Many people are familiar with Jesus as a great public teacher who spoke to multitudes and worked many miracles. Yet it was what happened away from the crowds that was so important in the ministry and purpose of Jesus. Jesus was very intentional in focussing His time and energy on developing a small group of true followers who would carry on His work and become the foundation of a world changing movement. Over a period of three years Jesus constantly taught and corrected them and shaped their thinking, their attitudes, the way they perceived themselves and how they should act and react in different circumstances.
The great growth of the first century church was a result of the coming of the Holy Spirit on the high-quality disciples that Jesus had worked so patiently to produce. If we want to see strong Christians and churches in our world, we must also make it our priority to find and form committed disciples of Jesus. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said ‘Christianity without discipleship is always Christianity without Christ’. Real Christianity is so different from just going to church. Instead every Christian must be trained to faithfully follow Jesus in every area of our Christian faith and in every part of everyday living. And in turn every trained disciple has the potential to train others to train others in an ever-increasing circle of influence in every nation and generation.
In John 1:35-51 where Jesus chose the first of His team of 12 disciples, we see some important lessons about choosing disciples who have the potential to change the world.
1. Jesus chose disciples who understood who He was (John 1:36-37,41,45,49)
2. Jesus called disciples who wanted to be with Him (John 1:38-39; John 1:11-13)
3. Jesus called disciples who were willing to share the good news (John 1:41; 44-46)
4. Jesus called disciples who decided to follow and be formed by Him (John 1:43,50-51)
Apply
Have you personally had a revelation of who Jesus is? The disciples were so excited about discovering Jesus (John 1:36-37,41,45,49). Each of these disciples came to have their own revelation of who Jesus really was. They perceived that He was the sacrificial lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world. They understood that Jesus was not just a religious teacher or miracle worker but the promised Messiah, the King of Israel and saviour of all. To grow as disciples, we too must also begin with a revelation of who Jesus really is. We need to understand who Jesus is for ourselves. It is not enough for us to hear about Jesus, we need to know Him in a personal way. It’s not enough to grow up in church or even to know the teachings of the Bible - every disciple needs to have that revelation for themselves. There are many ways that we can come to this revelation of Jesus. Sometimes it is through pain or trouble which causes us to seek God. Or it may be through contact with a Christian friend or that we get this revelation just through reading part of the Bible like this book of John. What is so important though is that we come to see who Jesus really is.
Do you sincerely want to spend time with Jesus? And do you want to be trained as a disciple? Jesus began to develop a relationship with His future disciples when He saw that they were sincere and serious about being with Him (John 1:38-39). He asked them what they wanted and when He saw that they wanted to spend time with Him to learn more, He made time for them. Jesus will never barge His way into your life, but He offers us the opportunity to come to Him and when we do, He will respond to us (John 1:11-13). We show our desire to know God when we seriously read the Bible to know more about Him and take time to pray to Him. And when we seek Him like this, we will always find Him. For He always responds to the responsive. Also if we want to be developed and trained as disciples we must want to be with proven Christian leaders. We must show that we want to spend time with them. We must tell them that we are ready to listen and to learn.
Have you shared the good news of Jesus with others? Do you do this regularly, as part of your daily lifestyle? It is interesting to see that Jesus didn’t recruit His team of 12 all on His own. The group grew as some disciples brought others to meet with Him. First we see that Peter, who was the spokesman for the disciples on the day of Pentecost, was introduced to Jesus by his brother Andrew (John 1:41). Then we read how Nathanael became a disciple through his link with Philip (John 1:44-46). Here we see how two disciples brought two more disciples into the group. And this is usually the way people come to Christ: through a family member or friend sharing what they have discovered with others and telling them to come and find out for themselves. Discipleship development is always outgoing not inward looking. Our calling is to share the good news of Jesus with others. Our small cell groups will grow when we all play our part to bring others to Jesus and to the church. The phrase 'where there is team there is conquest' shows that it’s not all down to one person, we need to work together unitedly.
Have you decided to follow Jesus and be formed by Him? In John 1:43 Jesus said ‘follow me’. This was an instruction, not a request. For the disciples to grow they needed to change from going their own way and doing their own thing. They needed to make a decision to follow Jesus. We have to each decide whether we are going to seriously follow Jesus or just live our lives our own way. Being a disciple of Jesus is not about Him going with you, it’s about you going with Him. Have you made this decision? Have you said in the words of the old song: ‘I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back'? From the moment we decide to follow Jesus, a whole new world opens up to us. Nathanael was amazed that Jesus had spotted him sitting under a fig tree even when he had no previous contact with Jesus. But Jesus told him 'You will see greater things than that' (John 1:50-51). Today everything can change for you when you decide that you will fully commit your life to Jesus and to be trained as His disciple.
