In the ‘appointment of the twelve’ we see Jesus selecting his twelve disciples. He gives them the authority to drive out demons. This shows us that the disciples have special powers, which they will learn to use correctly. Jesus has showed trust in them by giving them these powers. They are expected to represent God.
During the story of ‘The mission of the twelve’ we see one of the major demands made upon a disciple. They show great courage by preaching the word of God to those who may give them grief. They do exactly what Jesus requests from them even though it may not be safe. This shows the courageousness and dedication to God that the discipleshad. They preach the word of God no matter what barriers are placed in front of them.
One of the most precious qualities that the disciples possess is being selfless. In the story of ‘The cost of discipleship’ Jesus say ‘If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget self, carry his cross and follow me.’ The disciples did all these things. They ‘forgot self’; by putting others first and forgetting their own self importance and self esteem. They ‘took up the cross’; they were prepared to follow Jesus until death and take on all the responsibilities. They ‘followed him’; they gave up a life with their family and home to follow Jesus on his mission to preach the word of God. These three demands made upon the disciples show enormous commitment, faith and courage.
The life of a disciple was hard and tough with many pressures faced. They lived a life like this for one reason, God. Jesus told them of their reward; ‘…will not receive in this age a hundred times as much – houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children and land – and persecutions beside; and in the age to come eternal life’ This shows us that the disciples reward come at a cost – persecution. At the time of Jesus, Emperor Nero was persecuting Christians. So to preach the word of God courage and dedication was shown to God by the disciples.
During the stories ‘Who is the greatest’ (9:33-37; 10 35-45) Jesus says the words ‘if anyone wants to be first, he must make himself last of all and servant to all’. This shows us that disciples must share the suffering to share the reward. So disciples are demanded to put others first and forget their own wants and consider others. This is very easy to say but very hard to do.
Disciples are expected to give up everything they have rather than giving up everything they have spare. We see this in the story of ‘The widow offering’ (12: 41-44), Jesus expected the disciples to be dedicated rather that just giving up a little give to him everything they possibly could.
The disciples are not always perfect as we see in ‘Peters promise and denial’ (14:26-31; 66-72). The disciples have shown their faith in God by following him and trusting him one hundred percent. Until now Peter had done the same but now he fails and denies the word of God. Jesus forgives Peter for his mistake, which is what he would expect from all his disciples. This also connects with the theme friendship it is harder to forgive your friend then your enemy.
‘The commission’ (16: 14-18) during this story we see the disciples being scolded for not having faith and trust in God. The disciples are demanded to have faith in God, as it is this faith which leads to other qualities such as dedication, courage and trust.
Throughout Mark’s Gospel we hear of many stories of the twelve disciples. We see their faith, courage, dedication, commitment and trust put into action. Without these qualities they would not have been able to follow Jesus in his journey of suffering to seek the reward with God.
