However the chosen twelve were not the only disciples of Jesus. When Jesus went to region of Gerasa he met a many with many evil spirits in him called Mob. After Jesus had sent the evil spirit in to the herds of pigs, the man wished to follow him but when Jesus told him he was better spreading the word of God;
“The man left and went all through the ten towns, telling what Jesus had done for human. And all who heard it were amazed”. Also Bartimeaus once he was healed of his blindness followed Jesus down the road. This shows us that as disciples we should immediately leave what is burdening us and follow the good example Jesus has shown us.
Through Marks gospel we are able to understand the real reasons why Jesus recruited the 12 disicples. He called them to do three things. One was to be companions to Jesus on his mission, second was to preach what he had taught them and third was to cast out demons. He passed his authority on to them so they could be examples to the world.
In essence a disciple is someone who gives up their earthly possessions and looks to something much greater than just material worth. This was a task that Jesus had asked his disciples to do. We learn this lesson through the story of the rich man. A man who had lived by the Ten Commandments his whole life but could not part from the riches of this world therefore could not receive the riches of the next.
“It is much harder for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”
The twelve disciples were sent out by Jesus on missionary work in pairs. He gave them strict instructions on how humble they had to be. He gave them 3 three tasks to do. They had to preach repentance. They had to cast out devils and they were to anoint the sick and the old and cure them. He gave them this hard task to prepare them for what they would have to when he was no longer around.
In his gospel Marks paint the picture of the cost of discipleship. He tells them
“ If anyone want to come with me they must forget self, carry his cross and follow me”
To forget self as disciples of Jesus we must deny ourselves certain pleasures in this life. To carry our cross means we all have our own burdens to carry in life. Marks tries to tell us that to be good disciples we must follow Jesus through it all. Finally to follow Jesus means we must follow his path to be a true disciple. As disciples we must face the suffering, rejection as well as death.
A disciple must be willing to put up with hardship and suffer for the good of the gospel.
Another theme which is quite evident in relation to disciples is that of failure. We see Peter denying he even knows Jesus not once but three times. Also in their final hours with Jesus the disciples fail him by not staying awake and giving into the temptation of sleep. Worst of all they abandon him in fear of their own lives when he probably needed them most before he dies. Mark ends the gospel in a state of despair. The discipleship has failed. Some believe he done this to show how hard and costly being a disciple can be. That being a disciples does not just mean following but believing in Jesus. That there will be failure if we are not prepared to sacrifice even if the path we must follow as a disciple is not an easy one.
“So they went out and ran from the tomb, distressed and terrified. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid”.
