Another meaning of discipleship was to be a companion to Jesus, 3:14- “I have chosen you to be with me”. Jesus like any other person would need friends with him and on frequent occasions we discover that Jesus had an inner circle in the disciples who were to be his closest friends. These were Peter, James and John, who were witnesses to events such as the transfiguration and in the garden of Gethsemane. This friendship with Jesus could also be interpretated as an alliance with God, this alliance of course had to last after the death of Jesus and so still applies to Christians today.
Disciples were also expected to learn from Jesus. It is apparent in Mark’s gospel that Jesus would often criticise the disciples for their inability to understand some of Jesus’ teachings, but always the disciples would listen to him and eventually, they would understand. This applies to modern Christians in that they should listen to Jesus’ teachings (in church, the bible etc.) and be willing to understand, accept his judgement and live by his teachings.
Faith is of course, a crucial part of discipleship. It is extremely important for a Christian to give themselves in their entirety to God and to Christ and to show total devotion. Mark tells us interestingly however, of a time when Peter shows weakness in faith. When asked after Jesus’ arrest, Peter completely denies knowing him, as predicted by Jesus. However, after the resurrection, Peter is shown forgiveness- “Now go and give this message to his disciples, including Peter”. Mark shows us that even during failure as a disciple, you can be forgiven by God if one is truly repentant as Peter was.
Mark covers the cost of disciple in great detail, as is necessary to understand the nature of discipleship which was never intended to be easy and involves a great price and much responsibility. When Jesus sends out the disciples as apostles, they are told to take with them few possessions. Here, Mark shows us that discipleship was hard and that it was impossible to be materialistic.
To carry out their duty to God, , disciples made a number of sacrifices, none of which were easy. This was to teach disciples that they should trust in God and not be weighed down by baggage.
When Jesus first called the disciples, James and John immediately left their jobs and it is mentioned that they left their father. Here, Mark is trying to show that discipleship makes a demand. It is important to follow Jesus regardless of the cost. Again, this story accentuates the importance of unquestionable faith, which seems to have been a topic of interest to Mark. For modern Christians, they may wish to show this extreme sacrifice through vocation which is a calling for Christians to do perhaps missionary work and this may involve leaving friends, family or loved ones.
Disciples should be willing to lose their life for Jesus, there is great cost involved and eternal life must be earned. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus teaches that to achieve eternal life and to be welcomed into the family of god, disciples must “forget self, carry his cross, and follow me”. Particularly, the words ‘follow me’ mean that the nature of discipleship is almost to imitate the life of Christ. To live by God’s law, preach, heel, and to eventually suffer whatever persecution and rejection may follow- perhaps even to die for faith.
To ‘forget self’ is practised today possibly by giving up cigarettes, alcohol or even a period of fasting. To do this, Christians will celebrate Lent as a period of self-denial and unselfishness. To ‘carry the cross’ is sometimes taken to mean either physical or mental suffering as would be expected in the life of a Christian particularly at the time that Mark was writing. To early Christians, the possibility of dying for your faith was all to real and many faced the ultimate penalty for openly believing in God.
There seem to be many hardships and sacrifices involved in discipleship, but these can be justified with the rewards. If one is able to be a successful disciple, then one can be given eternal life in the Kingdom of God. 10:30-31- “ ‘I tell you the truth,’ Jesus replied, ‘no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields--and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.’ ”
Also, the rewards of discipleship can be felt in life, one’s sacrifice as a disciple will be valued by God aswell as earning the fellowship of the Church.
Generally, Marks Gospel teaches that discipleship is not a social status. It is not intended for a life of prestige and power but of humble service. Throughout the gospel, the disciples are shown to be imperfect, misunderstanding, and occasionally foolish. Discipleship is not shown in glory, and so the acceptance of it becomes an even more noble act aswell as reassuring modern day Christians that imperfection is forgivable and that even Peter, who denied Jesus, could go on to live the ideal life of a disciple, and now holds significant status in the Christian Church.
