Jesus and the Call of Discipleship

Jesus and the Call of Discipleship

One of the most touching and revealing aspects of the gospel story is that of Jesus in the company of his disciples. They are an almost constant presence, gaping in awe and power. They are confidantes of his most important teaching, at his side as his mission drove him through the crowds of Galilee. In a way, we learn much about Jesus in considering his followers.

In order for us to understand the meaning of discipleship in the mind of Jesus as well as the implications of such discipleship to those whom he called to follow, let us examine several characteristics of Jesus’ relationships with his closest followers: the twelve.

1. Jesus gathers his disciples
Mark 1:16-20 (Call of the First Disciples)
All the gospels relate that one of the first things that Jesus did was to gather disciples. In the scripture passage that we read, Mark states that as soon as Jesus began his public ministry in Galilee, he recruited Simon, his brother Andrew, and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John. As Jesus’ ministry progressed, more would join him.

Discipleship is understood as a process of learning or “being-with” a master. Taking its root from the Latin word discere (to learn), a disciple is a “learner” whose goal is to learn from a master who serves as his source of knowledge and wisdom.

By gathering disciples, Jesus again showed that he was a man of his time. It was common practice among the rabbis (teachers) of Jesus’ day to attract followers or disciples. In the Old Testament, the relationship between a disciple and a master can be seen in various stories. Joshua, for example, served as a faithful lieutenant and eventually the successor of Moses, just as Elisha was a disciple of the great prophet Elijah.

2. Jesus transforms the meaning of the disciple-master relationship
Traditionally, the ideal of the disciple was to choose a master from who one could learn genuine wisdom. The disciple subordinated himself to the master, learning from him and serving him. Discipleship, however, was not a permanent status. The goal of learning was that the disciple himself would be trained to be master, no longer dependent on his rabbi once he had absorbed the teacher’s wisdom.

In this story, we can see that being a disciple of Jesus was a result of a personal invitation. Unlike the case of discipleship in Rabbinic Judaism, the disciple did not choose the master; rather, Jesus called and chose his disciples. The initiative always comes from Jesus himself.

This call draws those whom he called to take a radical response: “Come after me and I will make you fishers of men.” The response is instant, complete, and unhesitating: “They immediately abandoned their nets and became his followers… they immediately abandoned boat and father to follow him.”

Interestingly, Jesus’ disciples followed him not simply to listen to a body of doctrine or skills of interpretation from a master, and then they “graduate” and leave the master to find his own disciples. Rather, it is a call to a relationship of being a lifelong “learner.” They are called not simply to be with Jesus but to observe what he does, to learn from him, so that they may share in his work of the kingdom.

Finally, the presence of the disciples as witnesses to Jesus’ ministry signals that they too will share in this work. Unlike rabbinic disciples whose concern was to study what the master teaches, the disciples shared in the ministry of Jesus. In that sense, what Jesus does in his healing and teaching ministry, so must the disciples do From this moment on, they are to be Jesus’ closest and constant companions – as someone who will walk with him and share his life of love and service as Jesus loved and served his people.

3. Jesus’ choice of disciples is far short of ideal
However, a close and careful look at the portrait of Jesus’ disciples according to the gospels gives us a different perspective of the disciples: they do not come off as recruitment poster models – flawless, handsome, and bigger than life. In fact, the disciples of Jesus are far short of ideal. To understand this we look at what sort of people did Jesus choose to join in his mission.

• The gospels are unanimous in presenting them as people who did not came from a flawless background: most of them belong to the lower class of the society (fishermen), a public sinner (tax collector) even joined his movement, two of them are nicknamed Boanerges or “hot heads”, another one apparently is a member of the zealot party, and who would not forget Judas – the one “who would betray him.”
• They were often presented as followers who lacked attention and comprehension when listening to Jesus’ teachings. They were often baffled upon hearing the parables and Jesus himself even chided them for their lack of faith.
• We should never forget that the same disciples of Jesus abandoned him during his death (see Mark 14:50). We only hear of three disciples during the passion of Jesus: Judas, who betrays him for 30 pieces of silver and led the armed band to the garden; and Peter, the leader of the disciples who denies Jesus and his apostleship; and John, the only disciple who stood with the mother of Jesus near the cross as Jesus dies (see John 19:26).
  

The response of the disciples to Jesus’ call and mission was obviously flawed by fear and imperfection. In more ways than one, the disciples’ record was not good. They complained, they misunderstood, they quarreled, they deserted, they denied. But such does not warrant the loss of the relevance and value of the apostles in the mission and message of Jesus. In the face of the master they failed, but they detected the infinite compassion of God through their experiences of the Risen Christ (which we shall see this topic when we shall study the resurrection appearances later this quarter).

The March of the Unqualified
In one of our lessons in the Old Testament, we are reminded of how God makes a choice. In the stories of the Patriarchs, especially Abraham and Jacob, even in the lives of important people of the Old Testament like Moses, David, Solomon, Jeremiah, we can see that God most of the time calls people who seem to be unqualified to fulfill the task. Nonetheless, God’s plan is carried out, not because of who they are but because of what God has done; not because of what they have done, but because of who God is.

God chooses people despite their weaknesses and individual character flaws. He chooses them by virtue of his unconditional love: we may be unfaithful, but God always remains faithful to us! Most of the time, His choice defies logic and expectation. But what we are sure of is that He will form whoever He chooses and provide grace to respond to His call.