How did He do it? How did Jesus gain a following that changed the course of history? First of all, He was God in the flesh proven immutably by His life, death and resurrection from the dead. He was the wisest, all knowing, purposeful character ever. He was the one who instructed His disciples to go make more disciples!
Matthew 28:18-20
18 – Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 – Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 – and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
He articulated and demonstrated His purpose over a period of three years. He disciple others as He plotted His journey to His final goal: the sacrificial death, final burial and miraculous resurrection from the dead wining salvation for all men. The message of the Gospel of God’s grace for sinners began the moment He said, “It is finished!” He now ever lives to guide His people in taking the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
Just how was He so effective? Did He have a scheme or methodology that He used? He knew what He was doing, but it was more, way more than that. He carried a commission that the Father sent Him to do. He spoke with all authority. God was with Him.
John 12:49 . . . “for I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it.”
Jesus was not a political figure, nor was He a proponent of organized religion. He was the hardest on hypocritical, religious leaders. He was not the most “politically correct” person. He was transparent, and most of His teaching was 180 degrees opposite from normal world’s ways. Consider His character in training others from the following verse. Who is this man who is gentle and humble that invites us to learn from Him? The world doesn’t do it this way. Consider how this works and how it can be effective.
Matthew 11:28-30
28 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 – Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 – For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
We too have the same commission to carry to the world around us.
In John 20:21, Jesus said: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
If we analyse the history of Jesus life from the Bible, we will find many things that help us figure out what He felt was important in his discipleship ministry. Think about it. He didn’t have a telephone, radio, TV, car or any of our conveniences. He lived a normal kids life (of course without sin the Bible tells us) grew like everyone else. When He was 12 He could teach the scriptures to the amazement of scholars and he became a carpenter like many of us in our chosen field of work.
Three years before His death, He gathered some men, not many – only 12 men, whom He took with Him and taught them by illustrating from things that happened along the way, things they saw and the example He lived while He was with them. They heard Him preach to many and saw Him pray and relate to many people as they went. His time with them was casual, gracious, sensitive and from time to time straight and became intense when necessary.
His disciples were not perfect. But who was, except for Jesus Himself? But the disciples grew and continued with Him till He died and then set out to disciple others as Jesus had done for them.
So, in summary, His discipline was personal, purposeful and carefully confronted. One of the greatest principles we need to learn is the “with Him” principle. Life on life, person to person, man to man, whatever you call it, it has to be a part of your disciple making ministry.
Mark 3:14 . . . And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach,
As Jesus did it, we need to do it. Think about the results of Jesus ministry to the 12 disciples. He told them to “Go, make disciples” of all nations. Then he told them to teach others the things that He taught them, including “Go, make disciples.” In reality, that process alone multiplied the number of people that were reached by their message. It is better to multiply than to add, don’t you think?
God bless you all.
15 February 2024