Hello friends, Welcome to Part 2b of our Discipleship series as we continue to ask ourselves the question: “Am I a Disciple?” but more specifically “Am I a Disciple of Jesus?”
Before I begin to unpack this week’s teaching here is a quick announcement: The next part of this series would normally come out in a week however my family and I are going on vacation all of next week. So the next part of this series will not come out until the following week.
Last week we closed with the understanding that this week we were going to look specifically at what Jesus had to say about being His disciple. Before we do that today I want to highlight a couple of key things:
In Part 1 of this series we learned that just using the word “Disciple” μαθητής (mathētēs) in scripture did not always mean a true disciple of Jesus, there was a generic use of the word that simply meant follower or pupil and that Jesus’ calling to be His disciple was a deeper meaning of the word.
In Part 2a we learned that just using the identification of “Christian” also did not necessarily mean that we are a Disciple of Jesus, that being a disciple, with the defining characteristics of being converted (Born Again), Baptized, and committed to a lifelong process of becoming Christ-like through obedience to His teaching (Matthew 28:18-20)
Today as we start Part 2b I want us to recognize that being a Believer also does not make one a Disciple: In John 8:30-31 we find this exchange: “As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.” Before we unpack this Let me give you a little context. Jesus has just in the previous passages, from verse 12 through to this passage, 18 verses, He unpacks His messiahship and that He is going to the Father. In one key passage of verse 24 Jesus tells them “For if you don’t believe that I am He (The Messiah sent from the Father) you will die in your sins.” So there is a Context here, Jesus revealing Himself as the light of the world, the Messiah and we come to verse 30-32 it says “As He spoke these things many Believed in Him. Then He said to those Jews who believed in Him: “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples “μαθητής (mathētēs)” indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
So here is the third dynamic: one can be a believer and NOT be a disciple.
Greg Laurie senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, puts it like this:
Isn’t a disciple and a believer just different descriptions of the same thing?” Not necessarily. You could say that every disciple is a believer. But you could not necessarily say that every believer is a disciple. In other words, every disciple of Jesus obviously is already a believer. But just because you are a believer doesn’t mean that you have become a disciple. There are specific challenges and requirements that are laid out in scripture as to what you must do to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
So if we understand that:
Not everyone called Disciple in Scripture is a Disciple of Jesus in the deeper understanding of the word Disciple; And
Not everyone who claims to be a “Christian” is a Disciple of Jesus; And
Not everyone who is a “believer” is a Disciple of Jesus.
Then what does it mean to BE a Disciple of Jesus? Is there some form of Litmus test that can be applied to our understanding of a Disciple of Jesus?
I think the best place to start to look at what is the Litmus test of being a Disciple of Jesus is Jesus Himself so today we are going to look at some of the key teaching of Jesus specific to His expectation of one of His disciples:
Let’s start right here where we are in John 8:30-32: “As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
The first qualifier Jesus puts on being a disciple of His is that you abide in His word: Abide: μένω (menō) remain, stay (i.e., lodge) with. Broader meaning refers to dwelling, living, or lodging. In the natural sense when this word is used it means that the person who “dwells” with another receives from that other their needs of hospitality. All the needs of the one who abides are met by the one with whom they abide: Food, protection, and shelter. This idea also implies respectful submission to the authority of the house and obedience to the instruction of the one with whom you are dwelling. This type of understanding transfers itself here to the spiritual understanding Jesus is laying out for His Disciples: Dwell within my word, receive from them all your needs submit to, and obey all of them. This statement of Jesus ties back to a previous statement Jesus made as he deepened the understanding of the word Disciple used in Matthew 8 we discussed previously where Jesus used the word ἀκολουθέω (akoloutheō) (Ah-Ko_Loo_Thao) to express the concept of following through obedience.
Jesus uses this word Abide, μένω (menō), in a very familiar passage over in the Gospel of John 15: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.”
Jesus uses this word “Abide” μένω (menō) NINE times in the first 10 verses of John 15 and there are 3 distinct contexts:
- Abide in Christ (vs 4 & 7)
- His word Abiding in us (vs 7)
- Abiding in His Love (vs 9)
Note Jesus closing verse 8 “So you will be My disciples” We further see these characteristics of a disciple of Jesus:
- Fruitfulness (vs 4 & 8) we’re going to talk about fruitfulness in Part 3 of this teaching when we ask the question “Am I a Disciple-maker”.
- Prayer and recognized answer to prayer (vs7 )
- The Father is glorified in and through your life (vs 8)
- Obedience (vs 9)
There will be Joy to the fullest in your life (vs 11) Worth noting here is that while the word translated here in vs 11 is “Remain” in the Greek it is the same work as Abide: μένω (menō) so Christ Joy is what abides in the Disciple and makes their joy full.
This Abiding is crucial because without it you cannot do what Jesus call’s His disciples to do in these next passages we are going to look at.
There are 5 passages across the synoptic gospels that happen across two separate times in Jesus Life where He says Take up your cross and follow me:
This is where we point out a Third Hermeneutic Principle. If you remember last week we discussed Two Hermeneutic principles:
- Context “Keep scripture in its context” How do the passages before and after this particular passage inform our understanding of the passage itself.
- Let scripture interpret scripture “What other scriptures inform our understanding of this particular scripture”
Today let’s add a third before we discuss what was Jesus referring to in saying “take up your cross and follow me.
- Hermeneutic principle #3: What is the Historic and Cultural Genre that the text was written in, or in this case what was the historic cultural genre that Jesus is speaking in since the literary genre here in the Gospel is narrative history.
It is easy to look at theological and practical applications of the Gospels but it is important to understand these are actually history documented in narrative form and there is a historical and cultural context when these events actually happened.
A couple of key things to point out in this theme:
Even though Jesus had not gone to the cross yet for our substitutionary atonement, there was a historical and cultural context these words were spoken in:
Roman crucifixion was a common capital punishment of the day
Culturally the Roman soldiers would make those who were going to crucifixion have to carry their own cross.
So historically when Jesus spoke these words it was understood what he meant. Those to whom He was speaking understood this was a reference to dying.
Leonard Ravenhill put it like this: “We know one thing about a man who leaves with a cross, he isn’t coming back.”
Historically and culturally they knew this too. To take up your cross meant you were never coming back. You were giving up your life.
And that is really the point Jesus is making in each of these 5 instances. Giving up your life for the sake of following Jesus: ἀκολουθέω (akoloutheō) (Ah-Ko_Loo_Thao) that is the word Jesus uses in each of these passages: Take up your cross and follow: ἀκολουθέω (akoloutheō) (Ah-Ko_Loo_Thao) Follow and obey.
And with that here is where we close with a recap: How can you tell whether your a Disciple of Jesus, and remember we already discovered that you can be a disciple in the generic sense and not be a disciple of Jesus; You can call yourself a Christian and yet still not be a Disciple; And you can be a believer and not be a Disciple of Jesus:
A disciple of Jesus is marked by these key attributes:
- They abide in His Word
- They have His Word abiding in them
- They bear fruit
- Their lives Glorify the father
- They live a life of Prayer
- They are obedient
- They willingly lay down their own life to follow Jesus
Lastly, I will add this statement: Only you can answer this question “Am I a Disciple of Jesus”. It is a question we each must weigh ourselves in light of Jesus’ teaching on what He says it takes to be a disciple.
Join us next week as we ask ourselves the question “Am I a Disciple-maker” and I will give you a little tidbit here: This characteristic of a disciple of being fruitful Jesus talked about in John 15 has to do with being a Disciple-maker.