22. What does it mean to be a Disciple - The Sending
Key Verses / Passages
When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.” “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:14-21
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Discussion
After the calling and building phases of discipleship Jesus now provided His disciples opportunities to grow through service. It is through the activeness of learning that one’s deep knowledge is enhanced, promoting cognitive growth, or in this case, spiritual maturity. Matthew 14 exhibits the disciples’ feeding of the five thousand, where Jesus said to His disciples, “You give them something to eat.” Interestingly, moments later in Chapter 17, a contrast appears where we see the disciples unable to deliver a demon from a boy. It is in this contrast of the disciple’s experience that we see the importance of the student being stretched and vulnerable, as opposed to comfortable. Jesus (the teacher) intentionally placed His students in a position to become spiritually stretched to continue their building and enriched learning. Along this journey, however, Jesus always filled his disciples with instruction and encouragement. Through the constant guidance, instruction, and encouragement from the teacher, the learner can become effectively stretched to strengthen their learning.
Ultimately, the life Jesus lived was full of teaching and instructing His students throughout their diverse journeys. When considering what discipleship is and what it looks like, it reveals a beautiful relationship between the teacher (Jesus) and the student (us).
Doing discipleship with our Saviour Jesus Christ is truly a relationship of lifelong learning that everyone needs to invest in!
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Reflection / Questions
• Are you being stretched in your faith?
• Do you remember a time when you felt stretched by God? What was the result of that period?
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Prayer
Dear God, thank you for wanting me to grow, to become to be more like you. Please give me the insight and strength to be at peace with living a life full of stretch for your glory.