Christians, Jesus, Jews, Rabbis and discipleship

The word “Christian” is used only twice in Scripture, while the word “disciple” is used 270 times. The ultimate function of Christian ministry is not to make “Christians” or even “believers.” It is to make disciples.  A believer has placed their faith in Christ, but hasn’t gone much farther than that initial decision to believe in Him, either because the resources weren’t offered or available, or because they are not interested. A disciple is not satisfied with just being a believer - they want to go to another level in their relationship with God.  A disciple says I want more - more of God, more of His service, more of His kingdom.

Discipleship in Greece traces much of its roots to the great thinker Socrates. Socrates didn’t actually write anything. Thus, what we know of him is only through his disciples. His disciple, Plato, founded The Academy, which is the model for our universities today. Plato’s idea was to bring disciples to him and teach ideas and knowledge separated from actual life. This kind of discipleship did not require that a person act upon what they believed. It glorified the intellect.  It is a follower who would know what the teacher knows, a disciple that could learn how to think. Thus, in our culture, schooling is primarily about head knowledge. This is why, by the first century, we see that all of the Greek disciples did nothing but discuss different ideas.

We are not sure where Jewish discipleship finds its roots, but a typical rabbi would engage more than his disciples’ minds. Discipleship meant using all of the feelings and all of the intellect and all of the will. This meant that rabbis taught a disciple how to feel, think, and act. However, whereas the Greek teacher used primarily discussion for his method of teaching, the Jewish rabbi used much more.  After your initial schooling till your early teenage years, when you became a disciple, classroom learning was finished.  You still learnt but it had to be done out in the world.  Rabbis moved from place to place all the time and taught the disciples along the road, as they saw things or raised questions.

Originally the word talmid (disciple) was applied to a student of music. This, of course, confirms to us that the disciple was not merely a repository for knowledge, for music is enjoyed only when it is performed, translating the theory into enjoyable sound through the discipline of practice. A disciple, then, is both a learner and a doer.   Discipleship as learning is also confirmed in the Greek term for disciple that appears in the Apostolic Scriptures. Mathetes means “learner,” “pupil,” or “disciple.” It is the root for the word “mathematics,” which everyone understands as a discipline that requires study and application. Neither mathematics nor discipleship is mastered without rigorous discipline.

"Follow a rabbi, drink in his words, and be covered with the dust of his feet," says the ancient Jewish proverb.  Disciples followed so closely that they would be covered with the dust kicked up by the rabbi's feet.  Your devotion would be indicated by being covered with "the dust of the rabbi".  The first, overriding concern is doing what the rabbi teaches. To love, no matter what. To serve, no matter who. To speak the truth, no matter the cost. Jesus Himself was very clear about this: take up your cross (saying this at a time when that wasn't necessarily going to be a metaphor). Do we value anything above our devotion to Jesus and His way? Then we are not disciples, we are only believers.  Discipleship begins one day with a decision and never ends.

Jesus did not wait for the best of the best to come to Him to ask to be His disciples, but instead He chose people who weren’t good enough for other rabbis, and used them to change the world.  He believed in them and He believes in us today. 
In the time of Messiah, discipleship was expressed in the teacher-student relationship. The dynamic exchange of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom that this relationship produced was and remains the essence of discipleship. Disciples loved their rabbis.  The rabbi became like a father. In fact he was more than a father and was to be honoured above the disciple’s own father, as the Mishnah indicates: 

Yeshua emphasized the fact that the discipline of Christian discipleship is demanding and rigorous: “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple…Whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:27, 14:33).  There are accounts such as in Jn 6 where disciples leave Jesus and turn back, or the rich young man who walks away sad.  Jesus doesn’t go after them and explain the metaphors in His teaching or water down His words.  He lets them go.  He knew what was up ahead for those who would follow him and build His kingdom and He needed the die-hards to do it.  Today we are so often concerned with “getting people saved”  that we water down the gospel and there are many people who have “said the sinners prayer” who have no idea what a disciple is and no idea of the kingdom they signed on to build.

