that it is wrong and you should be poor but that you should not be attached and obsessive about material possessions. The rich man could not give up what he had for eternal life. The rich man had the decision like a priest would have to, whether or not to give up what they have to be a priest and teach others about God and the gospels. If they do this they are making a total commitment to God.
When Jesus blesses the children he shows that children are just as important as adults although they do not understand religion or faith properly. Jesus tells the disciples that to enter the kingdom of God is much easier as a child, not because of their immaturity or even their innocence and purity but because of their eagerness to learn, their trust, their love and their reliance on their parents. Jesus says that when you enter the kingdom of God you should depend on God in the same way that children rely upon their parents, and that is the nature of discipleship. Jesus saw the Kingdom of God as somewhere both present and future; meaning present in him and in the future when God’s rule would be established on earth.
The nature of discipleship expressed in Mark’s Gospel is that faith and love in God is everything and that to receive better things in the future you must be prepared to give up what you have and put your trust in God. Mark wrote his Gospel for persecuted Christian’s and to be a disciple means to be able to stand up to persecution and to be able to die for God. The hardships of being a disciple are overlooked by the rewards of discipleship.
AO2
The disciples were called to do three things, be Jesus’ companion, to preach and to cast out evil spirits. In the same way disciples of Jesus today try to carry out the same work, by preaching the Gospel, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry and fighting against evil and injustice wherever it is found. Many people today preach the gospel, like priests and nuns in churches and at mass. Some people try to get other people to come to mass to find out more about God. Many people care for the sick, it is a part of everyday life because somebody is always ill, and Mother Teresa cared for the sick in many different countries. There are always people starving in the world and people who are just throwing food away. Many charities in the world, for example Christian Aid, Cafod- try to raise money for those people who lacking basic needs, which include food and water. Many Christians give money to charity and the charity then gives to those who need it. So in a way we are all helping those who are starving or ill.
Martin Luther King is an example of someone whose life has been affected by their Christian faith. He spoke out about racism and injustice in the world and tried to fight the battle saying that everyone is equal. Some Christians try do all of these things in there area by helping those who are sick or giving to charity, but there are some people who go to different countries to carry this sort of work, also some people help others in a special way because God has called them to be like missionaries. In the same way people are called to the priesthood, or to life in a religious order. The ‘rich man’ did not receive a call and therefore was unable to make the commitment to God by leaving all his riches. Christians believe that they all have a vocation in life- to be a disciple, and for many people this means that they are called to serve God, through their family, relationships and working life.
Pope John Paul the second was called to priesthood, but he didn’t want to be a priest and therefore fought off the call and carried on with normal day life. But this call was so powerful that in the end he listened to it and joined the priesthood. Not only did he become a priest but a bishop, an Arch Bishop and a Cardinal before becoming Pope. After successfully becoming the Pope he preached to millions of people all over the world. Jesus had taught the disciples to preach and Pope John Paul did the same, his is following Jesus’ teachings. But the Pope has suffered for his religion by being shot three times, but he has survived and did not want to punish the person who did it. He only said, “thank you,” “thank you” and he prayed for the person that shot him, so that he would be forgiven. Jesus told the disciples in the story of the “Rich Man” that they would receive many, “persecutions as well, and in the age to come would receive eternal life.”
The Catholic Church believes that the bishop should follow in the same way as the disciples of Jesus, and in doing this they should carry out authority. Some people do not agree with this but most believe that the churches should follow the responsibility set by the disciples in Jesus’ time. The church is meant to preach the Gospels of God’s Kingdom and to continue to fight against evil and suffering in the same way that Jesus and his disciples did. Pope John Paul spoke out about injustice, peace and evil in the same way Jesus did, in the hope that peace would happen throughout the world. He is like a true disciple of Jesus.
