A study of Mark's gospel today can give us an insight into what it means to be a disciple,

Firstly the role of the 12 was to carry out what Jesus had taught them, which was to drive out hunger (feeding of the five thousand, Mark 6 30:44), anoint the sick and "Preach the Gospel to all man kind" (The Commission 16:14-18). All they had to do, to become a disciple of God, they had to lead a pure, honest life and spread the word of God. If they done this then they were fulfilling Jesus' wish, making them a true disciple.

Also their mission was simple, to do as Jesus does. Jesus gave his disciples authority over evil spirits and ordered them to take as little as possible, to leave all behind and go ahead to preach, heal and spread the good news of God (Mark 6:7-11).

Secondly a study of Marks Gospel tells us that the Nature of Discipleship is to obey Jesus and have faith in everything he does., Mark tells the story of the calling of the first four disciples (1:14-20) in his gospel. Jesus asks some fishermen to "Come with me" and "they left their nets at once and went with him." This shows disciples should be willing to put God first without any doubts and tells Christians that the sacrifices of discipleship has to come before everything else. Jesus tells the disciples they will be "fishers of men" as they welcomed and encouraged people into the family of God.
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Also Marks tries to tell us that to be good disciples the 12 had to follow Jesus through it all. As disciples they had to face suffering and rejection as well as death, as a good disciple must be willing to put up with hardship and suffer for the good of the gospel.

Also Marks gospel teaches us about the costs and sacrifices of being a true disciple because in the story 'The cost of discipleship' states clearly that being a disciple means doing the will of God and forgetting about their own needs.

"Anyone ...

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