Page 19 - In His Image

Let us now take a closer look at the word disciple itself. The secular definition of a
disciple is as follows: a believer in the thought and teachings of any leader;
follower; one of the followers of Jesus. The Greek word for disciple is mathëtës
which means a learner or pupil. If there is a "learner or pupil," it follows that there
must also be a teacher. Jesus was that Great Teacher of Israel, or in Hebrew,
Rabbi. What separated Jesus from all other teachers of His day (and in all of
history for that matter), was that He was sent from God (“This man [Nicodemus]
came to Jesus by night and said to Him Rabbi, we know that You are a Teacher come from
God.” John 3:2). What separated the disciples of the Great Teacher Jesus from
those of the religious Jews of Jesus' time (Pharisees) were two key elements:
1. Jesus' disciples were required to imitate Him, not simply in knowledge, but
in behavior, life style and suffering (“Now they were on the road, going up to
Jerusalem, and Jesus was going before them; and they were amazed, and as they
followed they were afraid. Then He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them
the things that would happen to Him" Mark 10:32).

2. Unlike other Rabbi's, Jesus' disciples did not choose Him, but He chose
them ("You did not choose Me, but I chose you..." John 15:16). More typical of the
time in which Jesus lived, was that an individual would approach a
Rabbi/teacher and ask if he could become a student of that Rabbi/teacher.
Jesus' plan required a much stricter screening process, they had to be se-
lected by the divine insight of One who knew no sin, for the mission His
disciples were to carry out was far greater than any disciple heretofore had
ever attempted. They were being called to preach the "living Word" of God,
eternal life itself, under the unction and by the direction of His Own Spirit!
When one looks at the apostles Jesus chose, you see ordinary men who learn to
walk in the Spirit to do extraordinary things. They are far from perfect, and
probably some of their spiritual acuity was less than Jesus desired. Yet, in spite
of themselves, God used them powerfully to change the known world in a single
generation.

The foundation upon which Jesus desired to build the ministry of His disciples was
FAITH (“This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and
His disciples believed in Him." John 2:11). If they believed in their Master,

In His Image 11