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DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST
Question: How many times are the words “Christian” or “Christians” found in the New Testament?
Answer: Only 3 (Acts 11:26; 26:28; 1 Peter 4:16).
Question: How many times are the words “disciple” or “disciples” found in the New Testament?
Answer: Almost 300!
Do you consider yourself a disciple?
• Every true Christian is a DISCIPLE of Jesus Christ.
The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch (Acts 11:26).
“Disciple” was the original name for all those who accepted Jesus as the Christ (not just the Twelve). “Christian” was a name invented by nonbelievers (Acts 11:26). Believers didn’t start calling themselves “Christians” until the second century.
The other two occurrences of “Christian” in the NT also suggest that it was nonbelievers who popularized this name: “Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?’” (Acts 26:28); “If you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name” (1 Peter 4:16).
“Christian” means “Christ follower.” The people of Antioch may have said, “Look at those strange people who follow that man Jesus. Wasn’t he crucified? And they still believe he is the Christ? That’s ridiculous! Let’s start calling them Christians.”
The earliest recorded use of “Christian” outside the NT is by Tacitus when he wrote that Nero blamed the “Christians” for the Great Fire of Rome in A.D. 64. Nero picked the “Christians” as his scapegoat because they were an easy target.
• A disciple’s primary duty is to IMITATE Jesus.
“A student [disciple] is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).
Jesus didn’t tell His disciples, “Do as I say, not as I do.” He said, “Do as I do. Be like Me. Let’s play Follow the Leader. Whatever I do, you copy.”
Someone has said, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” You may not totally agree with that statement, but you can’t deny that the hypocrisy of professing Christians discourages many people from embracing the Christian faith. Jesus asked, “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).
FOLLOWING OUR LEADER
What did Jesus say about discipleship? (This week I read the Gospel of Luke and took note of everything Jesus said about discipleship.)
1. A disciple is TOTALLY committed to doing God’s will.
And [Jesus] said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life” (Luke 9:22).
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done” (Luke 22:42).
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).
Many people think that Christianity is merely a guaranteed ticket to heaven. “I’ll say a prayer, get my ticket to heaven, and that’s it.” But the word “follow” in the original Greek is in the present tense. Jesus was saying, “Keep on following Me.”
What does it mean to “take up [our] cross”? Leon Morris writes, “We minimize the force of this with sayings like “We all have our cross to bear. Jesus was not talking about minor discomforts. Those who heard him utter these words knew what taking up a cross meant; they knew that it was the prelude to that person’s crucifixion. Jesus was speaking about a death to a whole way of life; he was talking about the utmost in self-sacrifice, a very death to selfishness and all forms of self-seeking.” (The Gospel according to Matthew, p. 431)
To “take up your cross” means to be so committed to doing God’s will that you would be willing to die for Him. For the first disciples, choosing to follow Christ meant opposition from the world. The book of Acts tells us that believers were arrested and imprisoned (8:3); Stephen was stoned to death (7:57-60) ; and James was beheaded (12:2).
“[The Sanhedrin] called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ” (Acts 5:41-42).
If it were dangerous for us to be publicly known as a follower of Christ, how many of us would be here this morning?
2. A disciple lives by a different set of VALUES.
a. COMPASSION
Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man [covered with leprosy] (Luke 5:12).
When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry” (Luke 7:13).
Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Luke 15:1-2; cf. 5:29-30; 7:34; 19:7).
Jesus offended the Pharisees because He showed compassion to the outcasts of Jewish society: lepers, tax collectors, and sinners. What if Jesus had come to our generation? What if He befriended people with AIDS, drug dealers, and prostitutes? Would we not be offended by Him?
b. SERVICE
A dispute arose among [the disciples] as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:24-27; cf. 9:46-48).
c. FORGIVENESS
Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).
“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us” (Luke 11:4).
“If [your brother] sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:4; cf. 6:37).
3. A disciple should not expect an EASY journey.
Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate [love less than Christ] his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:25-33).
Jesus isn’t like a sneaky salesman who wants to get you to sign on the dotted line before you notice the fine print.
Many who begin the journey eventually give up. Jesus taught this in the parable of the sower: “Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature” (Luke 8:13-14). Judas, one of the Twelve, “became a traitor” (Luke 6:16).
IS IT WORTH IT?
Peter said to [Jesus], “We have left all we had to follow you!”
“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life” (Luke 18:28-30).
When Jesus called Peter, James, and John to be His disciples, “They pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him” (Luke 5:11; cf. 5:27-28).
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” (Luke 9:24-25).
Discipleship: Sacrificing what is TEMPORARY and gaining what is ETERNAL.
Resources Used:
• Darrell L. Bock, Luke (NIVAC)
• Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (NICNT)
• Joel B. Green, Scot McKnight, I. Howard Marshall, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels
