06.25.09
The Disciples of Jesus
Bible stories and Christian movies of the life of Jesus have greatly influenced the image we see when we read the word “disciple”. We often incorrectly assume these words “His disciples” and “the disciples” to mean only the 12 whom Jesus chose and called apostles (Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot.)
Yet, many times when these words are used they DO NOT mean just these 12 but include ALL who followed Him throughout His 3 years of ministry.
We know that not only did these disciples follow Jesus but multitudes also followed Him.
Matt 4:25 Large crowds followed Him from Galilee and the Decapolis and Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond the Jordan.
Jesus said of these multitudes in Matt 9:36 that they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd. In verses 37-38 Jesus tells His disciples the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few and to beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest.
Just WHO are these disciples to whom Jesus spoke? Was it only the 12 or was it spoken to ALL who followed Him as His disciples?
There is no mention of the 12 disciples as a separate group in the gospel of Matthew until Matthew 10: 1-3 where Jesus summoned them and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.
Jesus sent the 12 as workers into the fields which were ripe for harvest. Yet, these 12 were NOT alone in being sent by Jesus to perform this great work. In Luke 10:1 we read of 70 disciples Jesus sent out by twos in the same authority He had given to the 12. We know the 70 appointed ones possessed the same authority as the 12 from verse 17 where they return and say, ” Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
Jesus sent out not only the 12 but he also appointed and sent out the 70. Those whom scripture calls Jesus’ disciples and were appointed and sent by Jesus was not limited to the 12.
In Matthew 5:1 we find the first use of the word disciple in the gospel of Matthew.
Matt 5:1 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John would almost certainly be among those who came to Jesus on the mountain. We read of their call as “fishers of men” in Matthew 4:22-23 and Mark 1:16-20. But this group of people called His disciples were not just made up of the 12 – they had to consist of all those who followed Jesus because the 12 had not yet been chosen from the midst of all His disciples.
The 12 were chosen from out of those who followed Him – they were taken from the midst of the many disciples who followed Jesus.
Mark 3:13-15 And He went up on the mountain and summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach,15 and to have authority to cast out the demons.
Luke 6:12-13 It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. 13 And when day came, He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as apostles:
After praying all night on the mountain Jesus summoned all His disciples to Himself and chose from their midst 12 whom He also named as apostles.
We need to broaden our understanding of whom the word disciples refers. We need to cease to limit this word to referring to the 12 and see the bigger picture which includes all who followed Jesus as His disciples.
In Matthew 8:21 we have an unnamed disciple of Jesus who after Jesus gave orders to depart to the other side asked to first bury his father before getting into the boat to continue to follow Jesus as His disciple.
Clearly Jesus had other disciples who followed Him – those who followed Him and He expected to go with Him to the other side did not just consist of the 12.
Matt 8:23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.
Mark 4:36 tells us that “other boats were with Him.”
Again Bible stories and movies of the life of Jesus have caused us to incorrectly see just one boat which contains Jesus and the12 disciples. There were other boats filled with His disciples who obeyed Jesus’ orders to go to the other side.
(The gender specific words when used of His disciples in these verses is actually a gender neutral word meaning “human being, whether male or female”.)
We also do not know who was in the boat with Jesus – these disciples are unnamed – they could be the 12 – we read of Jesus appointing them to be with Him in Mark 3:13-19 and Luke 6:13-16 – but no one knows for certain the specific disciples who were with Jesus in His boat.
Mark 2: 15-16, Mark 3:7, 9 also speak of disciples who were with Jesus before the 12 were chosen from their midst.
Mark 2:15 And it happened that He was reclining at the table in his house, and many tax collectors and sinners were dining with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many of them, and they were following Him.
It is hard to distinguish in this verse just “who” the many were who followed Jesus. Is it the tax collectors and sinners or does it refer to many who followed Jesus as His disciples. After reading many different Bible translations and commentaries I don’t believe any of us can know for absolutely certain to whom this refers. We know only for certain that multitudes followed Him and many disciples also followed Him.
I personally agree with the Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible that these words are speaking of the many disciples who had left everything and followed Jesus.
In Mark 4:10, 34 we again see that more than the 12 followed Jesus and these followers are called His disciples.
Mark 4:10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables.
Mark 4:34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
Those who followed Jesus and the twelve asked Him to explain the parables to them. Verse 34 tells us that these to whom he explained everything were His own disciples.
Matt 13:10-12 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?” 11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.
Matt 13:16 “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.
To His disciples was granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus said, “Whoever (gender neutral) has been granted to know these mysteries even more shall be given, in fact they will have an abundance.” (the gender specific words of he and him are added words by the translators and do not exist in the original text.) Jesus said His disciples eyes and ears were blessed because they had been given the privilege to see and to hear.
Let’s look at Matt 14 and the feeding of the 5000 plus the women and children by the disciples. If the 12 alone did this task as is depicted in Bible stories and movies of Jesus’ life this task of dispersing the food and then collecting the remains would have taken a HUGE amount of time. (As one who has waitressed in her past I find it mind boggling to imagine the amount of time it would have taken 12 to complete this task.)
It was already evening, the hour was already late, when the disciples came to Jesus with their petition to send the crowd away to go buy food – the amount of time it would have taken the 12 by themselves to complete this task did not exist.
