“Don’t take anything with you on your journey except a stick – no bread, no beggar’s bag, no money in your pockets,” however I don’t think this is the case.
In this particular extract, Jesus is sending his disciples on a mission, technically making them apostles, so the sacrifices may not be necessary for a Christian disciple.
Mk 16: 14-18 gives an idea of the kinds of things that disciples are expected to do, because according to the story, Jesus’ disciples were told to go out and preach the gospel, be baptized, and believe, They were also given the power to drive out demons, so I can only assume that that was one of the tasks that disciples were supposed to do. This shows that if you want to become a Christian disciple, you do not always have to work hard, but merely believe in the gospel and spread the good news.
One of the things that I can definitely derive from Mark’s gospel is the cost of discipleship. Jesus says in Mk 8: 34-38 that,
“If anyone wants to come with me he must forget self, carry his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his own life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it.”
This shows how challenging discipleship was intended to be, in that you would have to risk death in order to become a disciple. In a way, I think that this story would possibly put off a person wanting to become a Christian disciple because it says that they will have to face suffering and death, however Mk: 28-31 may change their opinion.
The story is about Jesus saying what the rewards of discipleship are, and I think it will encourage a person to follow God. According to the story, God will reward believers with one hundred times more houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields; however I think this is symbolic in that if you believe, all Christians become your family. It also says that you will be given one hundred times more persecutions, which although is bad, has the promise of eternal life after it in the story, proving to people that it doesn’t matter how much suffering you go through; if you believe you will live on forever.
I think Mark believed that discipleship is about commitment because he included a very meaningful story: The Widow’s Offering. The story is about the donation of money into an offering box outside the temple. On the one hand there are the wealthy men who give all of the riches they have to spare and on the other there is a poor widow who gives all she has to live on, even though it is only a tiny amount. I think that the rich men symbolise the people who call themselves Christians but don’t go out of their way to help other people, whereas the widow symbolises people who, despite their situation show dedication, generosity and commitment: true Christian disciples.