Examine the teaching on the nature of Christian discipleship which is found in the Fourth Gospel - Evaluate its significance for an understanding of early Christian behaviour

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Chloé Titcomb 12.4                                                                April 2002

Discipleship

  1. Examine the teaching on the nature of Christian discipleship which is found in the Fourth Gospel.
  2. Evaluate its significance for an understanding of early Christian behaviour.

  1.          The Fourth Gospel has the theme of discipleship featuring prominently throughout it.  There are twelve of Jesus’ disciples mentioned but there are many disciples as long as you have the required qualities.  These qualities include faithfulness, loyalty, trust, open to having change in their life, and the desire to learn amongst many other things.  

       One idea found in the Fourth Gospel regarding Christian discipleship is the idea that they are born from above.  They do not belong to this world and they are aliens.  The world will hate them because of this and they are different form everyone else.   No one can receive God unless they are reborn from above.  This is something that Nicodemus does not understand and shows himself not to a true disciple.  Being a follower of Jesus means that you are no longer from this world and you no longer belong.  Jesus showed how he was born from above with the virgin birth.  It portrayed that he is not from this world but sent from above.  John 1:11 shows this, ‘he came to that which was his own, but his won did not receive him’, he no longer belongs to the world but is like an alien.  A true disciple must have a mutual indwelling with Jesus, he must live in you and you must live in him.  John teaches us in the Fourth Gospel that a true disciple will understand this and be reborn form above in order to gain this mutual indwelling with Jesus that is so important.          

        The Samaritan woman is an excellent example of John’s teaching about the nature of Christian discipleship because, not only does she do the extremely important act of bringing people to faith, which is explained in further detail later on, but she also must receive the water of life in order to further her understanding and worship Jesus completely.  At first when Jesus begins talking to her she does not understand and believes the water in the well to literally be the water of life but she has an evolution of faith.  Her faith grows to a true spiritual insight that leads her to worship Jesus fully in spirit and truth.  Being a woman it was quite amazing that Jesus spoke to her in the beginning but it is her true understanding of Jesus and her confession of faith that John shows to be a true model of discipleship by worshipping fully in spirit now.  

        The Blind man in Chapter nine is a model of the top disciple.  He has an evolution of faith to proclaiming Jesus to be ‘one from God’ which is a key part of a disciples nature, to finally come to truly understand Jesus and who he is.  He believes that Jesus is the Son of Man and accepts him to worship him.  However, according to J.L. Martyn and Rensberger, he must also accept something else in order to be a true disciple.  He must accept persecution and the world hating him.  To be a true disciple you must stand up against the Jews to show your faith to Jesus.  Although you do this, you must then accept the consequences of the world hating you.  By making a confession of faith you no longer belong in the world and is something else, as mentioned earlier.  The Blind man shows courage in standing up to the Jews as he will now suffer persecution and has to stand strong alone until Jesus comes back.  Jesus will return to reward the Blind man as a disciple of the light.  Rensberger claims that the Blind Man parallels the Johaninne community and through the Blind Man and his actions we can learn the nature of this also.  The world will hate them but by standing strong, they are a true disciple as the Blind Man is used by John to teach us of the nature of Christian discipleship.

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        There is also the covenant idea, which is linked to the scholar John Pryor.  It is not the disciples who chose to follow Jesus but it is Jesus who chooses them because he realises that they possess the true qualities that he wants them to have.  The Gospel is full of covenant language such as chosen, love and commandment.  Deuteronomy 6:6 reflects this idea of being chosen, ‘For you are a people holy to the Lord you r God.  The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his ...

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