Mimetes, the Greek word for follower, means to “imitate.” Herein is the essence of the Christian life: To be “Messiah-like” is to imitate the life of Yeshua, keeping His commandments. When Yeshua instructed His disciples to “follow” Him, He was asking them to commit themselves to a life of imitation in which they would mime the Master’s actions.  This is the reward of intense observation, of insightful analysis, of unending rumination, of practical demonstration. Christian disciples faithfully replicate the life of the Messiah, their Master, as they follow in His footsteps.

The first and foremost purpose of every disciple must be to study God’s Word. The study, however, must be with a view toward doing God’s Word.  As they studied what God had already communicated to His servants, they received additional insights into His will and purposes for their own time and were thereby empowered to accomplish God’s designs for their lives and communities.   The Jewish people have long believed that study is the highest form of worship. The words for worship both in Hebrew (segad) and Greek (proskunéo) mean to “prostate oneself in the presence of the Deity.” The ultimate form of prostration before God—submission to His will—is demonstrated in the study of the Scriptures with a view toward doing what God has said. Study of God’s Word, particularly of the Torah, then, is a form of worship or submission to God.  Abraham Joshua Heschel encapsulated this Jewish approach to study by saying that while the Greeks study in order to understand, the Hebrews study in order to revere.

The Jews had a love for the text that we have lost.  They memorised the Scriptures, debated them, and spent a lot of time discerning and discussing the best way to follow the Scriptures.

The Hebrew word “lamad” means both learning and teaching.  Learning and study takes discipline.  Learning becomes teaching through the actions modelled by the teacher who has internalised what they have learnt, as well as through their words or wisdom and challenge.  Learning, therefore, has always been sacred to the Hebrew people. The progression from knowledge to understanding to wisdom has been the quest of prophets and sages, of apostles and teachers, of men and women of God from time immemorial. The passion to know with a view toward doing is central to Jewish individual and corporate identity.

At the age of 30 a talmid’s rabbi gave him authority to make his own talmidim. There were many talmidim that were never given authority as rabbis. Because in giving your authority to a talmid, you were holding yourself responsible for their life and teaching. If a talmid makes a poor rabbi, it reflects upon the instruction of his rabbi.  Again, this is where Yeshua does something radically different from his cultural norms. How well did Yeshua’s talmidim perform as followers? Consistently, we see his talmidim being dense, scornful, petty, and ultimately deserting.  Ultimately, one of His inner talmidim, Judas, was the one who had turned Him in to the authorities.  After His resurrection, just before he ascends back to heaven, Yeshua commissions his faithless talmidim to carry on where He left off. He gave His authority to his talmidim. To the world, they were unfit talmidim. But Yeshua saw them differently. It wasn’t because they were going to remain perfectly faithful after this either. It was because Yeshua forgave them and knew that it would not be in their own strength that they would continue. He promised them the Spirit would come and empower them.

Yeshua tells His talmidim that in order to make more talmidim, they must teach these new converts to obey everything that Yeshua had taught them. This does not mean that the new talmid can only hear a five minute presentation of the Gospel and then they never need to learn anything again. Yeshua spent three years living with His talmidim day and night.  Moreover, it is not merely teaching them information.   We cannot merely be comfortable teaching someone else the good news, we have to be the good news. More than that, though, it requires time.   Looking at what this command really entails helps us to understand why we cannot make thousands of talmidim. Making a talmid takes time and effort, and it requires a strong relationship between the mentor and talmidim. This means that no matter how much a person has been called to preach the good news to crowds, time must be taken to make talmidim with a small group (or maybe even just one person).
Making talmidim is a very daunting task. Therefore, Yeshua concludes by reminding them that He will be with us always to the end of the age. We do not need to worry about not living up to the job. More importantly, the same Spirit that helps us to make talmidim, works at the other end. The receiving person is not really changed by how we train them. It is only through the Spirit that they are convicted and change. This is very relieving for us.

It is easy for Christians to stop at believing and think that is enough.  Or they become students and gain a lot of knowledge about God, but it is not lived out.  Knowledge is often substituted for relationship.  It is the same with service.  We can do much for God but still not be imitating God.  We need to learn again what it means to be a disciple in the context that Jesus taught, firstly for ourselves and then for those we lead.  Jesus calls His disciples to build His kingdom, which is much more than just following His commands when we feel like it.  We cannot fall into the trap of merely making believers, students or servants.  We are called to make disciples, and together to build the kingdom.