Jesus was not the type of fighting Messiah he was more of a peacekeeper. The prime example of disciples misinterpreting Jesus’ idea was when James and John thought that the idea of a Messiah was a conquering king. They both asked Jesus if they might have seats on his right and left hand side in the Kingdom. They got the wrong idea and Jesus replied, “If one of you wants to be great, he must be the servant of the rest; and if one of you wants to be first, he must be slave of all. Even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people.” (Mark 10:43-46).
The disciple that has the most important role in mark’s Gospel is peter. He was the main disciple that was mentioned and his is the first and the last name to be mentioned in Mark’s Gospel. It was Peter who answered for the group when Jesus asked them who they thought he was. (Mark 8:27-30). It was also Peter who questioned the need for Jesus’ suffering and death. (Mark 8:31-33). Lastly it was Peter who offered to build tents for Jesus, Moses and Elijah on the mountain on transfiguration.
A disciple is someone who believes in and helps to spread the teachings of another. It is someone who learns form a religious leader, and who wishes to live life according to the leader’s wishes and commands. In Mark’s Gospel Discipleship is an important theme. These days you would think it isn’t important to have the first disciple qualities but in fact it still applies.
You need a whole heart towards the discipleship vocation to be a true disciple. There is a difference between rich people and poor people when you are offering things to charity. All the rich people in Mark’s Gospel gave their spare change and spare possessions. One day a very poor widow came along and gave a small offering. It wasn’t as much as what the rich people gave but the point I’m getting at is it was all she had and this means she gave more than what the rich people gave not by value but by what the cost could be for her afterwards. The reference for ‘The Widow at the Treasury’ is (Mark 12:41-4).
In Marks Gospel Jesus warned the disciples that he was going to suffer and die because he told them the enemy would see his popularity and teachings as threats.
When Jesus chose his disciples he gave them rules on what they were allowed to take with them and what they weren’t allowed to take with them. They could take a walking stick, a pair of sandals. They could not take food, a bag, money, and another coat.
I have come to the conclusion that the nature of discipleship is to follow the will of god and discipleship is the will to follow the example of Jesus even when it could result in suffering or death.
