What does it mean to be a Disciple

What does it mean to be a Disciple?

Mark 3:13-19

What do you think about when you hear the number, “13?” A special number? An “unlucky” number? It so happens that 13 is the atomic number of aluminum, is the number worn by the quarterback in the NFL who passed for more yards than any other quarterback, Dan Marino. It’s also the number of legendary NBA hall of famer, Wilt Chamberlain, who wore it throughout his career. It’s on the front cover of at least 5 music albums that have come out in the past eight years with the title, “13.”

Think about all the movies with the number 13 in them: there is one called, Thirteen, Thirteen Days, The Thirteenth Floor, 13 Going on 30, Apollo 13, Thirteen Ghosts,13 Conversations About One Thing, Assault on Precinct 13, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on the 13th Floor, and many others.

In spite of that, for some reason 13 seems to be considered an “unlucky” number. Tall buildings skip the 13^th floor, by numbering it “14" or 12a. Some streets don’t contain a house numbered 13. Check out NASCAR, the Indy cars or Formula 1 cars. How many are numbered 13? None that I know of.

Why? The answer on the street is that when a group of 13 objects or persons is divided into two, three, four or six equal groups, there is always one leftover, "unlucky" object or person.

But have you noticed how significant the number 13 is in the foundation of our country? There were 13 original colonies; 13 stars in the original flag; 13 horizontal stripes on the flag, six white and seven red. On the back of your dollar bill, the Great Seal has 13 levels of the truncated pyramid, and 13 letters in the phrase "Annuit Coeptis" above the pyramid. On the right side you see an eagle in a circle with a banner running through his beak. The banner has 13 letters in "E Pluribus Unum", there are 13 stars above the Eagle, 13 leaves on the olive branch he is holding, 13 olives on the olive branch, 13 arrows in his other claw, and 13 bars on the shield in front of him. Thirteens all over the place!

Why is 13 so important today? Because Jesus had 12 disciples and every time He went to a motel, He had to find room for 13 men. Michael Angelo’s “the Last Supper” has 13 men in the picture. One of them is not Mary Magdalene, in spite of what Dan Brown writes in the DaVinci Code.

We are talking about the number 13 today, 12 disciples plus Jesus. And my question is going to be, “are you a disciple?” Think about your answer to that question as you listen to this description of what a disciple is. I have four observations about these 12 disciples.

I. “Appointed” – discipleship is by God’s choice. 13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, "Sons of Thunder"; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Three times this list appears in the gospels. Peter is always listed first and Judas is always the tag at the end. The names seem to come in groups of four with the same names always in the each group. We have the “A” group, which always has Peter, Andrew, James and John. The “B” group always contains Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew. And the “C” group always lists James, Judas, Simon and Judas Iscariot.

Within each group, the names are sometimes switched. It’s Peter, Andrew, James and John in Matthew and Luke. But in Mark here, it is Peter, James, John, and Andrew. I think the list is broken down by twos because Jesus always sent the disciples out two by two. So I would guess that He didn’t send the brothers together. He probably sent Peter with James, and Andrew, Peter’s brother with John, James’ brother. So Peter, the noisy one would team with James, the older of the “sons of thunder.” And Andrew, the quieter one, who brought Peter to Christ in John 1, worked with John, probably the youngest disciple, who may have been a teenager at this time.

All four of these disciples are in the same business, actually linked together in a fishing operation, and probably all four are from the same town, Bethsaida, which we think to be about three or four miles NE of Capernaum, right near where the Jordan river comes into Galilee.

The “B” group has Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew in Matthew and Mark. Luke switches Thomas and Matthew. So I think that Philip and Bartholomew probably went out as a team. Bartholomew is probably the “Nathanel” of John 1:45. Remember Nathanel? He’s the one who said to Philip when Philip invited him to follow Christ, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” He knew the town. Philip said, “come and see.” Then when Jesus saw Nathanel coming toward Him, He observed, “look, truly an Israelite in whom deceit does not exist.” Here was one totally honest man. Philip brought Bartholomew to Christ and they teamed up together as disciples. Out of this group, Matthew is the only one who wrote part of the New Testament.

In the “C” group Matthew and Mark have James, Thaddaeus, Simon and Judas. Luke switches Thad and Simon, and gives Thad his other name, Judas. So Luke has, James, Simon, Judas, Judas. James is called the son of Alphaeus to distinguish him from James the son of Zebedee. In Mark 15 the son of Alphaeus is called “James the less,” which could mean James the younger, or James the shorter. He may have been the five foot disciple.

Thad had two other names, Lebbeus and Judas. Of course if you had the name, Judas you would get rid of that name as soon after the betrayal of Christ as you could. It was Thad who is referred to in John 14:22: “Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?’”

