Discipleship is a concept which involves several interconnected ideas. In the ancient Greek world, one became a disciple when one willingly surrendered to a master in order to acquire practical and theoretical knowledge. In the ancient Greek philosophical schools such as the Pythagoreans and Neo-Pythagoreans, there were clearly defined master-pupil relationships in which disciples grew and developed. The disciples bound themselves personally to their masters and looked for objective teaching, with the aim of becoming masters in the future.

In the New Testament, discipleship has to do mainly with the followers of Jesus and describes the life of faith in Christ. Related to discipleship is the Greek word akolouthe? (follow), which denotes the action of a person, answering the call of Jesus in living a life of obedience to him (Matt. 4:19-22; 8:18-22; 9:9; Mk. 1:16-20; Lk. 6:27; Jn. 1:43). A disciple (Gk. math?t?s)  is one who has heard the call of Jesus and joins him to learn of him and from him (Matt 4:18-25). The Greek word mineomai (imitate) emphasizes the emulation of a particular behaviour and attitude of Jesus (Jn. 13:34-35; 15:9-11). Discipleship is thus a call one must respond to for the redirection of one’s life as one patterns his or her life after Jesus in obedience.   

Discipleship is anchored in a higher allegiance to Jesus. That is, Jesus must be comparatively first in one’s life. Family relations even though are important,  one’s relationship with Jesus must be above that of family. This means that even though one does not see Jesus physically, one must consider him as part of one’s family, and one’s allegiance to him must be higher – above that of one’s father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters (Lk. 14:26). This, however, does not mean that one should disrespect and disregard family directives and issues. One’s family relationship must not be totally sacrificed because one has become a disciple of Jesus.

Being a disciple means carrying one’s cross and following Jesus (Lk. 14:27).  Whoever decides to follow Jesus will experience suffering in various forms including death. The total surrender of one’s self to God is the power that enables one to go through suffering without complaint. A disciple cannot expect any better fortune than that of Jesus (Matt. 10:34-39; Mk. 8:31-37). A disciple of Jesus must know that there is a cost of being with Jesus and learning of him. Counting the cost of being a disciple means that one may face loss of social status or wealth; one may have to give up control of one’s money, time or career. (Lk. 14:28).

Jesus’ call to people to become his disciples is not only found in the Synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke. In the Gospel of John, math?t?s (disciple) denotes those who have come out of the sphere of darkness into the sphere of light (Jn. 3:21; cf. Jn. 13-17). A disciple therefore, walks in the Light, that is, in Jesus himself, in whom there is no darkness (Jn. 8:12). Walking in the light means following Christ. As a soldier follows his captain, so should the disciple follow Christ. As a slave follows his master, so should the disciple follow Christ, the Lord. As a counselee follows the advice of a trusted counselor, so should the disciple follow the commands of Jesus Christ in Scripture. Following Jesus in a general sense means believing in him, and accepting him (Jn. 1:10-13); it means having faith in him and accepting his leadership as the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:4, 14, 27). 

The call to become a disciple of Jesus involves the invitation to serve. In Mark 1:17 and Luke 5:10, Jesus calls people to follow him in order to be made disciples.  That is, the disciples are to win souls for the kingdom of God by preaching the gospel in the name of Jesus (Matt. 16:15ff). When he sent out the Twelve (Mk. 6:7-13) and the Seventy (Lk 10:1-13), they were to go out in pairs to bring healing, salvation and peace, whilst proclaiming the kingdom of God. Thus, during the earthly ministry of Jesus, he sent out the disciples for service of one kind or another. This service led the disciples to the same dangers to which their master was exposed (cf. Mk. 10:32). Jesus went before them in suffering; the disciple can expect no better experience than his Lord (Matt. 10:24; 16:24; cf. 10:38).

Jesus’ call to follow him and learn of him and from him is restricted to the gospels. However, in the epistles, the call to follow Jesus is expressed by Paul with the concepts of being “in Christ” (Eph. 1:1-11) and “imitating” Christ (Phil. 2:5-11). A disciple of Jesus is one who is “in Christ”. This means identifying with Christ (Gal. 2:20-21) and imitating him (1Cor. 11:1); that is, a disciple must allow Christ to be formed in him or her (Gal. 4:19) so that he or she could be like Christ.

Jesus’ call to discipleship as presented in the New Testament, calls for supreme devotion to Jesus through the acceptance of his great demands. Commitment to him must come before all other attachments (Lk. 9:57-62; 14: 25-33). His call to discipleship is still ongoing. He calls people to come to him and follow him (Matt. 4:19-20) and to learn of him (Matt. 11:28-30) so that they will be transformed to make a positive impact on people and society (Jn. 20:21-22). Jesus also empowers his disciples to make other people his disciples (Matt. 28: 18-20).

References

Kittel, G., G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich.  Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand

Rapids, MI: Eerdmans. 1964.

Müller, D. “Disciple” in Colin Brown Gen ed., The International Dictionary of New Testament

Theology, Vol. 1, trans and rev. Grands Rapid, MI: Zondervan. 1986.

Nelson, K. P., “Disciple” in David N. Freedman, ed., Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible. Grand

Rapids, MI/Cambridge, UK: Eerdmans. 2000.

Vine, W. E. “Disciple” in W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, William White, Jr. Vine’s Complete

Expository Dictionary of the Old and New Testament Words Nashville/Atlanta/London/Vancouver: Thomas Nelson. 1996.

Winter, R. D. The Word Study Concordance. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. 1976.