The growth and spread of Christianity as a world religion can be traced to Jesus’ command as recorded in the New Testament to take the message of the gospel to all the world. Among the other texts that contain this command found in the Gospels (Mark 16:15; Luke 24: 47; John 20:21), Matthew’s account to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28:19, NKJV), popularly known as the Great Commission, is well known among Christians.
But what does it mean to make someone a disciple of
Jesus Christ? Who is a disciple and what is the process for
becoming one? Since this New Testament text was written
in the context of first-century Jewish culture, there is a need
to answer these questions from that background and seek to
understand the implications for Christians today who strive
to win true disciples for Jesus in contemporary times.
RABBI AND DISCIPLE: THE PROCESS IN THE FIRST
CENTURY A.D.
In the Great Commission stated in Matthew 28:19, the
word “disciples” (translated from the Greek word mathetes)
must be understood as part of the educational system of
first-century Judaism. Jewish children, especially males,
were taught the Scriptures from childhood by their parents
and in the synagogues. After the age of 12 or 13, gifted
students enrolled in a more intense study of the Torah (the
first 5 books of the Bible) and Jewish oral tradition under the
tutelage of a rabbi. The student, usually called a talmid (Hebrew
for disciple),1
would attach himself to and travel with
the rabbi and learn his interpretations of the Torah until he
internalized them. This continued until the student became a
full-fledged rabbi or scribe at the age of 30.
Students enrolled in this stage of Jewish education usually
had to choose their rabbi. It is said that “students investigated
various rabbis and decided to whom they wanted
to attach themselves.”2
Whatever rabbi they chose would
evaluate the potential disciples with test questions to see
if they qualified. If the rabbi believed that the student was
good enough, he called the disciple to follow him. After this,
the student left his family and village and went wherever his
rabbi went until he was figuratively “covered in the dust of
his rabbi” and took up his “yoke” (his way of teaching and
interpreting the Scriptures).3
Unlike traditional Western education, the learning at this
stage of Jewish education did not involve sitting in a classroom
and absorbing lectures. The disciple learned by literally
following his rabbi in everyday life: traveling with him,
living with him, and imitating him. The primary task of the
disciple was to become like his rabbi in every way possible.4
This was the process by which disciples were made in first-century
Judaism.
MAKING DISCIPLES: FULFILLING THE GREAT COMMISSION
IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY A.D.
Time and again, many Adventists have understood the
Great Commission to be only about baptizing and making
more church members. However, a careful look at the text
shows that the main command of the text is grounded in
the verbs “go” and “make disciples” (from the Greek matheteuo).
The other actions (in participle form) mentioned in this
text (baptizing and teaching) are subordinate to these main
verbs. This means that the main verbs state “what” should
be done and the subordinate participles state “how” it should
be done.5
Therefore, the text can be paraphrased as, “Go and
make disciples by baptizing them and teaching them.”
From a Christian context, a disciple is not just a church
member. Just as in ancient times a disciple was a committed
follower of a rabbi, a disciple now is a person who sincerely
follows Jesus in every aspect of life—one who, not
only believes and has been baptized, but has matured in the
Christian faith and actively participates in church ministry
and mission, consistently serving others.6
A disciple is a
truly committed and active follower of Jesus in worship, fellowship,
ministry, and evangelism.7
As Adventist elders and church members strive to fulfill
this command in contemporary times, there is a need to
learn from the first-century Jewish process of making disciples.
Here are three key points for Adventist disciple-making
today:
1. Making disciples requires quality time. A rabbi’s task
of making Jewish young men his disciples involved quality
time as he intensively poured out and reproduced himself in
his disciples until they became like him.
Disciple making is labor-intensive, involving teaching and
investing one’s life in others.8
“Disciples cannot be mass-produced.
