BlankBible Study – DISCIPLE - Monday, 14 January, 2008
Concise Oxford Dictionary:
disciple /dI"sVIp(@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
)l/
· n.
1 a personal follower of Christ during his life, especially one of the
twelve Apostles.
2 a follower or pupil of a teacher, leader, or philosophy.
– DERIVATIVES discipleship n. discipular /dI"sIpjUl@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
adj.
– ORIGIN OE, from L. discipulus ‘learner’, from discere ‘learn’;
reinforced
by OFr. deciple.
I. DISCIPLE
(Lat. discipulu: a scholar, from discere, to learn: Matt 10:24), one who
professes to have learned Certain principles from another, and maintains
them on that other's authority.
In the New Testament it is applied principally to the followers of Christ;
sometimes to those of John the Baptist, Matt 9:14; and of the Pharisees,
Matt 22:16.
It is used in a special manner to point out the twelve, Matt 10:1; 11:1;
20:17.
A disciple of Christ may now be defined as one who believes His doctrine,
rests upon His sacrifice, takes into His self His Spirit, and lives His
example. (Farrar, Bibl. and Theol. Dict. s.v.).
There are three senses in which men are sometimes called disciples of any
other person:
(1.) Incorrectly, from their simply maintaining something that he
maintains,
without any profession or proof of its being derived from him.
Thus St. Augustine was a predestinarian, and so was Mohammed, yet no one
supposes that the one derived his belief from the other.
It is very common, however, to say of another that he is an Arian,
Athanasian, Socinian, etc. which tends to mislead, unless it is admitted,
or
can be proved, that he learned his opinions from this or that master.
(2.) When certain persons avow that they have adopted the views of
another,
not, however, on his authority, but from holding them to be agreeable to
reason or to Scripture, as the Platonic, and most other philosophical
sects — the Lutherans, Zuinglians, etc.
(3.) When, like the disciples of Jesus, and, as it is said, of the
Pythagoreans, and the adherents of certain churches, they profess to
receive
their system on the authority of their master or Church, to acquiesce in
an
'ipse-dixit,' or to receive all that the Church receives.
These three senses should be carefully kept distinct. (From McClintock and
Strong Encyclopedia)
I. i. DISCIPLE
This term occurs in the OT as the rendering of Heb. "limmud", one
"instructed," Isa 8:16; 50:4; rendered "taught" in 54:13.
In the NT, it is the rendering of the Grk. "mathetes", "learner," and
occurs
frequently. The meaning applies to one who professes to have learned
certain
principles from another and maintains them on that other's authority. It
is
applied principally to the followers of Jesus (Matt 5:1; 8:21; etc.);
sometimes to those of John the Baptist (9:14) and of the Pharisees
(22:16).
It is used in a special manner to indicate "the twelve" (10:1; 11:1;
20:17).
(from The New Unger's Bible Dictionary)
I. ii. Disciple
- a scholar, sometimes applied to the followers of John the Baptist (Matt
9:14), and of the Pharisees (22:16), but principally to the followers of
Christ. A disciple of Christ is one who (1) believes His doctrine, (2)
rests
on His sacrifice, (3) takes in His spirit, and (4) imitates His example
(Matt 10:24; Luke 14:26,27,33; John 6:69). (from Easton's Bible
Dictionary)
I. iii DISCIPLE
JESUS CHRIST
"But the eleven worshipped Him."
Jesus confirmed His claim to worship by drawing near and declaring "all
power is given unto Me in heaven and earth," realizing Dan 7:14, and
commissioning all His disciples (not the apostles only, Acts 8:2, 4),
"go and disciple all the nations, baptizing them (the persons) into the
name
(not names, for God is ONE) of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy
Spirit,"
i.e. into living union with God in the threefold personality as revealed:
"teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you,"
for full instruction in Christ's word is the necessary complement of
baptism;
"and (on this condition, not otherwise) I am (Jesus the great I AM, not
merely 'I shall be') with you always unto the consummation of the age."
(John 14:16; 16:13).
The commission is to all the church, and is mostly executed by its
ministers
and teachers, the mode of whose appointment is not definitely prescribed.
(from Fausset's Bible Dictionary)
II. Disciple; Discipleship.
During Jesus' earthly ministry, and during the days of the early church,
the
term that was used most frequently to designate one of Jesus' followers
was
"disciple" (mathetes, 262 times).
Hence, discipleship is a central theological theme of the Gospels and
Acts.
The situation is different in the Old Testament and in the rest of the New
Testament.
There is a curious scarcity of words for "disciple" in the Old Testament,
and mathetes does not occur at all in the Epistles and Revelation.
However, other terms and expressions point to abundant theological
concepts
of discipleship everywhere in Scripture.
Discipleship enjoys its most concrete expression in Scripture when Jesus
walked with his disciples during his earthly ministry.
Yet the Old Testament prepares for that relationship, and the Epistles and
Revelation describe how that relationship was carried out after Jesus'
ascension.
Called to a Relationship with God.
The roots of biblical discipleship go deep into the fertile soil of God's
calling.
That calling is expressed in the pattern of divine initiative and human
response that constitutes the heart of the biblical concept of covenant,
manifested in the recurrent promise, "I will be your God, and you shall be
my people."
That call from Yahweh is reiterated in the call of Jesus, when he said,
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest"
(Matt. 11:28).
God has called his people to represent him on the earth, to be with him in
every circumstance of life, to be transformed in personal character to be
like him.
That calling is at the heart of biblical discipleship, both in the Old and
New Testaments.
God and Israel.
The ideal of discipleship in the Old Testament is the covenant
relationship
between Israel and God.
Although the call came from God to individuals - Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
-
it was directed toward their offspring (Gen. 13:15). God was creating a
national community that would be his people.
In turn, his people were to be a source of blessing to all peoples of the
earth. (Gen 12:1-3).
That calling was reiterated and confirmed in the exodus from Egypt and in
the wilderness.
(Ex. 13:21-22).
No other person or god was to take a place of preeminence and thus usurp
God.
While God placed men and women in leadership roles (e.g., Moses, Joshua,
the
judges, prophets), they were only intermediate leaders.
God alone was to have the place of preeminence.
The ideal form of discipleship for Israel was the nation in covenantal
relationship with God.
That ideal is richly expressed in the prophets as they look ahead to the
time when Israel would have the ultimate realization of that relationship.
Isaiah expresses the personal nature of this relationship in the
prophecies
of the new covenant.
(Isa. 30:20-21, 30-33).
When giving the Law to Israel in the wilderness God stressed his covenant
intent: "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people"
(Lev. 26:12).
The nation was called to a relationship in which God was with his people.
Jesus and His Disciples.
The Old Testament theme of God with his people finds explicit fulfillment
in
Jesus with his people.
The promise of a coming Davidic Messiah is intertwined with the promise
that
God himself would be with his people.
The significance of Matthew's interpretation of the meaning of Jesus'
name,
"Immanuel," therefore, cannot be overstated:
"'The virgin will be with Child and will give birth to a Son, and they
will
call him Immanuel'- which means, 'God with us.'" (Matt. 1:23).
In Jesus, God has come to be with his people, to fulfill the deepest
meaning
of the covenant - God with his people as Master, Lord, and Savior. (from
Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology)
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