Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DISCIPLE

A follower, pupil, or adherent of a teacher or religious leader. Jewish and Greco-Roman history and literature provide examples of respected figures who gather disciples in order to teach and lead them. In the NT Gk. mathētḗs is used most often of followers of Jesus, although it is also used to describe followers of other figures (e.g., disciples “of John,” Mark 2:18; or “of Moses,” John 9:28). A general distinction between Jesus’ disciples and “the crowds” may be observed, with the former as committed followers and the latter as onlookers not seriously attached to him. Yet even some of those in the larger group of “disciples” turn away from Jesus and go back to their former lives when they find his teaching difficult to accept (John 6:60, 66).

Three concentric circles of disciples may be identified in the Gospels: a large group of followers, from which the Twelve are chosen (Luke 6:13, 17; cf. Matt. 8:21) and which apparently included some women (Luke 8:1-3); “The Twelve,” who were designated as “apostles” and were especially called by Jesus to travel with him and learn (Mark 3:16-19); and an inner circle of Peter, James, and John, who alone accompany Jesus on certain key occasions (e.g., the transfiguration [Mark 9:2-13] and the garden of Gethsemane [Matt. 26:36-46]).

The names of the Twelve are listed in the NT in four passages (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-19; Luke 6:13-16; Acts 1:13 [Judas Iscariot is not named in this text]). They are: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew (or Levi), James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus (probably the same person referred to in some lists as Judas the son of James), Simon the zealot (also called Simon the Cananean), and Judas Iscariot (the betrayer).

Luke indicates that in the early Church the term “disciple” came to refer to the growing band of believers in Jesus, i.e., to Christians (e.g., Acts 6:7; 9:26; 14:21-22; cf. 11:26). A similar notion of an expanding circle of disciples is suggested by the “Great Commission” (Matt. 28:18-20), in which the risen Jesus commands his closest followers to “make disciples” of people from all national/ethnic groups.

The life of Christian discipleship as presented in the NT calls for supreme devotion to Jesus through the acceptance of his lofty demands. Commitment to him must come before all other attachments (Luke 9:57-62; 14:25-33). Nevertheless, a dimension of Christian discipleship that is sometimes overlooked is the promise of joy and ultimate benefits for those who take up the cross to follow Jesus (Luke 14:12-14; 18:29-30).

Bibliography. R. N. Longenecker, ed., Patterns of Discipleship in the New Testament (Grand Rapids, 1996); M. J. Wilkins, The Concept of Disciple in Matthew’s Gospel. NovTSup 59 (Leiden, 1988).

Peter K. Nelson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

DISCIPLE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)