Simon has three designations, Canaanite, spelled with two “a”s or three “a”s and “Zealot.” It’s all the same word since “Cananite” is a transcription of the Aramaic term which means the “Zealot.” It could mean that he was connected with the Jewish party of the “Zealots.” This group studied how to encourage rebellion against the Roman government. But it could also mean that he was a zealous guy. Simon the eager one. Simon the type “A” personality.

I think James the short was linked with Thad in ministry, and Simon the Zealot was linked with Judas. The word, Iscariot is probably the word, Kerioth, which names the town that Judas came from in Judea. It’s Judas, the man from Kerioth, in Judea. That means that Judas is the only man from the south. All other 11 disciples are from Galilee.

What do we make of this list? Ordinary people from ordinary places. Fishermen, a tax collector and others from probably non-distinguished jobs.

II. “WITH” – Discipleship is fellowship. 13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him . . .

Discipleship is “with” – “with Him.” The twelve were chosen to hang out with Jesus. They spent time with Him and essentially lived with Him. What’s so hard about that? It sounds simple enough. We’re hanging out with people all the time.

But this means a significant interruption. It meant that the 12 might have had to quit their jobs (at least for much of the time of His journeys), and physically walk with Him to different towns and villages. They ate with Him, they slept in His presence, they worked with Him, they did what He was doing. Who knows what happened to the fishing business that Peter, Andrew, James, and John had.

Every motel Jesus checked into had to have room for 13. We may think that is a strange way to see it, but Jesus probably stayed in the homes of people. And He would have to ask, “do you have room for 13?” Notice “and they went into a house.” There weren’t that many houses large enough to handle 13 men for a week. Try to think of what it would be like for 13 men to sleep at your house!

A. A disciple is a student. The word “disciple” means “a student, pupil, learner.” It was the Greek word used to identify the student of anyone. It means that you are there to learn, to study, to accept, and to practice. It means that you are not the teacher, you don’t know enough about the subject, but you have signed up to study it with this instructor. In the book of Acts, the word disciple became almost equivalent to the word Christian. All Christians were disciples of Jesus. When Jesus sent His disciples out in Matthew 28 with the great commission, He said, “go therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” “Make disciples” is equivalent to, “introduce them to Christ,” “get them saved,” “bring them into the kingdom.” But what it emphasizes is that every Christian has been saved to be a student. The Christian life is the life of a student. We are always and forever learning of Christ. Whatever else we do, our root relationship with Christ is that of a student. Discipleship is SCHOOL!

That’s why I am bothered sometimes by songs that we sing that describe our relationship with Christ almost in terms of two lovers. It’s pictured as a romance. Think about your education. Would you describe your relationship with any professor you have had in the past as a romantic relationship? Not unless you had a crush on the person. You may love the teacher, you may love what he or she teaches, you may love the class, but that doesn’t put it into a romantic relationship. It’s a teacher-student relationship. We are learning, we are in need, we are ignorant, and we come to Christ to study Him.

So be careful when you sing these songs that encourage you to picture our root relationship with Christ as kissy-kissy. That’s misleading. I am His student, and He is running a school.

B. A disciple is a thinking student. Hanging out with Jesus was not like spending the day at Starbucks. It was work. They were LEARNING, they were thinking, they were solving problems, they were following directions, they were doing homework, projects, internship.

This means that Jesus engaged their brains in problem solving. He repeatedly asked questions. Look at Mark 2:8-9: “Why do you reason about these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven you,' or to say, 'Arise, take up your bed and walk?’” What’s He asking? He is asking them to think about the significance of His miracles. The power He has to change the outside is simply an indication of the power He has to change the inside.

In Mark 2:19 He asks, "Can the friends of the bridegroom fast while the bridegroom is with them?” What is the question probing? He is saying, “do you understand the nature of the time?” “Do you understand Who I am (the bridegroom) and the significance of My presence here?”

In 2:25 He asks, “have you never read what David did?” In 3:4 He asks, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” In 3:23 He is going to ask, “can Satan cast out Satan?” and in vs. 33 He asks, “who are my mother and my brothers?” He is constantly asking questions, constantly getting them to think.

Do you see the picture? Jesus wants His disciples to ask and answer some of the hard questions in life. This means that the answer to the question, “are you a disciple of Christ?” includes the further question, “are you really engaged in thinking about the issues He raises, and the answers He gives?” H. L. Mencken said, “There is always an easy solution to every human problem – neat, plausible, and wrong.” Do you want the easy solutions or the right solutions? It’s not just hanging out with Someone; it’s hanging out with Someone because He has the answers you have to have. Do you WANT the right answers? Do you want to invest the time and energy to find them? Jesus said, “if any man come after me, let him deny himself.” That’s the fork in the road. Listen to one’s self and settle for easy solutions – vs. deny one’s self to discover Christ’s answers.

Be careful of “worship” that doesn’t engage your brain. I am afraid that some people feel that they have worshiped just because they have an emotional experience. You say to them after they come out of church, “have you met the Lord?” And they say, “yes!” “How do you know you met the Lord?” “I feel good.”

The danger of that method of evaluating worship is that coffee can give you a similar good feeling – or music – or entertainment. People go away thinking they have worshiped God and all they have experienced is entertainment. I’m not sure you worship God until you engage your brain, until you are thinking about God’s thoughts, until you are thinking about who you really are and what you are doing with your life. Paul says in I Cor. 14:15, “I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.” Jesus said, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

I take the “spirit” part to relate to the emotions. But I think the “truth” part has to relate to the mind. It doesn’t just mean, “we do it the right way, we sing the right songs, we say the right things, we go through the right motions, therefore we have worshiped.” It means the opposite; we are not doing this as a ritual, we are thinking about what we are doing, and we are doing it intentionally as unto God. We are thinking about things on God’s level. Worship is SCHOOL!

That’s why I think Sunday School is so important. SS is not just hanging out with friends; it is engaging my brain because as a disciple I am studying my Master. AWANA is so important. AWANA is an outstanding program that engages your childrens’ minds in studying Christ. They memorize, they learn, they think, as they compete and laugh. We only have 16 or 18 years to influence our children for Christ, and then after that, we have very little influence. Sixteen or eighteen years is a very short time.

One of the interesting things to me, as a student of education for the past 45 years, is how impersonal it is becoming. My son-in-law invited his classes at Arizona State University to come to his house for a cook-out back in October. Apparently that was unusual. He told his department head that he had invited all 150 students to his house, and the response was, “that’s unprecedented.” I wonder if computerized education, where you can graduate from a college without ever meeting a teacher in person, is weakening our concept of discipleship. A disciple has to be “with” the teacher. He is not text-messaging Him, he is living with Him so he can study Him as the ultimate subject.

III. “OUT” – Discipleship is serving others. 13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach

A. A Disciple follows directions. True education contains assignments. This means that discipleship not only includes thinking and studying, but obedience. You follow the instructions of the teacher. Disciples must become servants. Those who receive must become givers. Should they remain pew-sitting disciples, they would become sponges, and soon moldy. It was only in the giving that they became better learners.

Why does God give us assignments? Because we are studying One who gave His life for us. We want to learn and become like Christ, who gave His life for us. What is the value of studying, and learning, if we don’t become like the One who gave His life for us? How do you know if someone has graduated from this school? Maybe no one graduates this side of heaven, but how do you know if someone is ready to graduate? When they want to give their life for others. When they live for others. When their thirst is to serve.

Progress is seen in homework assignments. What does the student do with your assignment? Some ridicule it. Others do it half-heartedly. But when a student does it with all their heart, you know that they are going down the road with you. Jesus made their actions and their service the test of loyalty to Him. “You will know them by their fruits” (Matt 7:20). “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21). “If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them” (John 13:17). “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). He’s not grading on their answer to a question in class; He’s grading on their answer to the question outside of class.

I had breakfast a week ago with Warren Sears and his new bride, Louise. It was almost like having breakfast with teenagers. They were sitting over there, giggling, holding hands, talking to the waiter about the Lord. Do you know what brought them together? The fact that they were both seniors in the school of discipleship. Louise said, “my desire is to minister to people and share the gospel with them, and I didn’t think there were any men my age with that same passion. And then I met Warren, and he had that same passion, and I said, ‘could God perhaps have brought him into my life to help deal with my loneliness?’” Neither of them had any interest in the other until they realized how similar each other’s heart was to Christ’s.

I wonder if God evaluates things in a similar way – by watching how we perform homework assignments.

B. A Disciple becomes an “apostle.” Luke 6:13 says, “He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles.” He chose 12 disciples out of the many disciples following Him and He named them “apostles.” Why apostle? That sounds like a pretty formal title. But that is not what it was back then. The title is simply describing their senior project. What are these guys going to be when they graduate? The word "apostle" means "one who is sent out," “one who is on a mission,” “one who has a job to do.” The word “apostle” describes a graduating disciple. It describes the goal of the course work. “What are you studying for, Peter?” “I’m getting a BA in Christology, a Bachelor of Apostleship in the study of Christ.”

