Disciples of the kingdom

Discipleship is one of the central themes of the New Testament. During that time it was common for teachers to have disciples. The word translated “disciple” throughout the New Testament is a Greek word that literally means, “a learner, or pupil.” Strictly speaking a disciple is someone who learns from someone else. But in practice, being a disciple involved much more than simply learning the teaching, philosophy or theology of some teacher. It was common for disciples to live with their teachers, following them around and learning their habits, ways, preferences and manners and often developing a close relationship with them in the process. And once a disciple had become trained, it was common for him to help spread the teachings of his master. (Mark 3:14, Luke 6:40)

When we think of disciples in the New Testament, we tend to think only of the disciples of Jesus. This of course makes sense, since there are well over 200 references in the New Testament to the disciples of Jesus. But there are other disciples mentioned in the New Testament as well. Several passages speak of the disciples of John the Baptist. (Matthew 9:14, 11:2, John 1:35-37) Mark 2:18 mentions “the disciples of the Pharisees.” And in John 9:28 the Pharisees referred to themselves as “disciples of Moses.” As with the disciples of Jesus, these disciples were committed to learning, following, and spreading the teachings of their chosen teachers.

It is easy today to get the impression that discipleship as it was understood in the gospels is a thing of the past. And in the sense of physically following Jesus around and learning from him as he teaches, this is true. But the essence of discipleship – a commitment to learn from Jesus Christ and ultimately to help spread his doctrine – remains unchanged. In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus instructed his disciples to, “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” It is clear from this verse that Jesus intended those who believed in him to both become his disciples and ultimately to help make more disciples as well.

There is also an interesting reference to discipleship in Matthew 13:52, where Jesus referred to someone becoming “a disciple of the kingdom of heaven.” The word translated “disciple” in this phrase is the same word used in Matthew 28:19, where Jesus told his disciples to go and “make disciples of all nations.” It is also the word used in Mathew 27:57, which tells us that Joseph of Arimathea, “had himself become a disciple of Jesus.” And it is the same word used in Acts 14:21, which tells us that the apostles preached the gospel in the city of Derbe, and “made many disciples.”

What makes this verse so interesting is that Jesus did not refer to his followers as his disciples, as he usually did, but as “disciples of the kingdom of heaven.” But the fact is, the entire message and teaching of Jesus Christ centered around the proclamation of the good news about the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14-15) and almost all of his parables were designed to reveal “the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” (Luke 8:10) Therefore anyone who truly became a disciple of Jesus would become a disciple of the Kingdom of God, because to learn the teaching of Jesus was to learn about the kingdom of God.

Jesus said, “Every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old.” In other words, anyone who has partaken of the wealth of truth found in the Old Testament as well as the wealth of truth concerning the Kingdom of God in the New Testament is able to both enjoy and give to others the wealth of both covenants – what Jesus referred to as “things new and old.” If you haven’t already done so, make a commitment today to become a “disciple of the Kingdom of God!”