I do not believe it was just the 12 who dispersed and collected the food that day. The many disciples who followed Jesus labored together in this work.
We must change the image we create when we read the words “the disciples” or “His disciples” to correctly interpret the Word of God. We must cease to see these words as only applying to the 12 who were called into close association with Him.
In John 6 when Jesus speaks that He is the bread of life and unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves MANY of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” and as a result MANY of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore.
Even when these many disciples withdrew from following Him there were still other disciples along with the 12 who continued to follow and walk with Him.
We clearly see from scripture itself that the 12 were not alone in following and walking with Jesus. Many had followed and walked with Him as His disciples.
We must no longer allow Children’s Bible stories and movies on the life of Jesus to pervert the image we see when we read the word “disciple”. We must allow this image to expand to include all who followed and walked with Him as His disciples.
Again, who followed Jesus? The multitudes and His disciples followed Him. These disciples who followed Him included not only men, women also followed Him as His disciple.
Jesus did not limit or restrict who could be His disciple by gender – all were welcome to follow Him and be His disciple.
The word “disciple” means to be a follower of a teacher. I think the fact that the word disciple is usually seen as portraying the male gender has caused women and their contribution to the ministry of Jesus to be overlooked.
Jesus’ disciples were those who sat to listen to his teaching and who followed him as He traveled from city to city.
Mary of Bethany chose the place of a disciple – sitting at his feet to listen and learn from Him – and was not rebuked nor was she removed for doing so.
Matt 27:55-56 Many women were there looking on from a distance, who had followed Jesus from Galilee while ministering to Him. 56 Among them was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Mark 15:40-41 There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome. 41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.
Mary Magdalene called Jesus Rabboni – Teacher – which named her as His disciple. She and many other women went with Him as He traveled from Galilee to Jerusalem as His disciples. These women disciples not only followed Him, they also minister to Him on the way.
Luke 8:1-3 Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses: Mary who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 3 and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who were contributing to their support out of their private means.
The 12, some women who Jesus had healed of evil spirits, and many others were with Jesus as He went for one city and village to another proclaiming the kingdom of God. These women and many others were with Him and they were contributing support out of their private means.
The Greek word translated here as “ministering” in Matt 27:55, Mark 15:41, and “contributing support” in Luke 8:3 is “diakoneō” and one of its many meanings is “who administer the office of a deacon and in Christian churches to serve as deacons.”
These women and many others served the ministry of Jesus in the very way that later became the service performed by those in the office of deacon. Jesus did not exclude women from this position – neither should the New Testament church !!!
Luke 23:49 And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.
The scripture is clear – women accompanied Him – women followed and walked with Him as one of His disciples.
Matt 12:49-50 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 “For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus through action and word says in Matt 12:49-50 that His disciples are those who do the will of His Father who is in heaven and those who are His disciples have become His family – mother, brother and sisters.
What powerful words Jesus spoke to a society that did not value women. Jesus’ words lifted women to an equal position as His disciple if they did the will of the Father. Jesus’ words lifted women to an equal membership in the family of God.
In Matt 7:21 Jesus said “Not everyone (gender neutral) who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he (added word) who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.”
Being Jesus’ disciple and entering the kingdom of heaven was not based upon gender – it was based on doing the will of the Father !!!
Matt 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Jesus expects ALL who hear His words to act on them. He did not limit those who could hear and then act upon His word to the male gender alone. Jesus said everyone who hears and acts is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Hearing and acting of the word was not limited to the men alone while Jesus was on earth, neither is it limited to men alone after His resurrection and ascension.
Paul said in Acts 13: 31-32 that all those who had come down with Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem were His witnesses and these preach the good news. As seen in Matt 27:55-56, Mark 15:40-41, and Luke 23:49 women were among those had accompanied Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem.
Jesus expects His disciples – men and women – to hear and act upon His Word. These actions include going forth as His witnesses preaching the good news of the gospel.
John 8:31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
Discipleship was not limited to men alone while Jesus was on the earth, neither is it limited to men alone after His resurrection and ascension. Discipleship was not based on gender, it was based on continuing in His word.
We must no longer allow Children’s Bible stories and movies on the life of Jesus to pervert the image we see when we read the word “disciple”. We must allow this image to expand to include all the men and women who followed and walked with Him as His disciples.
These women disciples are part of the “whoever” in Matt 13:10-12 Jesus said had been granted to know the mysteries of God. They are part of those who would be given even more revelation knowledge, in fact all His disciples – men and women – will have an abundance of revelation knowledge.”
Women were known as members of Jesus’ disciples while He was on the earth. Women continued to be known as His disciples in the New Testament Church.
Act 9:1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, Act 9:2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, both men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
Act 9:36 Now in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (which translated in Greek is called Dorcas); this woman was abounding with deeds of kindness and charity which she continually did.
We see Saul breathing threats and murder against the disciples of Jesus who belonged to the Way – these disciples included men and women.
We see in the city of Joppa a woman disciple named Tabitha/Dorcas.
When we read the word “disciple” we must cease to see only the 12 and we must cease to see only those who are of male gender. Many followed and walked with Jesus as His disciples – this many included both men and women.
Men and women are still serving Jesus as His disciples in the earth today.
Expand and broaden the image you see as you read this word.
