Disciple

Disciples were students who followed the instructions and examples of their teachers. Discipleship was more like being an apprentice than a student in a classroom.  Luke 6:40

When Jesus said, “Follow me,” he was calling people to become his disciples. This invitation was offered first to those who would eventually become his apostles. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” is a another way of phrasing the invitation to discipleship.  Matthew 4:19; 9:9; 16:24; 11:29

Discipleship can involve personally training under the teacher or studying the teacher’s recorded teachings and life. About 1,400 years after Moses died, the Pharisees claimed to be his disciples, although they did not truly follow his teachings. Isaiah, John the Baptist, Gamaliel, and the Pharisees also had disciples.  John 9:28; Isaiah 8:16; Matthew 9:14; Acts 22:3; Matthew 22:15-16

Baptism (submersion into water), is the method by which Jesus told his apostles to make disciples for him. Thousands of people became disciples of Jesus by being baptized in the book of Acts.  Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:41; 8:12; 14:21

After the first Gentiles were baptized, the disciples of the Christ were called “Christians.” The term “were called” indicates that the discples received this name from God rather than choosing it for themselves.  Acts 11:26; 1 Peter 4:16; Isaiah 62:1-2

Have you become a Christian, a disciple of the Christ?

Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20

~ SR

Related words: baptism, Christ, apostle

Citation
Ruhmann, Scott. “Word of the Week: Disciple.” 27th Street Church of Christ. Access date: . http://www.churchofbend.com/wow/disciple.htm