They have sacrificed everything for this man they probably do not know. There is a blind response from these four men; they are given no guarantees but show total commitment all the same.
Jesus was by lake Galilee and as he was walking along he saw a tax collector called Levi. Jesus said to him ‘follow me’ and ‘Levi got up and followed him’. As with the four fishermen, Levi’s response is instant, there are no demands from him, no limits to his dedication, no equivocation in his acceptance.
Later on Jesus was having a meal in Levi’s house. There were a large number of Gentiles, tax collectors and other outcasts who had joined Jesus and his disciples at the table. It was forbidden in Jewish Law to eat with outcasts. By Jewish tradition if you were sharing a meal with others it emphasised the welcoming into that family. This was educating the disciples into abolishing any man made barriers, and to become, eventually a family of all humans. The disciples are going against their faith and the teaching of their parents, they risk being rejected. What the disciples are doing is very brave. Jesus’ purpose for coming to the outcasts is to help and reform them. When Jesus heard the Pharisees criticising Jesus for eating with outcasts his response was, ‘people who are well do not need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have not come to call respectable people, but outcasts’. This passage, ‘Jesus calls Levi’ has two different themes: the instant response of Levi when called by a stranger; Jesus dealing with outcast, he is going against social stigma.
Jesus calls his disciples and a crowd and begins to preach to them on how they must give up all egos and everything else for their religion: ‘ He must forget self, carry his cross and follow me’. Jesus tells them not to be Godly but just to be open minded, this passage of Jesus speaking about his suffering and death shows how huge becoming a disciple is.
The account of ‘The Rich Man’, contradicts what the disciples have been taught about the wealthy. People saw being rich as a reward from God, and it would help you to get into the Kingdom of God. According to Jesus however, to be plentiful of money was a hindrance to getting into the Kingdom of God: ‘It harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle’. The ‘needle’ was an archway in Jerusalem’s walls. It was impossible for camels to get through it when they were fully laden, so they had to be unloaded before they could pass through, in the same way a rich person must get rid of their riches before they can get into the Kingdom of God. Jesus had given this man the chance to be one of his disciples but he could not bring himself to sacrifice everything. The ‘Request of James and John’ shows complete misunderstanding and ignorance of the whole idea of Christianity. It shows the disciples are still learning. Jesus forgives them because he knows they are not perfect and have not quite yet clinched the concept of discipleship. Discipleship is not about being great and receiving the best service but to be the servant of others: ‘If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest’.
When the disciples attempt to free the boy of an evil spirit they fail, the crowd begin to argue with them, Jesus comes over to see what all the commotion is about and when he finds out the situation he drives out the evil spirit of the boy. The disciples ask Jesus why they could not drive out the spirit; Jeus explains it can only be done if they have faith. The disciples will not get things right first time because they are not perfect. Discipleship is about learning and Jesus gives them another chance.
When Jesus walks on water the disciples are terrified, they do not have enough faith yet. They are given another chance to try and improve. They do not have to be perfect but they need to have faith and to understand. However, Jesus does not want them to be content with being imperfect. This explains why he is often frustrated and even angry with them.
Jesus had heard the disciples arguing about which one of them was the greatest. Jesus tells them that discipleship is not to do with being great but putting yourself last. A good example of this is Mother Theresa; her life was one of service. The disciples must learn from this but do not have to be perfect. Again they are forgiven.
After the arrest of Jesus, the disciples leave him and run away. This represents their humanity and they are frightened still, despite all that Jesus taught them. They are selfish for themselves. Peter’s denial works on the same principle as the disciples leaving Jesus when he is arrested. Peter is scared of what might happen to him if he admits to being with Jesus. His denial is very cowardly and selfish. The whole scenario of Jesus’ arrest has come as a great shock to the disciples though. They run away but they return, Peter denies Christ but weeps with his remorse. They are not bad men and try to make amends.
‘I will also send you out to preach, and you will have the authority to drive out demons’. This quotation stresses how discipleship is also about being given supernatural powers to save people’s souls. As well as the disciples having this task, Mark states how they were chosen to have a personal relationship with Jesus, Jesus tells his disciples, ‘I have chosen you to be with me’. He knew the twelve he would pick would be his companions, effectively thought to be chosen by Jesus was equal to being chosen by God. He probably only chose men because they dominated society at the time. The twelve disciples represent the twelve ancient tribes of Israel.
The parables told by Jesus simplify how Christianity should be undertaken. The moral meaning behind the ‘parable of the sower’ is how a lot of discipleship is about failing. Of all the people the disciples teach, ¾ of them will not become Christians. ¼ of people will and they are the ones you must work hard for. The disciples need to be strong and have confidence.
Jesus tells of the ‘lamp under the bowl’ and explains how you would not put a lamp under the bed but on lampstand. Christianity works in the same way. You should not hide your faith but be proud of it spread the word and uncover the truth. It was illegal for the disciples to do this and they risked persecution and humiliation in spreading the word of Christianity but the disciples had to be brave and have courage. Jesus does actually say to them ‘courage!’ so this is a quality the disciples must work on.
A man does not know how his crops grow but he does not let this bother him and he gets on with the job in hand. This suggests, it is more important to have faith then to have knowledge and understanding of how God works, just faith. The disciples were not university trained philosophers with all the answers, they did not always understand their role but they did not question it.
The mustard seed in the ‘Parable of the Mustard Seed’ personifies discipleship and how tiny it started off, like the seed. As time goes on this see goes on to be the biggest of all plants in the same way that Christianity goes on to be one of the world’s main religions. This plant puts out huge branches and birds come to rest on the branches in the same way discipleship is accepting everyone.
The Sabbath is from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset and in this time no work is allowed. The Sabbath were laws were fundamental to being a Jew, a cultural identity to the religion, those who did not follow it were thrown into social exile. Jesus was walking through cornfields with his disciples and they began to absentmindly pick the corn. The Pharisees immediately pounced on them and accused them of harvesting on the Sabbath. Jesus replied to the Pharisees and said that manmade laws can be broken by human needs, for example hunger. Jesus concluded with: ‘The Sabbath was made for the good of man, not man made for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord, even of the Sabbath.’
Again the disciples have been asked to break away from their way of life and what their parents have taught them. Jesus said that the man made laws were petty and benefits no one, which is not what the Sabbath is about, the disciples are told to disregard any petty man made laws if they conflict with God’s law.
Discipleship meant many things to the first twelve – at the beginning it meant the sacrifice of family and livelihoods and a step into the unknown but by the end it meant establishing a whole new religion and facing death. It meant having absolute faith and accepting suffering without complaint. It involved preaching, baptising and fighting evil spirits but most of all it meant following Jesus and copying his work.