Page 46 - Youth Discipleship Student Textbook

Section 8: Jesus’s Pattern for Discipleship

8.1 Connect

Some teachers in the past really stand out. I’m sure you have had some great ones! You
just wanted to work a bit harder for them to make them proud of you. Those teachers that
I recall encouraged me to excel in my interests. They bring back fond memories. I am what
I am today because of many of them and I am truly thankful for their love and sacrifice.

But the greatest teacher of all times was Jesus Christ. He was masterful in every way. Read the Gospels
and watch Him teach others. In fact, it is recorded that He taught much more than He preached. He
taught large groups of people and of course, His disciples. But He took the time to even teach just one
person. He was available to anyone who wanted to learn.

He is still available to us. Some of His lessons are recorded in the pages of Scripture. We can go there
and analyze His style and methods to see how He masterfully used them to bring his hearers to
understand spiritual truth. It is an exciting journey. Let’s get started.

8.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to explain why, to be a effective teacher, you must immerse
yourself in a study of God’s Word daily.

2. The student should be able to describe the 8 characteristics of Jesus’ teaching that made
Him unique among teachers.

8.3 How did Jesus do discipleship?

The first thing Jesus did when He began his ministry at age 30 was to select 12 men to
become His disciples. Of course, Jesus was God, so He knew the hearts of the men He
selected. I’m sure He looked into their hearts to see their willingness to follow and obey Him.
Once he selected them, He poured Himself into them. He taught them as much as possible in
preparation for His departure.

Scripture gives us only a glimpse of what He taught them. They were together day and night. They
walked the roads between Galilee and Jerusalem at least three times, maybe four. These journeys took
several days. I’m sure He talked with them all along the way. His disciples became like His own children.

Deuteronomy 6 gives us a glimpse into what true discipleship is:

7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you
sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and
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when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as
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frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house
and on your gates.

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