In the current quarter's Sabbath School lessons thus far, where I sense the emphases to be are in the following:
- The immediacy with which the called follow Jesus.
- The "giving up all" and "leaving all" to follow Jesus.
- We should respond with the same immediacy and abandon to follow Jesus.
The remaining ten weeks may shift in perspective, but at this moment, it occurs to me that the emphasis of the lessons can result in a confusion between form vs. function.
Does discipleship have to follow the forms that it did with Jesus and the Twelve? Can the form change while preserving the function? If so, what was the function (or functions) of discipleship that Jesus was accomplishing with the Twelve?
Broadly speaking, I think that the primary function was for the disciples to come to know the truth about God by experiencing Him in their daily lives. By coming to know God through a close relationship, Jesus wanted the disciples' characters to become more like that of their Master. And as their characters became more like that of Christ, they would in turn become avenues through which God would become known to the world.
I think it is a mistake to take the experiences of the Twelve as the one and only model of discipleship. I would even suggest that it should not be used as a model, except in rare situations. The Twelve were unique in that Jesus picked them to be the future apostles, prophets, evangelists, and leaders to continue His mission. I believe there were many other followers of Jesus who probably would better fit the majority of us today. For example, we might look at Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Or perhaps Nicodemus. Or the healed demoniac who was sent back home.
Maybe the call to the kind of discipleship that the Twelve experienced is uncommon and rare. Maybe the call of Jesus to the great majority of people, to us, is to simply be His friends (and actually we become part of His family) and to speak well of Him in and through our daily lives.
Perhaps what happens when we spend time with Jesus as a family members and friends is that some of us do receive that special call to take on a unique mission that requires much more of us. That doesn't make those that aren't called in this way inferior and those who are called better. It's just different.
I'd like to look at some of the first disciples: James, John, Peter, Andrew, Philip, and Nathanael. When we read the gospel accounts superficially, their call to discipleship seems quite abrupt and sudden, and their responses equally sudden. However, when we dig deeper, we discover details that help reveal a different picture.
Nathanael was a native of Cana. Cana and Nazareth were twin villages, close together. It wouldn't be too surprising if Nathanael already had some acquaintance with Jesus since their early years.
James and John, the sons of Zebedee, may have been relatives of Jesus, perhaps as close as cousins or nephews (see reference below). If that is the case, then they would certainly have known of Jesus for a considerable number of years prior to their calls.
Peter and Andrew, from what we read in the gospels, it appears that they were fishing buddies of the Zebedee family. So it is quite likely that they too, were already quite well acquainted with Jesus.
What I'm trying to point out is that it appears that these "first calls" occurred in the context of an already existing, long-term relationship of family and friends. When I look at the calls this way, it sheds a whole different light into how Jesus calls people.
It is also important to keep in mind that when individual members (or even brothers) in a family left to follow Jesus, the extended family continued to support and provide for those that were left. If, as the Encyclopedia entry below notes, Zebedee was quite wealthy, then it was no financial hardship to James, John, and their families for them to take off with Jesus.
The point of all this is that when we study discipleship and try to understand what it means for us today, we should be careful to separate the forms from the functions. The functions remain the same, but forms can, do, and should change. I just wish that the official study guide made this more clear.
Title: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edition: First
Copyright: Electronic Edition STEP Files Copyright © 1998, Parsons Technology, Inc.
That Zebedee was a man of considerable wealth may be inferred from the fact that he had “hired servants” with him (Mk 1:20), and that his wife was one of those women who ministered of their substance to Jesus and His disciples (Mt 27:55, 56). Comparison of the latter passage with Mk 15:40, 41 identifies the wife of Zebedee, John’s mother, with Salome, and it seems a fair inference from Jn 19:25, though all do not accept it, that Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Salome, the wife of Zebedee, were sisters.
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