Jesus explained to the disciples how important discipleship was and that Christians today should try to follow discipleship in the same way. Jesus said that every one who does what God asks is part of Jesus’ family, “Whoever does what God asks him to do is my brother, my sister, my mother.” This shows that Christians are part of God’s family because they are being like a disciple of Jesus. Jesus never tried to hide the fact that full discipleship was not easy and totally demanding, because it was the acceptance of the reign of God on one’s life. This could mean putting God before your family and could also bring suffering. Jesus wanted a true disciple to be able to make a complete commitment to God and to be able to face everything that was involved. Discipleship was a living relationship with God. So Christians today are not like true disciples of God because many would not be prepared to put God before family. Although many Christians go to church they are not all prepared to preach to others or even tell people openly that they are followers of God. Nowadays people would not necessarily be persecuted for being a follower of Christ but may be looked at differently if they were a very keen follower of Christ. So many people do not really mention their religion, even though they go to church frequently. Many people go to church, care for the sick and give to charity but those are the easier parts of being a disciple, but this alone does not make them a true disciple because they also have to do the harder parts of being a disciple which are; letting people know freely that you are a follower of Christianity and being able to stand up to people who are not followers of Christianity, like in Jesus’ day they would be persecuted for this, but thankfully it isn’t as harsh today and persecutions do not really happen in most parts of the world.
A03
“Children cannot be disciples so they cannot be Christians either”
In some ways I agree with this statement because young children do not really understand fully what a disciple is never mind how to be like a disciple. Some children will probably not have chosen to be a Christian because they were baptised as a child into the Christian church. It was not their decision to be a Catholic. But later in life, would they choose to be a Christian even if they were not baptised into the Christian church as a child? Children do not fully understand the teachings of Jesus and therefore cannot follow and learn from Jesus properly, but later in life once they have been taught they can then become disciples of Jesus. To be a disciple you have to be like Jesus in some way, and show Kingdom values like trust, honesty, love, faith etc in your life.
I believe that, although children cannot really learn from Jesus fully and understand the inner meanings, they can still be Christians. However Jesus says that to enter the Kingdom of God you have to be like a child because children rely totally on their parents to survive, especially younger children. Jesus wants anyone who enters the kingdom of God to rely on God in the same way. In my opinion St Bernadette is an example of a child who acted like a disciple of Jesus. Bernadette seen eighteen visions at the age of fourteen. I think this must of scared her and in most situations like this a child would run away scared and frightened but Bernadette didn’t. I think she had lots of courage and did what Mary told her to do, for example she told her to build a chapel and drink from the fountain but there was no fountain but she dug a hole in the ground and a spring appeared and Bernadette drank from this. For me this shows that she had courage, and trusts in Mary, and believed in the visions.
I feel that overall I would generally disagree with this statement because I think that once you enter into the Christian faith at an early age you become a proper Christian and as you are growing up you learn how to be more like Jesus by fully understanding Jesus’ teachings. But just because you are a Christian you do not have to be a disciple as well. The disciples all learnt how to be better disciples from Jesus so children can also learn how to be more like Jesus too as they are growing up. Many children have lots of courage because they often do things others wouldn’t especially adults, sometimes this can be in a bad way but it can be in a good way too. For example Peter denied knowing Jesus three times and an adult in a similar situation today would do the same but children would be more likely to say what they feel although sometimes children can be good liars. I believe that any one, any age that enters into the Christian faith by baptism is regarded as a Christian disciple because to be a disciple you have to learn as you are going along like the true disciples in Jesus’ day. Although adults baptise their children and the child has no say in the matter the child will learn as it is growing up how to be more like a modern day disciple. I believe Bernadette was just an ordinary child and had a normal upbringing but she showed courage and trust in God and acted like a disciple should.
Bibliography:
- Mark’s Gospel. An Interpretation for today by R.C Cooper
- Dimensions of Christianity by Sr A.Burke.
- St Mark’s Gospel by G.Geddes and J.Griffiths
- The Gospel of Mark (Good News Version)
5. Teacher’s notes