This is the goal of all discipleship – to make us all missionaries. This is the great commission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations (or make disciples of all nations), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” What is the person who “goes out and makes disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to observe all things Christ commanded us?” What is that person? That person is an apostle, a sent one, sent out to reach others and meet their needs. The word, “apostle” is used to describe Jesus Christ Himself. He is the “apostle and High priest of our confession,” Hebrews says. That means He was sent out by the Father to come and meet our need by dying for us. Jesus said to His disciples, “as My Father has sent me, even so send I you.”

Missionaries are not made by distance. Getting on an airplane to go to lower Siberia does not constitute one a “missionary.” Missionaries are those who “reach out and touch others around them with the gospel.” We have missionaries in this church, not only Bob and Susie, but those of you who reach out to people in your neighborhood and office and school for the specific purpose of helping them understand the amazing gospel of Jesus Christ.

C. A Disciple ministers by voice. He sent them out to “preach.” Discipleship is learning to speak. Much of ministry is connected with speech. It is true that there are non-speaking responsibilities, but every disciple has a testimony to communicate.

People say, “this is definitely where I check out, because public speaking is not my bag.” “Besides what do you say?” The answer is that Jesus is not necessarily talking about public speaking. Here is Acts 8:35: “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” “And preached unto him Jesus.” Philip preached! And how many did he preach to in this verse? One man. Don’t picture a multitude; picture one; picture talking on the telephone. “OK” you say, “but I haven’t been to school, what do I say?” And the answer is, “you tell your story, of how Jesus came into your heart and flooded it with joy and peace and light and hope.” You just tell your story, “here’s what happened to me.” “God has changed my heart, my life, my desires.”

So those of you who have never said, “boo” to a spider web, God wants to teach you to open and use your mouth to tell others how wonderful He is. “Let the redeemed of the Lord, say so,” the Psalmist commands (107).

Do you see how the curriculum is set up at the school of discipleship? We are studying Christ to become like Him, because, like every good teacher, He wants us to replace Him on earth by reaching out to others, using our time and strength to serve them, giving up ourselves for their benefit, and speaking to them of the Grace of God.

IV. “HAVE” – Discipleship is powerful capability. 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons:

A. A Disciple possesses Jesus’ power and authority. What they went with was His very rod of power. They could free people from all kinds of ailments and demonic possession and influence. Where did they get it? It was a gift. They didn’t ask for it, they didn’t plead with Him to give it to them. They probably didn’t even think that they could ever have that kind of ability, but He GAVE it to them. And what He gave them was REAL – it was HIS OFFICIAL AUTHORITY. It wasn’t just “junior power” to practice on. It was His full ability, so that He could say to them, “He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me” (Matt. 10:40). The homework assignments they were given were not for pre-season, practice games. They were the real thing. They were in the real battle. They were throwing out real demons.

B. A Disciple is promised Jesus’ presence. Does He do the same for us? Can I say to someone today, “you obey the assignment as a disciple and you will have the power and ability you need to accomplish it fully?” How do I know that? The answer is back in the great commission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations (or make disciples of all nations), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Do you see it? It is in the word, “lo.” “Lo” is an interjection that says, “see, behold, look, surprise.” And what is there to “lo” about? “I am with you always, even unto the end of the ages.” “You go and you will find Me,” Jesus says. “You go and you will be surprised by My presence and My power.”

And to make it even clearer and more emphatic, Jesus begins the great commission by saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.” We are to go because the One sending us has ALL AUTHORITY!

The goal of discipleship is not only to make us like the teacher, but to send us out to experience the presence and power of the teacher. People say, “I want to worship until I feel Him.” Yes, but you feel His presence on the front lines as you obey. I don’t know if you have ever experienced the “go” and the “lo,” but it is phenomenal. Do you remember when the 70 disciples came back after a homework assignment in Luke 10:17? It says that they returned with joy saying (with surprise in their voices): “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” “You have given us demon-stomping ability!” Who wouldn’t enjoy that?

Twelve ordinary men, 11 of which were made extraordinary by God’s amazing ability. Four of them were fishermen, one a tax collector, one perhaps a revolutionary. The Gospels record repeated failings, misunderstandings, struggles, interpersonal conflicts with each other, doubts about who Christ was and what He was doing. And yet, when Jesus ascended into Heaven and the Holy Spirit filled them, they were ready for graduation. They were ready to replace their teacher. That didn’t mean they were perfect; it meant that they had captured His motivation for coming to earth – to serve others in desperate need. They went out and God used them to "turn the world upside down" (Acts 17:6). That is successful discipleship. They had been with Jesus, they had become like Jesus, and they became the physical expressions of Jesus on earth. That’s exactly what God wants to do with you and me.

Are you a disciple? If you have trusted Christ you are “chosen.” Are you spending time with the teacher? Are you going out to help others? Are you experiencing His presence and power “out there?” May God include us in the 12.