Page 17 - In His Image

Chapter Three

What Is a Disciple?

"Only one road leads to world evangelism, disciple making.”

"Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and
continued all night in prayer to God, and when it was day,
He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve
whom He also named apostles:"
Luke 6:12-13

Up until this time in Jesus' ministry there was little organization. He was an
extremely popular itinerant preacher and teacher that increasingly attracted
crowds from far away. At this point you had two classes of people, the crowds and
the disciples. The crowds came to hear Him, but a growing band of followers trailed
him wherever He went. These were called "disciples," Greek mathetes, "learner or
pupil" from the verb manthano, "to learn." If the movement is to grow and mature,
Jesus must choose leaders.

If you've ever been a manager, you know that one of your most difficult and
important tasks are hiring the right employees for key positions in your
organization. When mistakes are made here, and they are far too often made, they
are extremely difficult and expensive to repair. Sometimes they can deeply hurt
the organization for years to come.

When our Messiah deems it necessary to pray all night over something, we are well
advised to pay close attention to what follows! What Jesus was about to do was so
important that He spent an entire night praying to be certain He understood His
Father's will. This reference to Jesus praying in Luke is only the second time that
Jesus is mentioned to have prayed to His Father. The first time being at His
baptism just prior to the descent of the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:21-22). This hints very
strongly at the absolute and tremendous significance of what was about to happen.
He was about to choose the twelve He would train personally. He would share with
them what He had seen His Father do and say. He was about to train the twelve
personally about the most intimate and personal things of God! These were to be
the men who would form the cadre of future generations of teachers and pastors.
These twelve would have a direct impact on the history of the human race.

In His Image 9