We cannot drop people into a program and see disciples emerge at the end of
the production line. It takes time
to make disciples.”9
Because discipling is a process
that takes time, disciplemakers
(or disciplers) need to
be patient and supportive of
potential disciples as they make
progress in their journey toward
Christian maturity. Christian
believers should avoid trying
to rush people into baptism
and other church programs in
the disciple-making process. It
must be understood that making
disciples is not just about baptizing
people but about guiding
them (before and after baptism)
in ongoing spiritual growth until
they become mature followers of Jesus and, in turn, lead
others to Jesus.10
2. Making disciples requires a community. A rabbi always
had a group of disciples, and this group formed a community
that became the basis of learning together. Within
the group, there were discussions and interactions about
the Hebrew Scriptures, how previous rabbis had interpreted
them, and how they applied to life.11 In this context of community,
there was transparent sharing and accountability as
they lived daily with the rabbi. Jesus did the same with His
disciples, enjoying community with them and others (Luke
8:1; John 3:22). This community was part of the process of
making disciples.
Disciple-making communities need activities that help
grow and train Christian believers together in the faith (Bible
study and prayer) and engage them in outreach and service
opportunities. These community activities of sharing within
and without the faith settings provide practical, hands-on life
experiences that are vital to becoming mature disciples of
Jesus.
3. Disciple-making requires authentic disciples of Jesus.
In Mark 3:14, the first reason why Jesus chose disciples
is “to be with Him.” This implies that disciples are
those who spend time with Jesus first before they seek to
make disciples for Him. Those who make disciples for Jesus
must themselves be disciples of Jesus. While everyone is a
disciple of something or someone, disciple-makers seeking
to fulfill Matthew 28:19 must personally follow Jesus first.12
CONCLUSION
The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19—“go and make disciples”—continues to motivate Adventist mission the world over. From the context of first-century Judaism, making disciples required quality time with and total commitment to a rabbi who reproduced and invested himself in them. Contemporary Adventist followers of Jesus need to understand how disciples are made and focus on genuinely and continually fulfilling this great command: to produce truly mature disciples of Jesus who will change the world for Him.
1 Spangler and Tverberg, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), 54; B. D. Chilton, “Rabbinic Traditions and Writings,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Joel Green, Scot McKnight, I. Howard Marshall, eds. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 654.
2 David A. Toth, “In His Disciple-Making Ministry, How Did Jesus Christ Determine What to Say and/or Do?” a dissertation submitted to the faculty of George Fox Evangelical Seminary in candidacy for the degree of Doctor of Ministry. George Fox University, Portland, Oregon. March 2015, 23, 24. Retrieved from http:// digitalcommons. georgefox.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1104&context=dmin.
3 “How to Disciple: How to be Jesus’ Disciple: A Vision for Discipleship.” FOCUSequip, 2. Retrieved from http://www.focusequip.org/ assets/pdf/how-to-discipleship-vision-preview.pdf.
4 Spangler and Tverberg, 51.
5 James H. Park, “Making Missionary Disciples in Matthew,” Asia-Africa Journal of Mission and Ministry, vol. 1 (2009): 53, 56, 57; Kim Papaioannou, “Proclamation and Discipleship: Two Sides to Evangelistic Outreach (Matt 24:14 and Matt 28:19, 20),” Asia-Africa Journal of Mission and Ministry, vol. 11 (2015): 189, 191; James Cress, You Can Keep Them If You Care: Helping New Members Stay On Board (Silver Spring, MD: Ministerial Association of General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, 2000), 13.
6 Papaioannou, 189.
7 Papaioannou, 189; Cress, 13, 17.
8 Papaioannou, 191; Michael Dornbrack, “The Discipleship Challenge,” from Ministry, May 2016, 8.
9 Leroy Eims, The Lost Art of Disciple-Making (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1978), 45, quoted in Greg Ogden, Transforming Discipleship: Making Disciples A Few at a Time (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), 67.
10 Dornbrack, 8.
11 Doug Greenwold, “Disciples and Rabbis: Missing Perspective,” 26, 27. Retrieved from http://preservingbibletimes.org/wp-content/ uploads/2014/03/DisciplesIII_2.pdf.
12 Spangler and Tverberg, “We are also called to be in daily, living
relationship with Rabbi Jesus, becoming His talmidim [disciples]
and then sharing our lives with others so that they too, can become
His disciples,” 205.
Ikechukwu Oluikpe, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School
of Religion and Theology at the Northern Caribbean University in
Mandeville, Jamaica.
